Melbourne Rising flyhalf Jack Debreczeni scores one of his two tries against the Rays last weekend. Photo: Cam Inniss Photography

by Brendan Bradford –

Jack Debreczeni has spent a year down in Melbourne with the Rebels, but the 21-year-old hasn’t forgotten his roots in Sydney’s Inner-West.

The former Trinity Grammar student’s Melbourne Rising side takes on the Sydney Stars today at Leichhardt Oval – a Sydney football institution. It’s an opportunity he knows doesn’t come around very often.

“I played there once in league when I was younger and they had the Grand Finals there and there’s always a massive crowd on a sunny Sunday afternoon for the Tigers so it should be pretty special,” he said.

“Playing in a different sport will be awesome and hopefully the crowd will be pretty good for it. Not many people get to do it, especially not in rugby – it’s more of a league thing – so I’m really looking forward to playing there.”

Having played his junior and grade rugby at West Harbour, Debreczeni is familiar with most of the Stars side which turns out regularly for Sydney University, but he says club rivalries won’t enter his mind.

Debreczeni is dangerous with ball in hand. Photo: Cam Inniss Photography

“It’ll be another tough test, they have a good roster with guys who have been in the Waratahs set-up and we all know how good Sydney Uni is, but you can’t let personal vendettas into it,” said the former Australian Schoolboys representative.

“I’m playing for the Rising, I have a job to do, and they’re playing for the Stars and it’s a new competition, so you just have to see it like that.”

After a breakout season for the Pirates in 2013 that saw him finish as the club’s highest scorer, it seemed he’d have his choice of futures with the Rebels and the AFL interested in securing one of the biggest boots in football. Injuries hampered his 2014 season with the Rebels but he made a Super Rugby debut by the end of the year and the bulk he added to his tall frame has made him a dangerous threat when attacking the line with ball in hand.

“I’ve tried to get a bit stronger and faster in the gym, I can’t be a stick figure all my life and the strength and conditioning guys in Melbourne have been really good,” said Debreczeni who is of Hungarian descent by way of South America and New Zealand.

“There’s still a lot to go and I’ve always liked to run the ball, but as I’ve gotten older it’s about picking your moments and not being predictable – especially at the higher level when teams read you and analyse you a bit more.”

A few years ago he honed his kicking game in the cold Northern Hemisphere winter in England, but is relishing the faster-paced NRC competition after scoring a double as the Rising went to the top of the table with a 55-34 Round One win over the Rays.

“It was a good first hit out, the rules were a bit different but it obviously enhances running rugby and I’m all for it,” he said.

“The first 20 minutes was pretty quick, especially because it was our first game in six or seven weeks and we were blowing pretty hard. The quickness of the scrums and lineouts was the main difference but the longer the game went, the better I felt.

“There’s less time to take goal-kicks too and you’re asking the ref how much longer because you’re trying to give your teammates a rest after scoring. My timing is pretty good, I don’t take too long it’s just if we do score, hopefully they don’t throw the ball away because it eats into the kicking time.”