After making his debut for the Highlanders in 2012, flanker Scott Fuglistaller and his pregnant wife packed up everything and moved to Melbourne to pursue an opportunity with the Rebels. Rugby News caught up with the 28-year-old on the eve of his 50th Super Rugby game to find out if the gamble paid off  

RUGBY NEWS: So you’ve been down in Melbourne for four years now. Do you feel like a local yet? 

SCOTT FUGLISTALLER: Yeah Melbourne has treated me really well, myself, my wife and my sons have all really enjoyed living here. Obviously the Rebels gave me my first real opportunity to have a crack at one of the best competitions in the world and I’m really grateful for that. We love the city, love the people, the food and all the events so yeah, we are fairly settled here.

RN: You made your debut for the Highlanders before crossing the ditch. What initially attracted you to the Rebels? 

SF: It wasn’t too difficult a decision to be honest. I’ll be forever grateful to the Highlanders for giving me that first exposure to Super Rugby, but the opportunity to come over here was too good to turn down. I sat in the wings at the Highlanders for three years trying to get some game time but then Melbourne offered me a really good opportunity. 50 games later, I guess it was a fairly good decision for me.

RN: How much has the franchise changed since you arrived back in 2013? 

SF: It’s difficult to put to words. The club has been through so many transitions over the years but I think the biggest change came with the appointment of Tony (McGahan). He came in with a fairly clear vision of where he wanted the side and the club to be going and they got the right people in to help support that vision and I think that has helped transition us from a side that everyone expected to pick up five points against to a team that you know you are going to have a real fight against. You can notice that change on the field through the respect we are now getting from the other teams and from our fans so that’s great to see.

RN: So is it safe to say that this is the most settled and competitive Rebels side that you’ve been a part of?  

SF: Yeah definitely, we’ve got real depth now in a lot of positions and that creates a really competitive environment which is a sign of a good team. Look at our first game against the Force, we had our first choice flyhalf pull out right before the match, then our second choice No.10 had a quad strain so we ran with our third choice for 50 minutes of that game and ended up winning.

RN: Speaking of depth, you’ve got an impressive backrow at the Rebels. What is it like playing alongside Sean McMahon and fellow Kiwi Adam Thomson? 

SF: We’ve been really lucky with our loose forwards. We replaced Scott Higginbotham with Adam Thomson, who is basically a Kiwi version of Scott, so that transition was great. Adam is a fairly quiet guy but he just goes about his work, then Seany on the other hand is a young bright superstar who has a relentless attitude and that rubs off on everyone around him, even someone like me who is seven years older than him.

RN: How important was the win over the Waratahs in Sydney? 

SF: It was huge. This club has wanted to beat that side in Sydney ever since I’ve been here because there are so many guys from NSW at the Rebels and that’s created a really strong rivalry, even though the two sides haven’t been playing each other for that long. I know our guys specifically target those games as the ones they look forward to the most so to beat them at home, whether they were playing their best Rugby or not, is a real achievement for us and gives us a real boost in confidence.

RN: You’re in the mix for the finals now but there is still a long way to go. What do the Rebels need to do to secure a spot in the playoffs? 

SF: At the moment we are in control of our own destiny, which is always good. It’s a bit of a cliche, but we are just trying to take it one game at a time and not look ahead at certain games. I think our draw will help us. We have three games and then a bye, then another three games before the June Test break and then another three games before the finals so it breaks it up nicely. I think the biggest thing for us if we want to make the finals is to grow our game. We can’t get comfortable doing what we do at the moment, we need to add to our game piece by piece and make some small changes to help us grow. I think that’ll really help get us to the finals.

RN: So is winning at home at AAMI Park a big part of that? 

SF: Yeah exactly. If we want to get bums on seats down here, we need to be winning at home. It’s a tough market down here, everyone knows that, but we’ve got a really strong core group of supporters who give us fantastic support. Winning at home not only builds that fortress mentality, but it also helps build our fan base and gives the club momentum on and off the field.

This article originally appeared in Rugby News’ Melbourne Rebels matchday programme, available for just $5 at all Rebels home matches.