Proud Vics determined to shine for the Rebels

THEY call themselves the “Burn Boyz”, the Victorian lads flying the flag for homegrown rugby talent, fighting the underdog fight to make it all the way to the top.

On Friday night against the Waratahs, the Melbourne Rebels will boast four Victorians in the line-up, with 20year-old Trevor Hosea joining the ranks of starters when he makes his run-on debut.

He joins Pone Fa’amausili, Hosea’s regular lift to training from Melbourne’s southeast and his roommate in their Canberra hub, Rob Leota and Wallaby Jordan Uelese as players who navigated the tough Victorian pathway to now find themselves leading the way for others.

“We’ve pretty much come up through the ranks together and seen each other come through the hard times,” Hosea said from his hotel room in the nation’s capital.

“We’ve been grinding for a while and it’s good to see us all on the field at once. And now it’s time for us to shine.”

There are more than just the four Burn Boyz, with others having come and gone in recent years. But that spirit that binds them remains an important mental weapon, to keep them going when the rugby world is looking elsewhere for talent.

“It’s the mentality we grow up with, the Burn Boyz, we’re the underdogs, we’re the grinders of the team,” Hosea said.

“It was the older boys, Jordan and Pone, and a few of the boys that have left that set that little group up, and it’s carried on with all the young guys coming through the ranks, like myself. We fit right in to that idea we have going.

“It’s hard to explain, it’s just a bond we have, and a mentality too. It’s us being the underdogs, to have that mentality to work hard to get on top. It’s a massive part of me, it’s a mindset, it’s a family.

“And playing for that jersey, it’s got Melbourne on it. It just means so much for us.”