The Melbourne Rebels and Rugby Victoria are thrilled to announce Rebels Super W legend Meretiana Robinson has been awarded a World Rugby Internship for the WXV Tournament with the Wallaroos.
A pioneer for women’s rugby in Victoria and an inspiration for the next generation of women’s stars coming through the ranks, Meretiana announced her playing retirement earlier this year, after being an integral leader of the Rebels Super W program for six years.
Robinson has since shifted her focus to coaching, with her wisdom, experience and love for player development, making it a seamless transition.
With aspirations to be a women’s head coach in the near future, Robinson was thrilled to receive the opportunity from World Rugby, something she said still felt surreal.
“It’s very exciting and an opportunity I’m really grateful for,” said Robinson.
“I was initially nominated by Nick Stiles and Greg Fergus to be part of the program and then was lucky enough to actually be offered the internship to be placed working with the Wallaroos.
“It’s going to be an awesome chance to immerse myself in a high performance environment and see how they operate at the highest level, which will be an invaluable experience for me.”
Having been involved in elite level sport throughout her life, Robinson said the opportunity to work with a number of different high performance coaches who all impacted her life “so enormously and positively ” was a driving force behind her ambitions to work in coaching.
“I’ve been coached and impacted by so many inspiring people, so I feel really fortunate.”
“Obviously, Alana Thomas has played a major role in my development, Peter Breen as well, and Chris Evans, who employed me at Rugby Victoria and gave me the opportunity to explore that administrative side of rugby by being a Development Officer. Everyone I’ve crossed paths with and that’s played a role in my development, I’m so thankful for.”
“I suppose it was natural progression for me, to give back and impact people’s lives the way my coaches have done for me. That’s what drives me, impacting people’s lives and sharing my passion for the game with others.
“The opportunity to do something like this internship means I’m going to be a better leader, coach and role model for the people I’m already coaching, which will ultimately benefit them.”
