Rod Macqueen's Rebels will make their Super Rugby bow against the Waratahs on Friday © Getty Images

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Tournaments/Tours: Super Rugby

Teams: Australia | Melbourne Rebels | Rebels

The Melbourne Rebels are set to unleash an exciting "hybrid" form of the game when they make their Super Rugby debut against the Waratahs on Friday.

Rod Macqueen's side have held training sessions with the coaching staff from Aussie Rules club Carlton and have also utilised the services of rugby league great Andrew Johns to ensure a flying start to their campaign. The Rebels also hope that an exciting brand of rugby will help them lure more Wallabies to the fledgling franchise.

''I would like to think we can excite some Wallaby types, and if our style of play can be developed relatively quickly, and players see us playing a new style of rugby, there may be some real attraction there,'' Rebels chief executive Ross Oakley told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We will be taking parts of Australian football, parts of rugby league, and incorporating it into our game. It will be a hybrid union mix that will incorporate strengths of the other two codes.

''We recently had the full Carlton coaching squad coaching our side, and they also had them play a full game of AFL. There are some tactics that we have talked about and drawn from Australian football that will be significant plans for us, and the Carlton coaching squad have spent time with us teaching us techniques.

"I think there will be aspects of our game that are brand new. There's certainly some excitement among our established players over what we're doing. I think rugby aficionados will think, 'That's interesting.'''

Johns has spent much of his time with headline-grabbing recruit Danny Cipriani, who Oakley has backed to shine this season. ''It is not easy, certainly not when you've come from a background where he has been the star player and everything is laid at his feet,'' Oakley said. ''He has tremendous potential, and I would expect he will turn this competition on its ear when he finds his place. I don't think it's too far away - he can set a game alight in a moment of football.''