(Ron Steiner was chief executive of Victorian Rugby Union from 1997-2008. He was a key figure in the VRU's Super 14 bid in 2005, won in the end by Western Australia.)

The promise was made 13 years ago in a lofty Melbourne CBD office - to stand and share a drink together and enjoy the taste and toast as we watch a Victorian super rugby team run on to the park.

It was an easy line and one made with a sense of challenge, excitement and clear intent. It just wasn't meant to take this long!

In 1998, the Victorian Rugby Union established a "Super 12 Advisory Board" whose single objective was to secure entry into the next wave of Super Rugby. Key members of the Victorian business and rugby communities regularly met and developed a sophisticated set of strategies to achieve the goal.

Surely it was inevitable.  Surely the ARU too needed a super rugby team in Melbourne to stamp its ambitious national footprint. Surely ...  it won't take until 2011...

The decision to award the fourth opportunity to Western Australia in December 2004 was gut wrenching.  We did our best to respond with humility and resolve. Others will judge whether we were successful in that but, above all, we were determined to make sure rugby stayed strong in Victoria.

So allow a number of people to wear a smile of satisfaction as we count down the days for Super Rugby's debut in Melbourne - at the new AAMI Park this Friday night when the Rebels host the Waratahs. 

The gap between Western Force's opportunity and the Rebels' realisation has resulted in a strong and tighter Victorian rugby community. Not without occasional inter-family fighting, but always with the bigger prize in mind.

Much water has flowed under the bridge since the 1998 promise was made. Governments have changed colour, the Wallabies have enjoyed all phases of the pendulum of performance, the best rectangular stadium in the country is now part of Melbourne's landscape (and even Collingwood has won a flag).

Current Premier, Ted Baillieu, who was a former Victorian rugby player, has been a genuine supporter throughout and will enjoy an earned pride of place on opening night. As, too, do former Premiers Bracks and Brumby. They, too, deserve to enjoy a quiet drink and sense of satisfaction. 

Bracks was the driver to invest in the amazing stadium that is now the Rebels' and rugby's home. He was the Victorian who took the initial call from Australian rugby headquarters to tell us we had missed out.  He was the one who felt the anger and frustration on behalf of many of us at THAT decision.

All that has now long passed into history. As in all aspects of life, it is tomorrow where the excitement lies and lives.

I had the privilege to be part of the journey and am thrilled for all those involved.  What is more thrilling, though, is the prospect of seeing now how all the hard yards of those volunteers - players, coaches, referees, administrators and parents, who have generated more rugby in more clubs and schools around the state. They will now be connected to something quite special.

Just as exciting is the quality of the whole Rebels outfit - on and off the field. They will do Victorians proud.  And proud Victorians will see the game flourish in this state. 

How sweet it will be to drink in the atmosphere of that first game on Friday night. Thirteen years is a long time to wait for a drink; it will be one to savour.