Rebels star Beale out with hand injury Melbourne Rebels star Kurtley Beale will use his time sidelined with a broken hand to rehabilitate the damaged shoulder that threatens his Wallabies plans. With the bye following their crucial Friday night clash with Queensland, Beale is hopeful of only missing one Super Rugby game as he undergoes surgery on Tuesday on his swollen left hand. The Rebels are considering giving Angus Roberts a baptism of fire with the 22-year-old a chance to make his Super debut at five-eighth. Beale suffered a subluxed left shoulder while playing last month and requires surgery at some stage this year. He said he would use the time off to work on the troublesome joint. "I will try and focus on getting the shoulder right and get that back to full strength," Beale said. I need to do a lot of strengthening work around the rotator cuff so hopefully the time out will give me the opportunity. Beale suffered the injury in the Rebels' bonus-point loss to NSW Waratahs last Friday night, which left them at 1-2 to start the season. They are hopeful of regaining skipper Gareth Delve, who also has a shoulder problem, while it will also be Wallaby Scott Higginbotham's first match against his former team. The Rebels have never beaten the Reds but Beale said their rousing first-half against NSW proved they were capable, before they blew a 10-point lead. We had them there for a bit but ill-discipline cost us in the end. It's another big challenge against the Reds but hopefully we can set out a really good game plan and stick to it for the full 80 minutes. He said collectively the Rebels hadn't been able to do that in their past two second-half fade-outs. Coach Damien Hill is reluctant to switch James O'Connor to No.10 because he has been playing so well at fullback. Beale backed Roberts, a former Sydney Uni player, to do the job if selected. Gus is a promising young player who has certainly got the skill and a lot of attributes that James has. If we can get those two combining well and directing the team around then this Friday night we can give the Reds a really good shake. The injury means Beale misses a chance to go head-to-head with Reds playmaker and Wallaby rival Quade Cooper. I would have loved to have had the chance to play against him. Obviously that Wallaby No.10 jersey is up for grabs so I've got to try to come back healthy and hopefully try and hold my ground.