Melbourne Rebels coach Damien Hill under pressure to keep his job Melbourne Rebels coach Damien Hill is under pressure to hold onto his job. THE Melbourne Rebels' horror run could produce more casualties with the future of coach Damien Hill in doubt. Hill is off contract at the end of the Super Rugby season and he's under immense pressure after the Rebels chalked up their fifth successive loss. The Rebels flew into Perth yesterday following a winless South African tour, which included a club-record 10-try defeat and the sending home of Wallabies Kurtley Beale and Cooper Vuna for a post-match altercation. Beale remains suspended indefinitely. Melbourne chief executive Steve Boland said the entire club needed to see some positive results. "We've had some discussions with Damien," Boland said. The coaching window and player recruitment window can't wait until the end of the season for those sorts of decisions so we need to make a decision on our coach well before the end of the year. The Rebels have slumped to 13th on the ladder with just one win despite bringing in Wallabies back-rower Scott Higginbotham to join fellow Test regulars Beale, James O'Connor and Nick Phipps. "We need to see some performances that justify the team we've got and the effort everybody's putting in," Boland said. Among the rumblings of discontent, O'Connor, also coming off contract, has been linked to the Brumbies. Boland said the club had started discussions with O'Connor and they wanted him to remain a Rebel. I had a discussion with his agent and we're working through it. There was no mention of him talking to other clubs. The Brumbies are understood to retain unfavourable memories of their negotiations with O'Connor in 2011 when he left the Western Force. He reportedly agreed to terms only to join the Rebels. The Rebels' only win this season came in round one at home against their next opponents, the Western Force.