Stirling Mortlock praises resiliance shown in testing times by Melbourne Rebels Melbourne Rebels assistant coach Stirling Mortlock. Picture: Stuart Mcevoy Source: Herald Sun FOUNDATION captain Stirling Mortlock has praised Melbourne's resilience as it prepares to face the Southern Kings at AAMI Park on Saturday. Now part of the Rebels' coaching panel, former Wallaby captain Mortlock said there were several good signs in Melbourne's drought-breaking win over Western Force. "There's no doubt it's been a really tough time for the club but from my perspective (it's) really great to see the resilience and the self belief that we showed against the Force," Mortlock said. In particular, the way that we played that game. Our attacking systems looked really good, the defence stats - and the intensity in defence - were good, too. There were some really pleasing signs in that game for us and I can't wait for us to play the Kings on Saturday to hopefully bring it up another notch. If we do that it will be a fantastic thing. Melbourne has two wins from seven matches to be 12th overall on the Super Rugby table, two places higher than the Kings. But Mortlock is wary of the Kings, who fashioned an excellent 28-28 draw with second-ranked ACT Brumbies in Canberra last round. "This weekend is a great opportunity for us as a club," Mortlock said. The Kings, as they proved last weekend against the Brumbies, are a formidable outfit. They've got quality outside backs, they have massive forwards like every other South African team but their mobility is better than what we're used to seeing from South African teams. To draw in a very entertaining match with the Brumbies is a massive feat for them. So from that perspective we won't take them lightly at all but there's a great opportunity to notch up two wins in a row and go away to the bye in a really solid state of mind. Hopefully we have a really monumental and line in the sand result for the club moving forward. Buoyed by a bonus-point 30-23 win over Western Force, the Rebels could regain captain Gareth Delve and Lachlan Mitchell. Exiled champion Kurtley Beale continues to receive counselling and remains unavailable for selection.