Melbourne Rebels coach Tony McGahan says his team must hit the ground running as they open their Super Rugby campaign against the battle-hardened Cheetahs on Friday night.

South African teams started the Super Rugby competition a week earlier than Australia and New Zealand and then the Rebels had a bye, meaning on their first outing they are facing a team on their third.

While excited about the opportunity to put a gruelling pre-season in practice, McGahan said his team needs to make an early statement at AAMI Park.

“Cheetahs are on their third game of the season so in terms of match intensity we’ll be a little bit behind in that regard,” McGahan said.

“We’ve really worked towards this point and we want to make sure we make a good start at home.”

The Cheetahs, who made the finals last season, were shock losers to the Lions in their opening match but bounced back to trump the Bulls after 11 consecutive losses.

The Rebels haven’t beaten the Cheetahs in three attempts but start their season in good form after three pre-season wins.

McGahan will name his side on Thursday but confirmed that former All Black Tamati Ellison had overcome a calf injury to take his place in the centres.

The coach said 30-year-old Ellison, who has been playing in Japan, brought balance to his young squad.

“With his experience he brings a real calmness to what he does.

“He’s been around a long time and he certainly understands what it takes to win.

“He’s really brought us a nice level of maturity with regard to how we play.”

Former Australian sevens representative Sean McMahon is set to make his Super Rugby debut in the No.6 jersey.

McMahon, 19, only joined the Rebels midway through the pre-season on an Extended Playing Squad (EPS) contract and has hardly played 15-a-side rugby in the past two years but impressed in his game time during the trials.

The Cheetahs have named an unchanged line-up, with the Rebels already pin-pointing fullback Springbok Willie le Roux as the danger man.

“The Cheetahs have got a huge counter attack threat and they like to play with a lot of width and unstructured play,” McGahan said.

“Le Roux is the main danger at 15 so we’re going to be very careful with regard to that and we’ll make sure we’re really controlled.”