Fixing his malfunctioning lineout following a disastrous display against the Chiefs looms as a major challenge for Melbourne coach Rod Macqueen, as the Rebels prepare to host a rampant Sharks outfit.

The ladder-leading South African side loom as one of the Super rugby teams to beat this season, after accruing 13 points from their first three games.

Their set-piece efficiency, swarming defence and expansive attack shone through on Saturday in Perth.

They ruthlessly swept aside the Force 39-12, after the home team played three-quarters of the match with 14 men, following Rory Sidey's dismissal for a dangerous tackle.

Conversely, the mistake-ridden Rebels lost eight lineouts from their own throw in Hamilton in a generally untidy performance, as they crashed 38-10 to the Chiefs in their first overseas fixture.

Macqueen and his coaches don't have much time to iron out the lineout glitches as the Sharks come calling at AAMI Park on Friday.

"We've definitely got some work to do on the set-piece," Macqueen told AAP.

"We can't get any shape into our attack unless we're starting to get some clean ball."

Macqueen was clearly expecting the Sharks to target the setpiece areas.

"They are a very big, physical team," Macqueen said.

"We've got a short week this week, so we're going to have to lick our wounds and just hope we can be up for it."

The game against the Chiefs was played in constant drizzle, but Macqueen refused to use the conditions as an excuse for his team's lineout meltdown.

"It's more a communication thing, we obviously need to look at that," Macqueen said.

"They were difficult conditions but it was the same for both teams."

The breakdown is another area of concern for the Rebels after they conceded numerous penalties in Hamilton.

"It's one of the themes this year that everyone seems to be spending a lot more time at the breakdown competing and certainly we got a lot of penalties against us, so we need to look at that," Macqueen said.

"He (the referee) was basically saying we were not rolling away and we were finding it very difficult because there was bodies everywhere at the breakdown.

"But I don't think that really had a big impact. The main thing is if you lose eight of your own lineouts you really can't expect to win a game."

While Macqueen wasn't aware of any major new injuries, he wasn't optimistic of getting any of those already out back - including halfback Sam Cordingley hooker Adam Freier, five-eighth James Hilgendorf, lock Kevin O'Neill and backrower Hoani Macdonald.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP