Melbourne's hopes of resurrecting their Super Rugby season have hit a major hurdle, with star halfback Will Genia suffering a serious knee injury as they proved no match for the champion Crusaders.
The Rebels crashed 55-10 on Friday night, their fifth successive loss and biggest ever at AAMI Park to continue their freefall down the ladder.
It also made it 37 losses by Australian teams in a row to New Zealand opposition.
It was always going to be a big ask for the Rebels to upset the overall ladder leaders and despite trailing by just three points at halftime, they never really looked in with a shot.
Making matters worse, Genia limped off just before halftime, with the early diagnosis a grade two or three medial ligament tear which would rule the Wallaby No.9 out of next month's Test series against Ireland and put his Super Rugby season in doubt.
The Rebels trailed 13-10 at the break despite the visitors, with two players yellow-carded, dominating every aspect of the opening stanza.
Melbourne's defence was off, missing 24 tackles, while their attack looked mostly one-dimensional, often looking for a safe option rather than using their best weapons in the backline.
The Crusaders built a 10-3 lead after Mitchell Drummond took a quick tap and then his halves partner Richie Mo'unga threw a long ball out to Seta Tamanivalu to cross in the corner.
Athletic hooker Andrew Makalio then scored his first of two tries for the night.
The Rebels' only try was scored in the 33rd minute when Drummond dropped the ball in a scramble for possession, with Rebels centre Reece Hodge taking advantage to touch down.
The Crusaders shifted to another gear in the second half, adding 42 unanswered points with the home side offering little resistance.
Rebels coach Dave Wessels said his team weren't at their best technically and didn't handle pressure well and the Crusaders took full advantage.
"We made a couple of key errors - I can think of three and they scored 21 points just like that and that's why they're the best team in the comp," he said.
"The challenge for us is to regroup ... we're still very much in with an opportunity to make a play-off game and if we can do that that's a hell of a an achievement for the club."