By Zolton
July 6th 2007 @ 8:09am
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An unlikely victor?
We said it a little while back on The Roar, but it bears repeating now as we get closer to the business end of the rugby league season. Is there anyone out there who can seriously challenge the Melbourne Storm this year? More pertinently, given the lack of attention they receive in their hometown and the lack of a genuine homegrown junior base, is their continuing success in the NRL one of the most unlikely stories in modern sports? Let us know what you think.
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Peter L said | July 6th 2007 @ 1:36pm | Report comment
Not entirely unlike the starting years of the Brumbies in Rugby Union’s S14, in a sense, don’t you think?
Sometimes, where skill and desire are backed into the corner so to speak, they come out fighting fiercely and with skill, and the result is this kind of thing.
GO THE STORM!
spiro zavos said | July 12th 2007 @ 4:16pm | Report comment
The difference between the Brumbies in the early Super 12 days and the Melbourne Storm now is that the Storm has won a Premiership and, as Zolton suggests, are well on their way to winning another one. The neglect of the Storm by the Melbourne media is scandalous. It has a lot to do with the AFL obsession in Melbourne which is inclined to see all other winter codes as an enemy. There is no justification for this attitude. The Swans get terrific coverage in the Sydney media, even though it is a media that wears its heart on its sleeve as far as rugby league is concerned. It’s time the Melbourne media grew up and started treating the other winter codes with the interest and respect they deserve.
rachid said | August 24th 2007 @ 11:10pm | Report comment
Surely no one can beat the Storm this year. I had been drafting a response to this post almost the second you posted it. It was going to explain why I thought that last years grand final loss would wreak havoc on them come finals time. We’ve seen them below their best for almost 6 weeks. They struggled to put opposition away and were definitely playing down to their opponents standard- which is exactly what happened last year against Brisbane. Last night though was a test. Against a Bulldogs team [fighting for a top four finish], away from home, desperate to regain some form, they came through with flying colours, or at least the score would indicate as such. I fell asleep 3 minutes into the match and woke to hear a news broadcast this moring explaining their walloping of the Bulldogs.
So it seems this year will be the year of the Storm. Poetic really given that its rained in Sydney for the first time in years and we’ve seen dam levels finally rise. Good luck to them. They play team footy like it should be played. More than any other squad, you see them working for each other and making it personal. They’re gutsy, skillfull and extremely well drilled. The best thnig going for them though is that they got close last year and have not been obviously scared by the experience.
If I were to pick 3 teams that could out play them on their day it would be the Tigers+Eels+Warriors. When they’re all fit they are the most devastating attacking teams in the NRL and now the Storm have shown they can discard lowly opposition who try to grind out victories it’s the teams who can play enterprising and adlib footy that will trouble them.
rachid
Spiro Zavos said | August 24th 2007 @ 11:32pm | Report comment
I always feel that the teams that have a strong attack come right in the finals. The days of Wazza-ball, 1-0 Warren Ryan victories, are well gone. But there has to be some good defence as well. For me two teams stand for me with strong defence and strong attack, and they are the Storm and the Bulldogs. The Tigers, the Eels and the Warriors don’t have that je ne sais quoi (I’m already in my French mode for the Rugby World Cup), that special something that identifies them at this stage as Grand Final winners.