Rival coaches hoping for pivotal performances

A season of solid form has Manly coach Des Hasler convinced his five-eighth is ready to fire in this weekend’s NRL grand final.

But Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy will reserve judgement on his superstar No.6 Greg Inglis until 4pm Sunday.

“You don’t really get a real feeling for him until about an hour before the game,” Bellamy said of Inglis.

“So if you’re around an hour before the game I’ll let you know.”

That Inglis is deemed to be struggling to find his best is an ominous portent for the Sea Eagles, with those same critics saying Inglis needed to lift heading into last year’s decider.

Inglis not only lifted — he produced a career-defining performance which netted him two tries and the Clive Churchill medal.

Inglis was also panned for a sub-par effort in this year’s opening Origin encounter in which he was shown up by NSW opposite Mark Gasnier.

His response was a devastating man-of-the-match effort in the return leg in Brisbane.

Earlier this week Bellamy said he needed more from his muti-talented five-eighth, and he was confident the signs were there for an improved game.

“He’s trained really well this week which is a nice feeling,” Bellamy said.

“When he trains well he usually plays well.”

For all the criticism Inglis has had to endure, it’s nothing compared to analysis Jamie Lyon has had to deal with since his switch to the Sea Eagles and the No.6 jumper at the start of last year.

Lyon freely admitted he struggled to find his feet in 2007, but with added playmaking responsibility this year in the absence of departed hooker Michael Monaghan, the former Test centre has thrived.

“I’ve watched a lot of football with Jamie over the years and I think he’s the sort of player that no matter where he plays particularly in the backline I think he’d handle it,” Hasler said.

“He’s got those natural instincts as a ball player and as a ball runner.

“He handles the role really well, doesn’t say much, just gets on with it.”

Manly skipper Matt Orford claimed the true reflection of Lyon’s worth to the team was evident in the side’s results without him, with the extra kicking option he provides pivotal to much of the Sea Eagles’ success this year.

When Lyon missed six games with a knee injury late in the season, the suffered three losses.

With Lyon in the side they have lost four and won 16.

“It sort of showed when Jamie was out that I was probably the sole kicker in the game as well as Matty (Ballin) and it was very easy for teams to actually read,” Orford said.

“If we can mix it up a little bit and sort of make it very unpredictable it’s going to be very hard to put a lot of pressure on one kicker so we’ve worked on that all year and we need to do that once more.”

1-MELBOURNE STORM v 2-MANLY SEA-EAGLES at ANZ Stadium, 5pm
Head to head: Storm 8, Sea Eagles 5
Head to head in 2008: Storm 2, Sea Eagles 0
At ANZ Stadium: Storm 1, Sea Eagles 0
Last five meetings
Storm 16-10 at Brookvale Oval (Rd 22, 2008)
Storm 26-4 at Olympic Park (Rd 5, 2008)
Storm 34-8 at ANZ Stadium (Grand Final, 2007)
Sea Eagles 13-12 at Brookvale Oval (Rd 11, 2007)
Storm 30-20 at Olympic Park (Rd 26, 2006)
FootyTAB: Storm +2.5 points
TAB Sportsbet: Storm $2.10, Sea Eagles $1.70

As they say in the classics it’s deja vu all over again with Manly and Melbourne going head to head in the decider for the second year in a row. The Storm are nowhere near the raging hot favourites they were heading into last year’s grand final and are without suspended skipper Cameron Smith and injured Test backrower Ryan Hoffman. Cooper Cronk took up the slack in both leadership and playmaking against Cronulla last week, but he’s sure to get much more defensive attention this time around. Compared to the drama surrounding the Storm’s finals campaign both on an off the field, the Sea Eagles’ path to the big one has been smooth sailing. They were hardly threatened in disposing of the Dragons and Warriors and they head into Sunday’s game with their team intact, despite concerns over Matt Orford’s dodgy ankles. There are theories about that Manly’s easy run could be to their detriment should the Storm get off to a fast start, when the demons of last year’s crushing 34-8 grand final defeat and the two losses they’ve had to Melbourne since could come back to haunt them.

Key for Storm: Halfback Cooper Cronk needs to get the ball to strike weapons Greg Inglis, Israel Folau and Billy Slater as early and often as possible. If there’s one advantage the Storm do have, it’s in the outside backs.

Key for Sea Eagles: Manly need to deal with the occasion better than they did in 2007, when they appeared to drop their bundle after fullback Brett Stewart was KO’d early in the second half. Matt Orford’s kicking game needs to be on song, and that means finding the ground and not the hands of Billy Slater.

Tip: STORM

Manly’s 2008 stats leaders
Most tries: Brett Stewart 22 (1st in NRL)
Most points: Matt Orford 169 (3rd)
Most try assists: Matt Orford 31 (2nd)
Most line breaks: Brett Stewart 16 (8th)
Average metres per game: Brent Kite 124.9 (24th)
Average hit-ups: Brent Kite 14.8 (15th)
Average tackles per game: Glenn Stewart 28.9 (26th)
Average missed tackles per game: Glenn Stewart 3.7 (19th)

Melbourne’s 2008 stats leaders
Most tries: Greg Inglis 17 (3rd in NRL)
Most points: Cameron Smith 170 (2nd)
Most try assists: Cooper Cronk 37 (1st)
Most line breaks: Billy Slater 22 (1st)
Average metres per game: Billy Slater 133.7 (12th)
Average hit-ups: Jeff Lima 14.8 (15th)
Average tackles per game: Cameron Smith 37.1 (4th)
Average missed tackles per game: Greg Inglis 2.6 (96th)

Curtain raisers
Toyota Cup Grand Final – Canberra Raiders v Brisbane Broncos at 2.15pm
NSW Cup Grand Final – Newtown Jets v Wentworthville Magpies at 12.15pm

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