Clinical Storm derail the Hayne train

Roar Guru

By Steve Kaless, 6 Oct 2009 Steve Kaless is a Roar Guru

Tagged:: Melbourne Storm, NRL, NRL grand final, Parramatta Eels, Rugby League

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Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy overseeas a training session in Melbourne, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Melbourne Storm will play the Parramatta Eels in this weekends NRL Grand Final. AAP Image/Julian Smith

Meatloaf sang that “two out of three ain’t bad”. The big man would probably have made a handy prop, and of the Storm he could have sang, “two out of four is damn impressive”.

Four straight grand finals and two premierships to boot, the Storm’s display looked like it came from a side that was used to playing on the biggest stage, while the Eels took far too long to cope with their opponents and the occasion.

The Storm simply played their natural game, scored two tries, and looked to be cruising at half time after snuffing out the Jarryd Hayne threat.

With Hayne being nullified, you could sense that the Eels looked nervous and unsure of who to look to.

Meanwhile, his opponent for the Australian fullback spot was having a pretty fair day at the office.

Billy Slater showed why he’ll have the number one on his back in the Four Nations, with a performance of pure class. Admittedly the Parramatta kicking game was hardly making him work in the first half.

To their credit, the Eels came back from the break with a renewed belief, and once Feleti Mateo wound up, they started looking like the side which had captured the imagination of their fans with their charge to the final.

Eric Grothe Jnr brought the contest back to life when he scored early in the second half, although the Hayne nightmare quickly became recurring when Greg Inglis was bizarrely gifted a free catch on a bomb and cruised under the posts.

But the Eels kept at it, and Reddy and Moi Moi gave the Eels fans another reason to continue the dream. But then Inglis became the alarm clock that pierced the nocturnal bliss.

Those dying minutes probably summed up the match for both sides.

When the Eels needed a fifth tackle play, they looked frazzled. The ball ended up with Todd Lowrie and he just handed it back. Then the Storm took it back down field and Inglis sealed the win with a field goal.

Clinical.

And so the Storm were crowned premiers. The game itself was no classic.

The Eels probably left their run too late, but it was certainly an enjoyable game to watch.

Can the Storm do it again? We say it about every premier: they’ll probably start next year as favourites, but have been brought back into the pack and will need another almighty effort.

What of the Eels? They need to start like the way they finished. Is this the start of something big or their big chance blown?

So NRL 2009 draws to a close. My first question for the off-season, what the hell was that with Darryl Somers?

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The Crowd Says (12) | Page 1 of Comments

skull said | October 6th 2009 @ 7:24am | Report comment

A friend and I were speculating on how the Storm victory would be described. What we came up with was a “clinical disposal”. You very nearly won the prize Steve (must admit I havent waded through all the other articles in the papers).

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Brett McKay said | October 6th 2009 @ 7:55am | Report comment

Steve, Skull, ‘clinical’ is the only way to describe Melbourne’s win, becuase that’s exactly what it was. It was the classic example and proof that struture and purpose will generally overcome spontenaity. Every time Hayne got the ball in the first half, he looked like he wanted to try and beat everyone himself, like he did against Saints and Canterbury. They came back well, but it had more to do with finally being able to string possesion together than individual brilliance. Melbourne took the wind out of Parra’s sails by making them defend for what seemed like the entir first half – how else could Nathan Hindmarsh be sitting on 38 tackles at half time?? Clinical.

Interesting that the refs came out yesterday and explain the ruling on Moi Moi in the Slater tackle – it wasn’t for the strip at all, it for a second grab in the tackle and it’s quite clear on the replay where Fui Fui gives Slater’s leg a tug as he’s trying to get up.

Steve what were your thoughts on the Churchill Medal? Bob McCarthy’s come out and said Slater was a unanimous choice among the four Australian selectors, but it was also revealed they’d decided that before Parra’s comeback, had a rethink at 22-16, but all stuck with Slater. Was Cooper Cronk’s the best GF performance NOT to win a Clive??

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- Steve Kaless said | October 6th 2009 @ 11:49pm | Report comment
  
  Probably. Can’t believe they went with Slater given his last five minutes nearly cost them the game. Surely with four people it could have been done after the final whistle.
  
  Not sure why all these things always need to be done 15 or 20 before the end. Still alot of footy to be played.
  
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Mick from Giralang said | October 6th 2009 @ 2:22pm | Report comment

Boosting Melbourne’s stocks is a seriously good Under 20s side, with a Billy Slater look-alike at fullback (he’s a pom by the way). That Under 20 grand final between Storm and the Tigers was a classic.

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Worlds Biggest said | October 6th 2009 @ 6:25pm | Report comment

The Storm winning the Premiership was a phenominal effort when you consider the personal they have lost over the years but more impressive is how they bounced back after last years flogging. Just about any team that get’s hammered in record fashion would take years to get back into the picture but not the Storm. They dusted themselves off, flew under the radar and won, just an amazing effort. Bellamy is a master coach and this team will go into the discussion with the best dynasties. I though Cooper Cronk should have won the Churchill medal. NSW would kill to have this guy at Number 7. As for the Eels, I hope this is the start of a 2010 premiership campaign. I think they can do it. BUT the Storm will be there again next year along with the Dragons, Bulldogs and Broncos.

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- MyGeneration said | October 6th 2009 @ 9:06pm | Report comment
  
  There’s been a few examples of teams bouncing back after a flogging, more so in recent years. Dragons 75-77, Bulldogs 94-95, Sea Eagles 07-08, Storm 08-09. Parra should have let Inglis take more uncontested bombs!
  
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George said | October 6th 2009 @ 8:46pm | Report comment

THE LAST PENALTY FROM ARCHER WAS A DISGRACE. FIRST IT WAS HELD DOWN, THEN THEY THOUGHT SECOND GRAB. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP. I WAS THERE, MELBOURNE SLOWED THE GAME DOWN MOST OF THE GAME ESPECIALLY IN THE 2ND HALF WHEN PARRA DOMINATED AND ARCHER ALLOWED IT.NO PENALTIES. HE MISSED ALL MELB GRUBBY TACTICS AND GAVE A PREMIERSHIP TO MELB WITH A SOFT UNREALISTIC PENALTY WHEN IT MATTERED. IT STINKS OF CORRUPTION. HARRIGAN AND ARCHER SHOULD BE SACKED. NEW BLOOD IS DESPERATELY NEEDED INSTEAD OF OLD POLITICS. WHAT A SHAME WE MISSED OUT ON POTENTIALLY THE GREATEST CLOSEST EXTRA TIME GRAND FINAL MAYBE OF ALL TIME. THATS THE WORST THING ABOUT THAT DISGUSTING PENALTY. AS SOON AS THE GAME FINISHED NINE MELB SHOWED NO PRESENTATION OF TROPHY NOR CLIVE CHURCHILL AWARD. GALLOP AND THE REST OF THEM NEED TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT THEMSELVES. YOU CAN’T ESTABLISH THE GAME ANYMORE IN MELB BY GIFTING CONTINOUS FREE PREMIERSHIPS. WHAT A TRAGEDY FOR A SHORT SIGHTED MELB MARKETING GOAL. HOPEFULLY NEXT YEAR GAMES WILL BE WON ON PLAYER MERIT NOT MAKE UP PENALTIES. SHAME ON THE REFFEREEING AND THE WORLD SAW IT HOW EMBARASSING.OH AND AS FOR SLATER AND THE AWARD, NO WAY HE DESERVED IT WITH HIS ERRORS. I REST MY CASE…….. RIP INTEGRITY

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skull said | October 6th 2009 @ 8:48pm | Report comment

Parra supporter are you George?

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- George said | October 6th 2009 @ 9:02pm | Report comment
  
  Parra supporter living in Melbourne funny enough.How did u guess?(lol) Even if I wasn’t a Parra supporter that penalty was disgracefully attrocious for a grand final let alone 1st grade. A tragedy for the game at the end of the day. Everyone missed out on a thrilling extra time Grand Final. Thats the worst thing I find of all.
  At least people rang and complained at nines cut off coverage here, I heard. Thats one positive.
  
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MyGeneration said | October 6th 2009 @ 9:16pm | Report comment

Thanks for turning off the Caps Lock, George. You were giving me a headache.

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- the Answer said | October 6th 2009 @ 11:37pm | Report comment
  
  Surely George if they would have let things go to allow a deadlock at fulltime that would have been the blow for integrity.
  
  rather than claiming a penalty with a few minutes left cost you a grand final, maybe you should ask whether it would have been better for the Eels to play for more than 20 minutes, for the Hayne Train not to join Sydney’s City rail network and instead challenge for a few bombs and the rest of the defensive line not to fall for every dummy Cooper Cronk threw.
  
  The Eels choked and if you are a real fan you should be used to it.
  
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  - George said | October 9th 2009 @ 11:18pm | Report comment
    
    Choked? Are you for real? The Eels had a nervous first half and didn’t play their game. Melb were strong starters. (If you were watching the same game Answer) you would have maybe, noticed, the Eels were coming home very strong and Melb were clearly on the back foot. The Eels should’ve had the ball close to try line with only 6 points diff. Instead a donkey penalty killed the game and the Eels momentum. So what about the early errors? Who cares? The Eels worked their way back in and Archer said “stripped” at game and changed his mind in the press to second grab. Huhhh?! what the hell?!? Unlike you, “Wrong Answer” I’m a realistic league and Eels fan. People like you need to wake up, in more ways than one, to what is actually happening to our game on and off the field. I hope you eventually do some proper research and figure it all out.
    Used to what? No “Wrong Answer” I’m used to bad refereeing.
    Looks like you need to look the word integrity up in the dictionary before you answer next time.
    
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