Storm warning as Melbourne winners again
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Melbourne NRL skipper Cameron Smith says boring works best for the Storm, although scoring eight tries for a 46-6 romp over Penrith is hardly dull.
Desperate to stop their five-game losing streak, the Storm talked pre-match about going back to basics and Smith said they did just that to crush the lowly Panthers at AAMI Park and get their season back on track.
“We just had a mindset of running through their line rather than trying to go for the easy option and go wide and go around them,” said Smith, who kicked seven from eight conversions.
“We’ve tried to do that at times over the last couple of weeks and that’s not how we play our style of football.
“We’re not like other sides where we try to play fancy plays.
“We play a simple style of football … when we’re playing well you hear a lot of people say that we look quite boring.
“It’s not boring when you’re scoring 40 points, I can tell you.”
The Storm started with attitude and urgency, with winger Sisa Waqa scoring after just 35 seconds.
They were up 34-0 by halftime.
It was difficult to judge whether they were the Melbourne of old because in the first half in particular, Penrith were so woeful.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary described it as a match he’d like to forget.
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said his side’s second half, when their set completion rate fell away, showed they still had plenty of work to do.
“We weren’t happy with that … I think we only completed about 50 per cent which is well below par,” he said.
“We got off to a great start but the second half certainly wasn’t as impressive with the footy.
“Having said that, we kept them to six points which goes back to our defence which really pleased me.”
© AAP 2013
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The Crowd Says (9) | Page 1 of Comments
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August 6th 2012 @ 10:27am
steve b said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:27am | Report comment
I don’t think anyone gave Penrith a chance of beating the Storm their test will be when they face the better teams leading into the finals !!
August 6th 2012 @ 10:48am
Crosscoder said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:48am | Report comment
Based on my wee observations the Storm played an exciting expansive,variable and ,fluent game of rugby league.It may well be classified as simple,but sometimes the simple things in life are the more exciting.
It was far less predictable than their usual offering,and a flummoxed Penrith in defence no doubt contirbuted to a fast flee flowing game.
The Storm are back ,as if they ever left.Which to other finals contenders is a big worry with a captital W.Especially as the “spine”is operating at presently, 75% capacity
August 6th 2012 @ 11:30am
Albo said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:30am | Report comment
I still think there is a major concern over Melbourne’s current form.
Penrith just never beats Melboune even when they are travelling well ! So this week was a forgone conclusion and nothing for the Storm to get too excited about, apart from breaking the losing sequence and getting the 2 points.
Their “spine” might be in tact, but there is a not much meat around the skeleton !
Still an ordinary pack of forwards being well marshalled by Cam Smith.
The top tough sides like Canterbury and Manly and perhaps even the packs of Souths, Cronulla and Cowboys will sort them out and the spine will be exposed and under pressure !
August 6th 2012 @ 12:43pm
bbt said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
Good to see Gareth Widdop at 5/8 again. He straightens up the backs and they don’t just drift across the field, as they have been doing for the past few games.
August 6th 2012 @ 1:37pm
PLANKO said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:37pm | Report comment
This is gold ! One win and they are back. Look at their run home. Most of these teams are “in the race”. If they can win the next 4 I give them a chance. If they loose 2 they might not make the 4. If you don’t make the four winning will be a challenge.
August 6th 2012 @ 1:49pm
B.A Sports said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:49pm | Report comment
The four times the Storm have lost four or more in a row, their first win to end the drought has been by an average of 43 points;
o 60 points (70-10 Rd 5, 2000 v Dragons)
o 38 points (52-18 Rd 9, 2001 v Nth Eagles)
o 34 points (44-6 Rd 15, 2002 v Sth Sydney)
o 40 points (46-6 Rd 22, 2012 v Panthers)
When they bite back, they bite back hard.
August 6th 2012 @ 7:47pm
Bazzio said | August 6th 2012 @ 7:47pm | Report comment
Cameron Smith said on TV tonight that Bellamy gave them a terrible blast last week and the players are too afraid to have it happen again. Like I’ve said in another post, Bellamy is demented. The Mexicans win when they have their 3 best players firing. Without those players, the Mexicans are ordinary.
August 7th 2012 @ 12:26am
StormGal said | August 7th 2012 @ 12:26am | Report comment
the same thing could be said about a lot of teams in the 8!
August 7th 2012 @ 11:12am
Bazzio said | August 7th 2012 @ 11:12am | Report comment
“Could” but didn’t, haven’t and probably won’t, because Bellamy is demented.