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The Melbourne Storm will attempt to overcome injury and a trip across the Tasman when they take on the New Zealand Warriors who need to make a statement against one of the competition powerhouses. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the match from 6pm (AEDT).
The Warriors got their season underway last weekend at home with a scratchy victory against last year’s wooden spooners the Newcastle Knights and need plenty of improvement if they want to get over the Storm.
Their job will be made significantly easier by the absence of New Zealand national team captain Jesse Bromwich, who picked up a hand injury in the Storm’s opening win at Belmore against the Canterbury Bulldogs.
For the hosts, Kieran Foran is due back next week, but even without him they have one of the most exciting spines in the competition and proved it last week with some strong tries, despite their ability to play 80 minutes being severely tested by Newcastle.
They will be better for the run, but it’s down to Shaun Johnson, youngster Ata Hingano, fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and hooker Isaac Luke to create points against what is a typically strong defensive side with Craig Bellamy at the helm.
While the Warriors pack is strong, they struggled to bash the inexperienced Knights pack last week, so it’s going to take some creative genius for them to win – simply put, they aren’t going to win it by grinding Melbourne out of the contest.
Melbourne are missing Bromwich though, so the battle for them is maintaining their normal level of play without the leader.
As professional as the club are, Bromwich joining fellow Kiwi Tohu Harris on the sideline leaves a big hole in their pack – one that Jordan McLean and replacement Tim Glasby are needing to fill.
Glasby was strong off the bench last week, but must take another step up here. The worry for Melbourne is the fact they didn’t receive a lot from the reserves last week, their starters shouldering most of the load.
Melbourne were clinical last week though as they hung onto an early lead to beat the Bulldogs, their defence standing up time and time again in the second half through atrocious weather conditions.
The last time the sides met was early last season, with Melbourne putting 42 points on in a runaway victory.
Prediction
If the Storm can play anything like they did last week, then it’s tough to see them losing. The Warriors need improvement and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them turn it on, as they often do against the Storm, but it’s near impossible to tip them.
Storm by 10.
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