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Can anyone stop the Melbourne Storm?

5th August, 2017
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The NRL needs a fairytale. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Roar Guru
5th August, 2017
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With a four point advantage as at Friday, albeit mid round, and a massive for and against advantage, there’s little doubt that the Melbourne Storm will be the minor premiers in 2017.

Despite there still being two months to go before the grand final, there’s also a growing likelihood that they will go one better this year.

It’s nearly impossible to find a chink. A couple of internationals in the forward pack plus some seriously big units, a representative player or two in the centres and two of the best finishers in the NRL in Vunivalu and Addo-Carr.

That’s before you add in Melbourne’s big three of Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater. Their form at the moment is ominous. Cameron Munster didn’t play in Townsville yet the Storm’s backline didn’t miss a beat.

Can anyone beat them? Melbourne will remain short priced premiership favourites but I think the answer is yes. History would seem to agree. Other than the salary cap years, the Storm have won the minor premiership in 2011 and 2016. Neither of those sides went on to win the big one. So, if Melbourne are to lose in the grand final, who is capable of beating them?

The real contenders are few. North Queensland Cowboys showed last night that they will beat most teams but the absence of Johnathan Thurston really showed towards the end of the game when the Cowboys had chances but couldn’t crack the line. His composure will be missed. The loss of Andrew McCullough for the Broncos is massive and I think will prove too much of an obstacle for Brisbane to progress far in the finals.

Nelson Asota-Solomona Melbourne Storm NRL Rugby League 2017 tall

(AAP Image/Joe Castro)

Two of the Storm’s four losses were to the Sydney Roosters and the Parramatta Eels with the scorelines being 25-24 and 22-6 respectively, although Melbourne were without the State of Origin players. While the same could obviously be said of the Roosters, at full strength, the Storm should be able to get past both of these teams, although the Eels could well be the form team coming into the semi-finals.

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In regular season games unaffected by Origin, the Storm have lost twice. One of these losses was an high scoring 38-36 loss to the Gold Coast, as part of the double header in Brisbane. The other was way back in Round 6 when Cronulla beat the Storm 11-2 in a very soggy affair in Melbourne, and it’s the Sharks who are probably the only team capable of beating the Storm in the NRL grand final.

One of Cronulla’s strongest traits is the ability to stay in touch with the game, no matter what the opposition is doing. This happened in the 2016 grand final where the Storm hit the front and the Sharks were struggling to get their possessions right. They hung in there, Fifita scored a fantastic solo try and the rest of the game was based around their scramble in defence.

If they do meet in the grand final, it will likely come down to the battle of the packs. Melbourne’s pack has plenty of go forward but they seem to struggle with Cronulla’s experience and mobility. If the Sharks can control the ruck, Cooper Cronk will have one eye on the ball and one eye on Wade Graham coming in at pace.

Melbourne’s backs are probably better on paper so Cronulla’s best chance is to play them through the middle.

There is plenty of water to go under the bridge yet and Cronulla are no certainties to make the top four. However, if Melbourne make the grand final in October, you can bet there is one team they would rather not be playing.

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