As I cleaned up the coloured Easter-egg foil which has got itself into every nook and cranny of the house and reflected on the weekend’s rugby league, one thing is clear: the Storm are the team to beat.
The weekend’s matches started with a bang in Melbourne as the Storm once again underlined their class.
And how that class is being underlined again and again and again. Honestly I’ve been reading (and possibly even writing) the obituary for the Storm’s dominance for years. It is always the same, “yes, they did very well to win/ get to the grand final but the loss of blah blah will prove too much and the chasing pack should reel them in.”
This year was again meant to be one of those years but again the Storm seem to have risen to another level with a team that seems worse on paper than the previous year. I guess it just proves why games aren’t played on paper.
The Storm don’t have a team packed with superstars, they have some superstars and the rest of the roster is filled with very competent and efficient players who know their role and perform it perfectly.
Judging by all other teams I watched this weekend, the Storm are currently miles ahead of the opposition.
On this weekend’s performance only the Tigers could possibly mount a challenge and that’s if they produce their best 30 minutes against the Raiders for 80.
While Friday’s first match was a great game, it wasn’t until the Raiders clashed with the Tigers that the rugby league got my blood pumping and helped with the digestion of the eggs.
The Broncos were woeful against the Roosters and while the Roosters looked an improved side they barely needed to get out of second gear to roll a Brisbane side who look like they’re wooden spoon material on their last two efforts.
I enjoyed the Sharks game for the upset and the fact that the Sharks really put in but I won’t deny it was a game strictly for the purists. 0-0 at halftime, I mean come on!
Parramatta seem to be waiting for Jarryd Hayne to do it all or maybe they are just waiting for the second half of the season, whatever they are doing, they are not making anyone who backed them for the title to be feeling comfortable.
The Cowboys v Titans game was a match in which both sides tried hard to lose with an incredible amount of drop ball, but the Cowboys simply fell over the line. I was stunned with just how much the Titans missed Scott Prince. Preston Campbell looked way off the pace as has Greg Bird all season. They could get a real wake up call over the next two weeks against the Storm and Dragons.
New Zealand v Manly was another game punctuated with errors but also with the most annoying tactic in rugby league. Kicking the ball dead from general play. If people reckon that Trent Hodkinson will fill the void of Matt Orford this season, well dream on.
He is a good defender and if I wanted a bloke to just smash the ball dead at the end of every set I’d give him a shout, but hell’s teeth there must be something more to the game than that. I’m penciling it down as first rule change to be mooted for next year.
I appreciate as well he is not Robinson Crusoe in that regard either but it is certainly a blight on the game.
The Raiders clash with the Tigers game did end the weekend on a high note as the Tigers rode the waves and proved that when you are on a roll things just go your way.
There was the freakish bounce off Alan Tongue’s leg straight into the arms of Robbie Farah for his try and there is no way their last try could have been scored by a team not full of confidence, something would have gone wrong somewhere along the line.
I also cannot remember a crazier end to a game than that match; it was like Salvador Dali had jumped into the commentary box. Surreal.
But when you are hot you are hot. The difference is Melbourne have been hot since 2006 and the Tigers are just finally regaining some heat.
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