Storm to rain on Dragons parade in 2011

Melb are far from "the best thing that ever happened to league in this country." They systematically cheated the salary cap and nearly brought RL to its knees with their disgusting, unforgivable actions. It's a farce their "stars" were even allowed to play for Qld, but the maroons have different rules for that kind of thing (e.g Inglis the dog being from NSW, etc)

The Raiders are no hope of the top 4 without Campo and probably no hope of the 8

Okay, I'll bite. It's comments from no neck rock apes like 'Droppa Kick' that proves the point about bias and petty jealousy which has existed in NSW ever since the decision to establish a league club in Melbourne was made. The fact that Melbourne Storm became a success in its second year of competition and has a proven formula for producing quality players over a decade now must absolutely hurt like hell in the Sydney heartland of the competition. Of course I know there are some intelligent people who follow the game from within the heartland, but seriously, the Storm has been punished for the crimes of a few board members and a breech of the salary cap like no team in our history, yet I don't see retrospective premierships being taken away or what could be the tip of the ice berg investigated any further. Since more than half of the Melbourne Storm playing roster is usually made up of Queensland and New Zealand ex patriots this may be a reason that there is a perception of more respect and love of the Storm from these areas, not so from NSW though... Have a look at the success of the AFL and the coming success of the A-League. These competitions have tried to broaden their horizons and although Victoria is still a stronghold with the majority of AFL teams, when compared with the spread of the NRL and the attitude of the NSW centric board members and officials who run the NRL, the other codes are so much more professional and unbiased in most every aspect of their competition. The only reason the NRL has not continued with their salary cap investigation into all NRL teams to identify more clubs that have rorted the system and broken the salary cap is plain and simple. They do not want to expose the real size of the problem and the possibility that several highly popular NSW based clubs would be found out! Imagine that publicity scandal... Compare also the illegal team the Bulldogs were allowed to keep together from their breech a few years ago, yet no one is stripping them of their premiership. The decisions made in haste and without consideration for the implications of bias and ridicule that made this season the joke it turned out to be will remain with the current NRL executive for ever. To not recognise the premierships won by the Storm over the past few years is a disgrace and would not have occurred the way it did if for example it was St George or Parramatta who were found out, that's for sure! Yeah, kick the best thing ever to have happened to league in this country out of the competition mate, then play all your Origin games down south in the sporting capital of the world and see how that feels......

Storm have been treated like shit by the NSW contolled NRL board. We have had problems with whatever free to air league we do get. Phil Gould is a shit head, biased as. Same with that Ray Warren and dont get me started with stirling. They almost never show the post match celebrations of grand finals or origin I can go on and on and on about this

Next year the Storm wont have a million dollar advantage. Kick the cheats out of the comp.

Next year is going to be a stunning year of NRL - the Dragons will be strong once again (although the losses of Neville Costigan and Jeremy Smith will hurt) and expect continued improvement from the Roosters, Tigers, Warrios (am hearing great things about their youngsters) and Raiders (in particular). With Melbourne back in contention (I think next year will be too soon for them to win a premiership with their new roster, but they'll certainly cause some trouble) and the Broncos looking their strongest in years (the return of Hodges and the signings of Inglis and Hannant will complement the tremendous young players coming through, particularly Gillett, Yow Yeh and Hoffman) the competition will be a cracker. I think the Bulldogs will be climbing the ladder as well, and the Cowboys will once again field a strong playing roster (but who knows if they will actually perform). Unfortunately, given the improvements other teams are making, I think the Titans will drop off next year (along with Penrith) and it's hard to see the likes of Newcastle, Souths or Parramatta doing much better. I can hardly wait (but how good is it we still have 4 Nations to come?!)

Melbourne Storm will rebuild and they are a lot better team that a lot of people think. I dont think paying one player more than an another makes any difference to their performance, its got do with heart and pride in the team their playing for. Storm were victimised for doing the exactley the same as other teams in the comp and anybody with half a clue knows who the are. So bring on 2011 and we will see how they go.

Alan, your headline of "Storm to rain on Dragons parade" also suggests that Melb will be targeting, primarily, the Dragons. I think teams like Canberra, Titans, Tigers and Roosters to be a danger as well. They were all very good teams at the end of the season. Particularly the Raiders, with their big forwards and Dugan at the back. As a Dragons fan, I am glad we did not meet them in the finals, they are dangerous and will get better, as long as Campese is playing.

Centrebets odds for 2011 premership. 1. St George. 2. Brisbane. 3. STORM. Alan, Centrebet think you're not too far out.

I think the 06 and 08 GF's show having an illegal team doesnt mean to will win every game..all the Storm kept were big players..come Origin time they were worse than the Sharks.. But its over now, surely we have moved on from this!

Here, Here, Nick o'l boy.

Spot on and very well said

We keep hearing about the great success the Melb Storm has had, as if it was an achievement that must be respected even though they were stripped of these achievements. This is rubbish. If every other team in the competition had the same advantages that Melbourne had, with their player roster, bought with money that was over the allotted cap, what sort of achievements would the other teams risen to. "Melbourne still managed to win 14 matches"....with an illegal team. the Roosters effort to make the Grand Final after winning the wooden spoon the year before cannot be compared with Melbourne as in 2010 the Storm ran an illegal team, the Rooster did not. "The Storm’s Good Friday victory against the Dragons earlier this season proved why they were still on top of the pecking order."...Again the team fielded was over the cap and illegal. "Such a performance suggested a remarkable fifth straight Grand Final appearance would not be out of the question"....Again you make this assumption based on the fact that the previous 4 grand final appearances were with a team with a player roster that was way over the salary cap, and illegal. This makes the Brisbane victory over Melb in 2006 even more extraordinary, and Manly's belting of Melb in 2008 quite stunning. Please stop bleating about how the Storm was treated, put all their past victories into perspective and let them rebuild, and then we will see if they are as good as you say.

Cant wait - do you reckon we could get David Gallop to start the season next week?

They won 10 and lost 8 after the results were announced - that includes the difficult origin periods etc. Pretty good considering the closeness of the competition. Most tellingly, they only won two away from home (when playing for no points), but they won 8 from 10 home matches. I guess that shows that they were able to win when they could motivate themselves in front of their home crowd, but found the road trips more difficult.

The Storm will be up there in the mix no doubt..Any team with the Slaters,Cronks and Smiths,a backline of young enthusiastic speedseters,and trademen like forwards under bellamy will as they say "show em".Getting those early home games in Mellybourne(sic),will give their season great impetus. The Sharks with the addition of Wade Graham and Jeremy Smith will do a lot better on the scoreboard and with crowds next year.Remember they beat the Nick Politis Roosters who were G/F participants twice this year ,one involved a thrashing. My 2011 predictions My top 4 Tigers,Storm,Canberra and Manly/Broncos. Sharks to make the 8. The I.C. in full operation 2 new teams given the green light for 2013.Big Bad Bears and the Perth Reds. Record average crowds for the season, Referees will continue to show they are human,and stuff up. Gould will continue with no.no.no when in fact it should be yes,yes yes, Rabs will continue " Close to $1B Tv deal(5 year deal) negotiated with 2 FTA channels from the 2013 season and beyond,Fox to pay true value finally. The Blues to win SOO series The G/F will be between the Tigers and the Storm,and there will be more flowing ball movement in 20 minutes of that G/F than we saw in the 2010 one.Stodginess is out,unpredictabiltiy is in.

Wasn't much worse I don't think, they were 2nd when it broke and from memory would have finished 4th in the eventual ladder so they didn't drop off much

Yeah round 4 results don't count for much at the business end. Also the fact that they had $1 million+ more in their squad means it doesn't really matter how they would have gone. I think Melbourne will be competitive next year but are unlikely to be stand-outs. It was pointed out in the article that the Dogs went on to win in 04 after their 02 disqualification but I think the NRL learnt from that. The Dogs were allowed to keep the majority of their squad together by just reducing payments, effectively the scam was shut down but they got to keep the proceeds of their crimes. Their victory in 04 left a bit of a taint on the comp that the NRL were keen not to have happen again which was why they were so adamant Melbourne had to shed players. Of course if Melbourne can rise up and win the thing with their reconfigured team then good luck to them.

"The fact that Melbourne still managed to win 14 matches whilst playing for nothing this year" WRONG! They won some of those games whilst playing for points before the 22nd April. What was their win/loss ratio after that date? Anyone know?

Manly is always a big draw card in Melbourne - with the other three big games being the Warriors, Broncos and Dragons. Good to see that the Storm are playing at Suncorp this year - besides the Dragons and the other Qld sides, this has been the biggest Suncorp game for the past few years. Will be extra special with Inglis on board.