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The Melbourne Storm have maintained their undefeated start to the 2013 season by holding off a desperate Bulldogs fightback to win the grand final rematch 22-18 at Melbourne’s AAMI Park this evening.
Speculation about whether Ben Barba would return for the Bulldogs dominated the lead-up to this match, and the Storm were preparing as though he would play. Eventually, he was left out of the Bulldogs squad with Drury Low replacing him at fullback.
This was the teams’ first meeting since last year’s grand final, which Melbourne won 14-4. Melbourne remain virtually the same team, while the Bulldogs entered the match minus Barba and James Graham, still suspended from an incident in which he bit the ear of Billy Slater in last year’s decider.
Melbourne entered the match in good form, defeating the Dragons and the Cowboys in their first two matches while the Bulldogs split their two openers, losing to the Cowboys before defeating Parramatta last week.
The first half of the match was as intense as a half of football would get. There were no points in the first quarter of the match, until Ryan Hinchcliffe broke through to open the Storm’s account in the 22nd minute. A further try to Mahe Fonua saw the Storm enter the half-time break leading 10-0.
This meant that the Bulldogs had been held scoreless in its last 80 minutes of football, also not scoring a point in the second half of its victory over Parramatta last week.
The second half of this match did not start without controversy, with Billy Slater being booked for putting his feet into Bulldogs prop David Klemmer. Sam Perrett would break the Bulldogs’ duck from the resultant penalty in the 43rd minute to reduce the scoreline to 10-6.
Another 20 minute scoreless period continued, during which Cooper Cronk had a try dismissed due to a Storm obstruction. However, two tries in the space of five minutes would see the Storm out to a 22-6 lead and it appeared the premiers had the match won.
But the Bulldogs would hit back with a five-minute, two-try burst of their own – to Krisnan Inu and Kris Keating – to bring the scores back to 22-18 with five minutes to play. What followed was a desperate Bulldogs attack and when the Storm dropped the ball with two minutes remaining, the Dogs could smell victory, but couldn’t find the killer blow, leaving the Storm to hang on for a four-point win.
With this victory, Melbourne maintain their undefeated record against the Bulldogs at AAMI Park, and at home since 2005. While their premiership defence appears on track, any chances the Bulldogs have of repeating last year’s run seem like an uphill battle.
There’s still 21 matches left for them to finish in the top four, which should be enough time. But on the basis of tonight’s performance, it appears the Bulldogs will need Ben Barba back next week before their season takes another turn for the worse.
Next week, the Storm are away to the Broncos while the Bulldogs are at home to South Sydney in what should be a cruncher of a match.
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