The Melbourne Storm will be favoured to flex their premiership muscle when they tackle wooden spoon contenders the Parramatta Eels today. Join us for live scores from 3.00pm AEST.
Melbourne found themselves in a real arm wrestle against Newcastle last week but showcased tremendous defensive resolve to secure a 23-10 victory away from home.
Back in their AAMI Park fortress, the Storm will be expected to pile on the points against Parramatta as they continue to maintain their strong winning momentum with finals football just around the corner.
The Eels are coming off a morale boosting win over the Tigers and also pushed Brisbane up at Suncorp Stadium last week.
With Melbourne firing at the right time of the season however, the Storm are very capable of putting on a cricket score this afternoon if the home side manages to start quickly.
Prediction
Melbourne would have to be terribly off their game today if the Eels are to cause arguably the biggest upset of the season.
With key stars Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Cameron Smith all in fine form for Melbourne, all signs point to a very one sided Storm victory.
Given that they have nothing to lose, the Eels do possess the potential to cause some trouble if they can somehow score the opening try against the run of play.
The Storm have lost their way at times this season when they concede opening points and may do so yet again if they fail to put the Eels to the sword in the first half.
Melbourne’s players may also have one eye on next week’s blockbuster clash against Manly, meaning the Eels may catch the Storm off guard if they play error free and disciplined football.
A loss today however will be intolerable for Storm coach Craig Bellamy, and he will demand nothing less than a complete performance from the reigning premiers.
With this in mind, the Storm should show up with the intensity required to win very comfortably at home.
Storm by 36
Teekay
Guest
Storm lost the last game because of their reluctance to convert easy penalties. Don't know whether this had any bearing on their performance today. In a word "AWESOME" or was the opposition totally out of it?
JR Salazar
Guest
How does this same side have lost to Canberra earlier this year? Chew on that, will ya?
JR Salazar
Guest
This is a surprise: the Storm doing work in recent weeks. A breath of fresh air.
Barry
Guest
How in the modern game does a side score 52 points in a half? Is Ricky Stuart the worse coach in the NRL of all time?
mushi
Guest
Nah cause you'll spend 600k outbidding the incumbent teams for some fringe playermakers and then not leave enough cap room to keep your own juniors.
Pudd
Guest
Felt sorry for the eels today- they genuinely looked like they kept trying hard but just had no idea how to stop the destruction happening -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Thunder
Guest
Ricky Stuart is the biggest joke in the NRL
The eye
Guest
How about you nominate the team YOU support to drop out..
Silver_Sovereign
Guest
Time to cull 2 teams with the NRL. There is not enough talent to go around, its too watered down. I think the Sharks and another of the Sydney teams should drop out
Roarsome
Guest
There's too many teams in the comp for the talent we have. We either spread the talent we do have even thinner and lower the standard of play or shed a few clubs.
daniel p
Guest
Next week should be a great game hopefully manly don't start any fights
daniel p
Guest
Agreed he seems to be stuck in the 90's
Ozziejoebujjere
Guest
R.Stuart is the greatest coaching myth ever perpetrated on the league public.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
Looks like the Eels's craptacular season spells nothing but absolute bumper crowds for da Wanderers for HAL season #9 :-)
Liz
Guest
Loved the games by the new blokes. Golden era in Forwards for the next 10 years, me thinks.
aaron
Guest
why doesn't ricky stuart get grilled by the media he cant coach
Doug Graves
Guest
How on earth can Parra be close to spending their cap this year? And how can the Storm with the same cap, be so vastly superior? I thought the purpose of the cap was to try and prevent this rubbish from being served up to the public. The Parra board should be sacked by the NRL and they should take over the running of the club.
Marldon
Guest
That just gave me a great belly laugh.
Dave
Guest
Eels are looking good