Stewart breaks Beaver's record as Manly pip Storm

STORM ROBBED YET AGAIN!!!! CRAIG Bellamy is not allowed to say anything. But we can say it - poor and inconsistent officiating on a weekly basis continues to plague the NRL. Not once but twice was Melbourne Storm denied tries that should have been awarded in its 24-22 loss to arch rivals Manly at Brookvale Oval on Saturday night, Already riled by the scheduling of another five-day turnaround for consecutive away games, Storm officials will on Monday ask the head bosses in Sydney for a “please explain.” The NRL will most likely admit to a mistake or two, but little good it will do. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/nick-smart-says-the-nrl-must-act-on-the-refereeing-inconsistency-that-plagues-rugby-league/story-fnp0lyn2-1227264022719

I hope the Manly backs don't latch into opportunities that quickly on Friday night! :-)

I understand that Archer is going to review those decisions. Well good on you Tony but if you find that the Storm were hard done too, how are you going to redress the situation ? Are you going to take the points off Manly and give them to the Storm ? I very much doubt that. What we need is a Captains challenge where the captain of a team is allowed to challenge the ref on any penalty or try / no try incident in a match. Such a challenge would force the ref to defer to the video ref for the decision. Each Captain should get 2 challenges per game but if any challenge is upheld then the captain gets that challenge back. That would help over come this complete sense of injustice in a game like this where it appears that the ref is siding with any one team.

Add that to the list of changes needed around contract negotiations. Starting with pushing the transfer period to after the season :)

Huge game TB! Im not sure our pack is ready for the monsters you guys have but it was still nice to see the team gel a little more last night.

Nice summary JH - I miss not getting to Brookie Haha yeah on Mason's first hit-up I was off the couch cheering him on, happy to see a bit of grunt in those old legs making metres. A weird feeling....

Big game next Friday eJ!!!

Agree, a contract is just that. A cooling of period of 1-2 weeks max..along the real estate lines.

You're right on about the 2 points - such a relief. Had the good fortune of viewing the match from behind the Storm bench - Lui and Trbojevic shots were the hits of the summer, how good is the sound of live contact!! I still need to view replay from a technical perspective but there were plenty of calls that had fans on both sides firing. Manly's second half fade outs a concern although their goal line defence much better than v Eels. Great to see DCE deliver and without much heckling from the fans. Although, failure to find touch stretched the friendship. Snake in full flight another highlight. 10,500 was disappointing but not unexpected after a rough few weeks - need more though to edge in front commercially. Cheering for Willie at Brooky, still shaking my head but he bent the line at times. Matai's presence certainly sparked unity among the group, great to see the guys huddle in centre field afterwards. Cam Smith spray from close range the lucky break Manly needed.

The NRL should change the rules so he can't back out from their deal.

It's a possibility. You'd be crazy to go to a team like the Titans just to chase a bit more cash when you're likely to earn more staying at a team like Manly as you'll perform better, make more finals, make more rep teams and have the lustre of a one club man, look at Minichiello

Correct me if I'm wrong but DCE still has till round 13 to change his mind about leaving. Ife he keeps seeing the coast getting thumped by 40 points each week and Manly can get on with playing football ....... could he possibly stay ??? Same for Foran

Great game by both teams. DCE played great, Stewart was his usual self at Brookie and the Storm rallied to almost take it at the end. Manly still seem to have 2nd half issues but did enough to hold on. The left side edge of Storm was exposed and they'll need to improve or they will continue to be targeted. A couple of dubious calls by the ref but all in all a great game between two modern day rivals. Now for the Roosters v Rabbits this arvo.

I thought the crowd looked quite good. And they certainly made some noise. The stands were full, and the hill looked reasonably packed. Behind the posts was sparse. The same crowd at the Titans would have been recorded as 19-20k. I think the NRL needs to embrace smaller stadiums. Even a crowd of last night's size looks and sounds good on TV. And let's face it NRL fans aren't going to suddenly turn up to games in the future. On average they have always been small. With technology the way it's going more and more will watch the game from the comfort of their lounge rooms.

The way the media hammered manly all week it is a surprise any manly fan was in a positive mood to turn up.

Brett Stewart must be the fullback for the NSW SOO. I have been saying this for so long and the reason is that he is the best we have without a doubt.

Boohoo have a cry. Unlucky on one occasion yes but the other no try was a clear double movement. The Storm player clearly used his legs to propel himself in a 2nd effort at the try line after his elbow holding the ball had hit the ground. Also a Storm try was scored later after getting another set of 6 after a clear incorrect ruling saying the ball had come off a Manly players head. Swings and roundabouts suck it up.

Yes, this was another compelling spectacle between these two teams but why on earth could this fixture only muster 10,000 fans? These two teams deserve to be playing before many, many more people than that. Indeed the whole round has seen some absolutely dismal attendances thus far.

I thought both teams suffered from poor reffing at different stages, the penalising of Cameron Smith for his grubbiness in the ruck is a first. Slater was kept pretty quiet and Cronk doesn't like the tough stuff so kicked and didn't run enough. I'm not a Manly fan but I was ok with the result.

Happy to bag the 2 points and move onto next week. Been a tough week for the club but they turned up last night which was pleasing to see. Liked the aggression from Burgess and JSL. Lui was hard in defence. And Trbojevic certainly has a bright future. Was fuming that he wasn't used til the 75th minute when it was clear we were a little gassed. Great first up tackle from him. Certainly not the best pack in the comp but they just need to do enough to unleash the potent backline. Well done to the Storm for their never say die attitude. Both clubs are a little on the wane but have provided some epic battles over the years.