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In a game that did not reach any great heights the Storm blew the Titans off the park in the second half to stay in the race for fourth spot.
>>MATCH REPORT: Melbourne Storm overpower Titans 36-14
The Titans looked good early on after some nice play by the halves got them to an 8-0 lead. However, you could tell by the Storm’s inability to place the ball on the try line on four occasions that it was only a matter of time until they go it right.
Cronks running game in the second half coupled with Munsters superb supporting skills blew the awful Titans defence off the park in the second half and added to the Titans miserable season.
STORM 36
TITANS 14
The seventh-placed Melbourne Storm will play host to the fourteenth-placed Gold Coast Titans at AAMI Park Stadium this Sunday afternoon. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary of all the action from 2:00pm (AEST).
The Storms’ finals run was put to a stuttering halt last week after suffering a shock defeat at the hands of a white hot Wests Tigers side. Conversely, the Titans escaped from a half-time deficit against the Eels to notch up their first win and avoid slumping to six losses in a row.
The last time these two teams met, last season, it was pre-Origin and a starless game that saw the Storm side snap a two-game losing streak and win 24-20 on Monday night footy.
Today these two teams will have completely different objectives coming into the game. While the Titans will want to gain some confidence with the semi-finals all but an impossibility, the Storm will want to firstly win and secondly win comfortably to not only solidify their spot in the top eight but improve their for-and-against to avoid any surprises coming into the last few round of the season.
The only change for the Storm today is Tim Glasby will start in the front row for Antonio Kaufusi who drops backs to the bench.
For the Titans, Nate Myles will return as captain and take his place in the front row which means Eddy Pettybourne moves onto the extended bench where he will be joined by Lachlan Burr and Daniel Mortimer.
For the Storm to win, their big three in Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Kenneath Bromwich will obviously need to play well. However, their centres Will Chambers and Tohu Harris will need to be on their game defensively as most of the Titans attack comes from their outside backs.
The Titans will look to exploit the edge of Harris and Marika Koroibete, who showed last week they can be burnt for speed – and the Titans with James Roberts certainly have a lot of that.
For the Titans, Aiden Sezer and Kane Elgey will need to control the game and kick well with the majority of tries for the Titans this year coming from kicks.
Prediction
If the last two games the Strom have played at AAMI park are anything to go by, they will win this game comfortably and I can’t see anything different happening today. The Titans pack certainly have the names to match it up front with the Storm however at AAMI Park against a Storm side who were so poor the week before they will need to be on their game for the entire eighty minutes.
Storm by 22
Will Melbourne get back into the winners circle and solidify their spot in the right? Or will the Titans crash the party and make it two on the trot?
Join The Roar Sunday afternoon from 2:00pm (AEST) for live scores, updates and debate in our live blog.
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