The Melbourne Storm have opened their 2017 NRL campaign with a hard-fought six-point win over the Canterbury Bulldogs at the Belmore Sports Ground.
The Storm scored two tries in the first eight minutes of the contest and in the end that was all they required, with the Bulldogs proving to be incompetent in attack for much of the contest, despite winning possession and having a mountain of opportunities, they simply couldn’t convert them into points.
Some of that may have been as a result of the weather, with the rain bucketing down at Belmore during the second half and ensuring errors would mount up for both teams after what was a pretty clean first half.
Melbourne won the forward battle in the first half and while they struggled during the second half, their defence was fantastic to keep them in the game.
Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith played the guiding hands early in the contest and had the hosts shell-shocked as they beat the clock early.
The first try came in the third minute through Cheyse Blair, as he ran through the line on the left after a great break from Addo-Carr to stretch the defence, getting the Storm on the board.
It was just moments later the Storm would score again. They rolled back up the field on the next set and it was a lovely kick from Cooper Cronk that saw Vunivalu run through for the easy as you like try, despite the Bulldogs jumpers being all around the kick.
The Storm almost had another couple of tries in the first quarter of an hour, but the Bulldogs defence started to get into the game as Melbourne made a few errors.
Worryingly for Melbourne, Jesse Bromwich headed off early in the contest with a reported broken thumb and could spend some time on the sidelines. What was positive for Melbourne was the fact their pack was able to stand up without one of the best front rowers in the world.
The Bulldogs would gain the ascendancy through the last ten minutes. Picking up three penalties in a row allowed them to gain some momentum and get on the scoreboard through Josh Reynolds after Brenko Lee made a break in the middle of the field.
Like the Storm, Canterbury had a couple of opportunities at the end of the first half but couldn’t capitalise on any of them.
The first six minutes of the second half, along with the final four of the first half saw a 12-on-12 game as both Sam Kasiano and Will Chambers were sent to the sin bin for punching, but the scoring was done for the match with neither team able to seize the opportunity.
Melbourne lost their way at the back end of the first half and while they recovered during the second to play good quality football, they weren’t able to crack the Bulldogs line, the weather turning ugly.
Canterbury controlled possession during the first half, but the errors continued to mount up. Time and time again their spine of Michael Lichaa, Will Hopoate and halves Josh Reynolds and Moses Mbye looked out of their depth, with dropped balls and poor kicking options allowing the Storm to stay in the contest.
In the end, it was Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk who controlled the game through the final ten minutes, kicking for the corners and ensuring the Storm got through their sets. The Bulldogs simply didn’t look like scoring and a lot of questions need to be answered moving forward.
For Melbourne, it’s only taken them one round to establish their defensive dominance and control that guided them to the grand final last year.
Next weekend, the Storm travel across the ditch to take on the New Zealand Warriors while the Bulldogs must turn it around when they face the Sydney Roosters on Thursday night.
Match Statistics
Tries: Bulldogs (1), Storm (2)
Goals: Bulldogs (1/1), Storm (1/2)
Penalty goals: Bulldogs (nil), Storm (1/1)
Possession: Bulldogs: (54%), Storm (46%)
Completions: Bulldogs (29/40), Storm (31/41)
All runs: Bulldogs (181), Storm (163)
All run metres: Bulldogs (1525), Storm (1580)
Line breaks: Bulldogs (2), Storm (3)
Offloads: Bulldogs (15), Storm (6)
Tackles: Bulldogs (315), Storm (346)
Missed tackles: Bulldogs (21), Storm (29)
Penalties: Bulldogs (9), Storm (6)
Errors: Bulldogs (13), Storm (11)
Sin bins: Bulldogs (1 – Sam Kasiano), Storm (1 – Will Chambers)
Final score
Canterbury Bulldogs 6
Melbourne Storm 12
lanette1966
Guest
I don't agree, look at that: http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/match-centre/2016/27/syd-v-wb
Deano70
Guest
Bulldogs are short in the halves, Mbye is a full back ala Ben Barba, and Reynolds needs to straighten up, and be more judicious with his ball running, on numerous occasions in this game he ran his outside players into the sideline. Made a few metres sure, but destroyed the Bulldogs structure in attack. Reynolds doesn't work in a Hasler trained team.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Yes, definitely looking forward to either of those three joining the pack.Vincent has been pretty good in the trials and Tui has very good skills and footwork. Nicholls is a solid first grader. It will be good for them to get some first grade experience. Hopefully Bromich isn't out too long though as he will be needed during Origin.
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
Johnybulldog, you should be happy with Reynolds effort. He almost did for the Bulldogs what Connor Watson did for the Roosters at the Nines, drag them to a win by an individual effort of will.
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
A long year yes but the Dragons are currently on top of the ladder! So Dragons vs Tigers GF? McGregor "Coach of the Year"? Panthers wooden spoon, or Souths?
Benedict Arnold
Roar Rookie
Storm will cover the loss of bromwich, I think, better than a lot of people are letting on. He went off after 8 minutes and Bellamy didn't bring on Young T. who sat on the bench the entire game. The storm basically beat the dogs with 15 men. It is probably a good indication of their tough preseasons and their resilience.They had the same problem last year when they had mclean, harris, munster and green out for a period of time and continued to win. I think some of the guys who went played in the nines will plug the holes well; vincent leilua and mark nicholls both showed good form in the nines and there's tui kamikamica who went well in trials. If the storm can get through the early parts of the season and get slater, bromwich and harris back they should be able to finish the season strong.
PNG Broncos fan88
Guest
http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/03/04/hurricanes-vs-rebels-super-rugby-live-scores-blog-2/ Robert said | 4:43pm | ! Report "That new winger for the rebels who was gifted a test jersey seems like money well spent, not, can’t tackle, loses the ball in the tackle, goes missing in defense and gets ran down with a clear run to the line, what a dark day in Australian rugby when he was gifted a test jersey without even playing" Tsk tsk...could this be Marika??
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
And don't forget "Bozzo", which other club would hand the reins to a clown?
The Barry
Roar Guru
Vunivalu lucky not to be sinbinned as well. Put a huge cheap shot on Kasiano. Also carried on like a pork chop earlier after he went hurdling into a tackle.
The Barry
Roar Guru
He was pretty good Joe. Good effort out of dummy half to put on their first try.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Wasn't too cold but very wet. I saw encouraging signs last night with the halves but conditions didn't help. A couple of passes stick and it could have been different. Melbourne went 72 minutes without scoring as well. It wasn't easy out there.
Silvertail47
Guest
Griffo , Trent Barrett , enough said
Joe
Roar Rookie
I thought Riley Jacks had a very good debut in this game. He was tremendous in defense and picked the side to go for the Storms first. I had watched him in the trials and 9s and was hoping he'd get the nod over Croft purely on his defensive efforts and he was picked and didn't let the side down. Good debut from him and expect to see him there on a regular basis which means if Slater comes back Bellamy will have a big question on where Munster goes.
Griffo
Guest
Except when it buckets down up here it's usually fairly warm so it's less of an inconvenience than being cold. One exception, I was out one night in Townsville in the middle of last year and got caught in the rainbwhen it was 11 degrees and wind chill factor had it feeling at 6 degrees, but that's unusual. Dogs halves are a work in progress. It can't be expected that they'll be immediately brilliant now that they're taking charge more. The main thing is that's what they're trying to do at this point.
Griffo
Guest
Don't you have Blake Green now. I think he's the foil DCE needs to take some pressure off him. Your team tried a lot of different players at 5/8th last year, none with any great success. Green is a tried and tested 5/8th. Additionally you should have Tom Trbojevic playing fullback week in week out which will help build combinations in the spine.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yeah I was impressed with both of those guys MAX. RFM stopped in the pouring rain on his way to the sheds to say g'day to my kids and give them a high five. Big smiles all round. Fualalo had his best game in first grade. I was unsure last season but he ran hard and often last night.
MAX
Guest
The aptly named Raymond Faitala - Mariner was most impressive and Bulldog Brenko Lee will prove to be a major signing. Canterbury need a traffic cop and review of 2012 pack passing plays. Next Thursday at 8PM Canterbury play Easts who play Titans tonight at 9PM which means that Easts have a five day turn round. This difficult match will show where the Bulldogs season stands. No team, even the great Melbourne Storm can cope with two highly respected international forwards being on the injured list for eight weeks. That is how long the club may have to suffer the absence of Tohu Harris and Jesse Bromwich. They play the Warriors in Rounds 2 and 8. How Bellamy handles this will serve as a lesson to all in how to deal with such a calamity. The curse of the KPI list.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Not too bothered by the performance. I'm still not stoked about Hopoate at fullback, but I thought Lichaa was better than he's been in two years. I'm not sure Graham and Tolman together for the first 20-30 minutes are ideal. Also need to find a way to get quicker play the balls. Storms defensive line was set all night. Yeah, it doesn't sound like much fun sitting in the pouring rain watching footy, but it was. Big game first up for the Cows tonight. Should be a cracker...good luck.
Joe
Roar Rookie
I was very impressed with that Storm performance even though they didn't score for the last 70 mins. They lost Bromich and didn't play Young T off the bench so basically went with a 2 bench rotation for 70 mins of the game against a very good Bulldogs pack. Edge of seat stuff for a Storm fan cause the Dogs were a threat especially in the last 60 mins and the Storm were barely hanging on. I thought the Dogs attack was definitely better than last year but the last passes were not sticking and some handling errors due to the atrocious conditions. I also though the Dogs bench were very impressive led by Sam Kasiano who really turned the tide in the Dogs favor when he came on and blunted them when he was binned. Danny Fualalo and Faitala-Mariner also had powerful carries when they came on. I think the weather favored the Storm for this game something Bellamy acknowledged in the presser as they were under the pump for most of it. I reckon both teams will have good years.
Aardvark62
Roar Rookie
Not the Kilgore Trout of Birchgrove Scorpions fame ???? Pointers have got off to a good start. Agree with your comments though as went for the Bulldogs based on no Harris, Proctor and Green. Bellamy has the knack and the Storm do enjoy winning the Round 1 games.