Six talking points from Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels NRL qualifying final

StAdam we are definitely on the same page and I also don't expect refs to be perfect but as we agree this was something else again with the imperfect treatment tipped heavily against one team..

+1 on literally every single point you have just made PD99. Very similar observations to those that I pointed out in an earlier comment. Glad to see I wasn't the only one who saw things that way - and I don't even support Parramatta. A 6-6 penalty count in the 2nd half of the contest I could perhaps understand...6-1 however is just nonsensical. Spot on in regards to the calls made by the refs during the contest. No way am I saying that the refs shuld be perfect (or suggesting that they ever can be) - all the fans are asking for is a little consistency. Chambers laying on the floor for almost 40 seconds and then trying to ark up and start a push and shove contest with Brown after he was trying to pull him up off the floor o play the ball is the epitome of bad sportsmanship. ''The Storm push beyond the boundaries of the rules and play for penalties like no other team.'' 100%. As a neutral fan I'm sick to death of seeing it week in week out. And to top it off then having to constantly read up from the press how amazing they are. The fact of the matter is I will never ever respect any team that plays the way that they did on Saturday.

I don't follow either team here but watching the match I believed that for sure that the Storm won because of poor refereeing. I really hate how Greenburg can say it doesn't happen. The early try from a forward pass was just hopeless work from the ref. Because it was touched he decided that logically a touched ball deflects forward and had started off backwards. This is ridiculous logic. It didn't look anything like a fair try so that is how you are required to rule it without actual evidence otherwise. I am on this site declaring before the finals that the Storm weren't past the post and they could be put off their game. This is what happened and how Brad Arthur reacted after the game doesn't prove that he thought his team was duded. He lives to fight another day unlike the other coaches and maybe he is happy to be where he is now. The knock on ruling which denied Parra a try was just hopeless. Parra also scored a late try from a forward pass but I won't insult your intelligence to suggest that it evened thing up. Greenberg will regret not addressing the forward pass issue as it will come back to bite him hard. Pretending that a competent person in the bunker can't tell what a forward pass looks like after it was missed by the ref is embarrassing. Keep an eye on the GF Todd because a forward pass , which the Bunker will be required to pretend they didn't see, has a great chance of deciding the whole thing. Don't say you weren't warned.

A forward pass is not a "50/50 call" (such an overused, meaningless term = copout). . Mel's 1st try came from a clear forward pass. We saw it, even the touch judge saw it but Cummins chose to overrule. That wasn't the Storm "finding a way". The Eels didn't implode. Pen count 3-4 just in Eels favour at half time but Eels ahead. Go figure. Without undue push back from the ref (yet) and notwithstanding the Storm's first "try", Eels hold their own and in fact leading. But wait, the Storm were the clear celebrated favourites so something has to give. And it does. A ridiculous 2nd half 6-1 penalty count in favour of the Storm which, as it progressively manifested, was sufficient cause for the Eels to show signs of frustration and impatience. Can anyone justify the "knock on" ruling against the Eels which saw them denied a try - I saw NO knock on. The 6 pens against the Eels in the 2nd half comprised two alleged "high" shots which clearly involved Storm players deliberately dropping or ducking their heads low into the defender's arm in the last nanosecond before contact - impossible for a defender to adjust for same. Without that tactic, there is no head contact, for all intents and purposes those tackles were legit. Slater screwed up the play the ball on his own yet bizzaro refereeing in the 2nd half saw the Eels penalised for Slater's own "implosion". As to Storm's "great" 10 pass try which, while tenacious, was in fact scrappy and also saw a number of inactive Storm players loitering on the Eels' defence line , there was a clear offside play involved - pundits will suggest another deflective 50/50 call I suppose? Were the Storm really only guilty of JUST 1 infraction vs the Eels alleged 6 in the 2nd half? Hardly. I see Slater is still allowed to recklessly lash out with his legs whether it be overzealous extrication from a tackle or a deliberately precluding leap for the high ball. The Storm push beyond the boundaries of the rules and play for penalties like no other team. Witting or not, the ref played the perfect accomplice. Not even getting up off the ground to play the ball in the final minute was pathetic. Sorry, the pundits don't like to be wrong but they were - the Storm did not dominate as forecast - in fact. all things being equal, they should've lost... To save face and fulfill a prophecy that wasn't in fact fulfilled by the Storm itself, we now have to read the pundits romantically suggest that the Storm still "found a way" to win vs the contrary notion of the Eels own "implosion" - while turning a complete blind eye to clearly inequitable refereeing that helped paved the "way".

Ok I admit it...every decision that was made by the refs that went against Parra was incorrect. Does that feel better? How do you know the touch judge called it forward? Cummins spent ages checking with the touch judges before he awarded the try. How do you know they didn't sort it out? What about Radradra's last try? The tackle on Slater was complete. He didn't try to play on or run off. He tried to get to his feet, King held his ankle and Alvaro flopped on top of him. It doesn't matter if you watch it in slow mo, normal speed or fast forward. Not one single penalty for a flop? Don't you recall the first half where Harris was penalised for a flop? You may because Parra took a quick tap and Munster (rightly) got binned as a result. Parra scored two tries while he was off the field. Youre looking at the game through one eye and cherry picking decisions. You don't remember or don't mention the ones in your favour and then want to pull apart ones that go against you.

What does that mean? I've watched them objectively all year. I've watched them objectively for years and as a neutral fan I watched Saturdays game objectively. Why is my lens subjective? Objectively what I think most fans want is 50/50s that go their way, which they can then happily forget about. When a 50/50 goes against them it's the worst decision ever, evidence of a conspiracy, NRL in crisis, etc. That's the subjectivity.

Unfortunately, I wasn't trying to be funny - but glad you got a bit of a giggle out of it. I was merely stating my opinion, which if you haven't realised has been posted on literally every single piece of social media posts made by the NRL since Friday night by thousands of different people. The game is fast becoming a laughing stock. What door? I'm not a Parra supporter, my team didn't make the finals. This is coming from a neutral fan of the game. And no, sadly I won't be watching. I am keen however to wait and see what the crowd numbers are like though - let's see if we can get more than 15,000 people at each match this upcoming weekend.

Thank you for the above post. It's hilarious. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Oh - and I bet you'll still tune in to the NRL finals, all of them, for the rest of your miserable life.

Add No.6.. Make sure you undo the shoelaces of the opposition as per the scrum in the 60th minute. Un-named because un-sighted Parra player reaching across the front row and un-doing the opposition players shoelaces.(Twice). I was amazed the commentators either didn't see it or deliberately didn't comment.

Maybe but if you watch it in normal speed it looks very much like slater is trying to break from King (who had barely stopped him). In a flash Slater then "rolls the ball back" when half a foot off the ground to ensure the ref took action. Given consistency of the game where most tackles where held significantly longer and not one single penalty for a flop (which where many) it was a pretty harsh & inconsistent call for that game. It was like not giving a flop all game then calling one in golden point in front of the posts. But then Slater got a penalty for Manu's block when they completely ignored then 2 very obvious ones against Takarangi. Melb were good enough to win the game. It was just disappointing that the ref inconsistencies spoiled it. And yes that first try was clearly forward out of the hands it was right in front of me. The touch judge called it only for Cummins to overrule even though he wasn't in line because he saw there was a touch.

Complete and utter joke of a game. I rank this one as thre most ridiculous out of all 4 games played over the weekend. Anybody defending the actions of certain players or the officiating needs to have a look at how league has been played (and still should be played). It's no wonder our attendance numbers are in decline. The Storm have completely destroyed the way rugby league should be played. Perfected the art of the wrestling technique and every team over the last half a decade have been trying to replicate it. Boring boring boringggg product. I admit Parra were doing it too on the weekend, but so sick of watching the Storm lay all over the ruck. The amount of times I heard the ref yell 'held' or 'move' and then put the whistle to his mouth to simply take it back out and allow play to go on was bewildering. Blow the penalty? You are not allowed to lay on somebody for 5+ seconds. Chambers laying on the floor and wasting close to 40 sseconds of play without a penalty being called - Smith stopping play when a ball was thrown in field and pointing out to a Parra player that his foot was not on the line? What sport am I watching? I've been watching footy for the last 28 and a half years and honestly cannot remember a time I've cared any less for the remainder of the season. Quite enjoyed watching the swannies play over the weekend though, I must say.

Billy has always had those sides to his game. I was trying to explain to a storm supporter why he gets booed much more than any other player. "Well when he gets tackles he acts like he's been shot in the back, when he drops the ball he always seems to get a penalty, when he makes a tackle there always seems to be a "stray" knee or elbow and when someone tries to contest a bomb with him he sticks a boot out in there direction"...and right on cue bingo he won his side the match winning penalty. Great player, but classy? No. Good luck to him, he's got it down to a fine art & it helps win his sides lots of games...

Referee clearly cost parramatta the game.Should of been 16 nil early but yet again Melbourne get all the calls go there way

The storm were lucky as lucky as they come. They threw the ball around aimlessly and scored two lucky tries. Received a lucky penalty that gifted them two points. I could make point after point the list would go on and on about how lucky the storm were. The truth is the storm could hardly do what the eels have done this year. Win week in week out with a depleted squad. Even on Saturday the eels were without two star players and another key player take out Cameron Munster, Billy Slater & Cameron Smith and let's see how well the storm do at ANZ infront of a hostile crowd and bias referees.

Scott so disappointed with the reply I have been back to watching games and some teams get it good and others not.

Barry you actually need to sit down and watch the Storm objectively through the year and make an assessment. The other responders just maybe have some valid ideas and opinions. Not all responders see the game through a subjective lens. Most fan just want it to be 50/50.

noone believes in match fixing?? lol if you dont you are living in a fairyland. same teams [strangely always outside nsw] ALWAYS get the rub of the green

They were beaten 14-6 thanks largely to one phenomenal passage of play involving plenty of skill and also plenty of luck to level the scores. If Parra shut that play down as they should have, I believe they go on to win.

People that like the storm will see it one way, the rest see it another. brad arther summed it up well, storm get consistency, eels got 50/50 calls. But thats my opinion, hopefully eels will get the rub of the green against a melbourne team in a final series one day.

I don't get you all. Parra were far from favourites. They lost by 2 points. Billy Slater is a slime ball player. Ball did go forward it try. Parra didn't deserve a penalty when a player slips and a tackle is then high. How many times were Parra held down too long to slow the game? They tried and did very well against the minor premier team in their home turf.