Something very odd happened in the game between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Melbourne Storm yesterday but truth be told it was just one moment in a very bizarre afternoon of rugby league at Kogarah.
The Dragons were eventual winners of the game 34-14 and very well-deserved ones at that. After it appeared the Storm had turned a corner in the last three weeks with some dominant performances where they scored 21 tries in three games, the lack of ball control and overall ill-discipline we saw earlier in the season returned. It was difficult to watch.
As for the Dragons, if you had any doubts about whether they are the team to beat in season 2018, they should no longer exist in your mind. It’s time we all started talking them up without fear.
The Dragons were absolutely exceptional and are a beautifully put together football team, made up of forwards that can make metres up the middle like James Graham and Leeson Ah Mau, forwards that hit hard in defence like Tariq Sims, forwards with ball-playing ability like Jack de Belin and Tyson Frizell, and then some controlled halves and flair in the backline through the likes of Nene McDonald, Euan Aitken and Matt Dufty.
The only thing that possibly outshone the Dragons’ performance was the sight of a perfect autumn day with a heaving hill at Kogarah. A strong Dragons outfit is good for the game, with over 19,000 packing out the hill on Sunday afternoon.
The next couple of paragraphs are not intended to take away from St George’s performance. They were deserving winners.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
But I want to take you to a couple of odd moments during the game.
The first was back in the 17th minute when Josh Addo-Carr was denied a certain try (and by certain, I mean he certainly crossed the try-line).
This call changed the course of the game. The Storm are unlikely to have won because they played poorly, but it certainly would have put the match on a different course. It’s rare that I give so much emphasis to one call, particularly because I am someone that believes that decisions in the game sometimes go your way and other times do not.
There was some miscommunication between the referees which, despite resulting in a favourable decision toward Melbourne, really ended up being an advantage for the Dragons because the Storm were unable to score off that ensuing penalty and had gone on to score if play had been able to continue.
Despite Addo-Carr diving over the try line for a certain try, we saw the play called back to award the Storm with a penalty because of an interference in Sam Kasiano’s play-the-ball by Cameron McInnes.
Apparently, Matt Cecchin did not hear the call made by assistant referee Chris Butler who was trying to call play back. Unfortunately by that point, Cecchin was following the ball as it went to Slater who then put it in the hands of Addo-Carr for a try.
According to the rules, play was unable to continue because the play-the-ball had been unacceptable.
After the decision was made, Cameron Smith was clearly ropeable. At one point, I thought he was going to get sent to the sin bin again for dissent. I can understand his frustration particularly because the advantage was meant to be in favour of his team.
Had that try been awarded, the scores could have been locked up at 10-10. Instead, play continued and the Dragons went into halftime with a 12-4 lead.
What a bizarre passage of play where, despite having scored in the corner from the ensuing play, the Storm eventually ended up with a penalty which saw them leave the Dragons’ red zone with no points because of ‘unacceptable conduct from the defender’.
I wonder how this decision changed the course of the game and what impact it had on the Storm mindset for the remainder of the game because they didn’t really recover.
We could talk about this decision for the rest of the week, but the reality is the Storm did themselves no favours for the rest of the game. Their performance was marred by constant errors, ill-discipline and forward pass after forward pass. Melbourne conceded 11 penalties and made 14 errors in an effort that can be best described as ‘scrappy’.
It was one of those games where I wish Fox had an option to press the red button for ‘Bellamy cam’.
(AAP Image/Paul Miller)
It was also one of the first times I’ve ever felt for the Storm as a team, particularly when I saw Cameron Smith collapsed in the defensive line after he was hit below the belt by Jeremy Latimore, leaving a gap for McInnes to go through to score another Dragons try.
I’m wondering if that conduct will be reviewed by the match review committee later this week, particularly after Smith made reference to it post-match.
Credit to Craig Bellamy, who used his time in the post-match press conference to admit the obvious – the Storm still have some work to do to catch up to the Dragons who he called ‘the benchmark without a doubt’.
Despite an afternoon for the Storm that they would certainly rather forget there, was one shining light: Josh Addo-Carr.
As a Blues fan, I’m hopeful he has done enough to have earned himself a place in the New South Wales State of Origin squad.
He scored a hat-trick yesterday and now has nine tries in his last four games. He’s also scored at least two tries in his last four games. His speed and ability to find the try line would be very welcome in the Blues squad.
Where to for the Storm from here? They must draw a line in the sand and forget that game against the Dragons as quickly as possible. They head back to Melbourne now for their next game on Saturday night against a desperate Gold Coast Titans squad.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
You have to take his velocity into account. He was probably running > 4 feet per second.
KenoathCarnt
Guest
11 penalties to 6 plus like 5 pen goals that is unheard of and was Dragons game to lose. Plus a direct groin punch on Smith which lead to a direct try very dirty play from Dragons. Also a disallowed try to Storm. Rediculous what refs are doing to this game.
Raugeee
Guest
Titans defeated the Storm 38-36 in the corresponding double header last year. Entertaining match with the lead changing several times. Not expecting that this year though.
soapit
Guest
EVEN gould? he's constantly moaning about his pet issues
Albo
Guest
They are missing Cronk's structured options especially on their right side attack along with his bombing of the wings. That's why Kaufusi is being used far less on the right edge the way Cronk used to pick him out. And Vunivalu too is getting starved of opportunities. A lot of this problem I think is due to Slater who is overplaying his role on both sides of the attack trying to create stuff that Cronk previously ran. Slater just doesn't have the same poise and control for that role and is wasting a lot of opportunities with poor passes, poor kicks and wrong options. The left side is less impacted as Munster still runs that edge as he did last year and hence Addo-Carr is still getting plenty of opportunities.
JVGO
Guest
Hunt's pass to Aitken was also clearly forward which is becoming a bit of a theme week after week. You'd imagine that eventually, at least by the end of the season, the refs will begin to pick this out, the same way they are beginning to pick out other habitual forward passers.
Digby
Roar Guru
Thanks Mary. I guess for me it is about small margins and you cannot underestimate the difficulty for sides to reach optimum playing levels week in and week out. Warriors beat the Dragons, Storm thump Warriors, (who turned the Tigers over the next round who beat the Storm twice this year) Dragons beat Storm, home advantage appears to have played its part, lends to the excitement of a great comp, tipping nightmare. Will be interesting to see if these issues highlight continue through the season. Cheers.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Thanks for the insight Joe, forgot they were missing Bromich and Glasby. Covering missing players isn't a massive deal in a single game but week after week it can take its toll. NAS has certainly shown his potential and he's definately in the right system to reach it.
Joe
Roar Rookie
You could be right, maybe he needs a Bellamy rocket to get going. They just don't look as fluid without Cronk down that left edge and he's also not getting those pinpoint kicks that made up about a 3rd of his tries last year. Its not only him but Kaufusi isn't scoring like he was last year so the combo definitely isn't working. His errors though are all his own and that is what is really worrying and affecting the team.
Tom
Guest
Well why wasn't Smith penalised for the initial elbow to Latimore's face?
Albo
Guest
There is no logical excuses for Vunivalu's poor form ? He was virtually faultless in his play before this season. What is going on in his head ? Maybe Cronk is gone , but he is still playing beside 3 of best players in our game with Smith, Slater & Chambers regularly combining on his side of the field. They can't be impacting on his poor handling and defensive positioning ? I think he needs a Bellamy bollocking to get his mind back on the job.
Emcie
Roar Guru
So the "certain events" you didn't like him disscussing in the presser was actually just one specific event then one you get called out on it? Though I'm not sure that saying a guy should be binned for complaining about the opposition being rewarded for foul play is much better. At any rate, Smith and Bellamy were pretty diplomatic in the press conference considering, especially compared to others this round
Ray Paks
Roar Rookie
W H I N G E R A L E R T ! ! !
Gary Harvey
Guest
Spot on Spruce Moose. Forward passes and knock ons are two areas of the game we need to go back to the basics on.
CTSTORM
Guest
We will see you in R17 mate. You have a good crowd there helping the ref with forward pass call. Your beloved drag queen will not be no1 come September. You may have to buy a few more players from the Strom and Broncos to help you out next year. .
Albo
Guest
I agree Emcie. The first half was abysmal by both sides with errors & penalties in abound. Once Smith was "nutted" early in the 2nd half, the game was a forgone conclusion, despite good efforts from Munster & Slater to try to pull it out of the fire. I am not going overboard on the Dragons forecast at this stage. They are travelling comfortably with no injuries to their squad, but they are still beatable, and it may be on again this week against the Bunnies, who nearly nailed them late earlier in the season. Both teams should be at full strength and this looks a great match up on Sunday at ANZ. As for the Storm, it was just one of those days when nothing went right. Smith had half a game, Slater trying to compensate made a heap of errors, the rest had dropped balls , forward passes , & missed tackles everywhere. Best this one be forgotten about, and look ahead to next week. I doubt they will be that bad again this year.
Joe
Roar Rookie
NAS is pretty frustrating at times. He has the ability to be the best front rower in the game but he really needs to get those errors out of his game. He actually started the year in outstanding form, was one of the most consistent Storm players during their poor start but lately he has had errors creep into his game. I think Bellamy should put him back to the bench and be an impact player for a few games or rotate the starts. I guess with both Bromich and Glasby out he had no choice but I think he really looks like he needs a break. He is only 22 years old and played nearly every game last season with finals series plus the World Cup with NZ. That's a lot for a 22 year old playing in the middle. Also agree on Vunivalu, the combo down his edge isn't working and they've tried Croft and now Jacks. He needs to however cut his error rate or he will be dropped.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Agree that the Storm have work to do as regardless of call etc it still was a 20 point thrashing. While watching live it seemed the Storm were dudded but if you listen to the Refs audio while the play was unfolding you can understand how it happened as the pocket ref was shouting but Chechin was following the play. I can also understand Smiths view as Kasiano actually played the ball correctly so it wasn't an unacceptable play the ball but a penalty for the Dragons player infringing so he thought it should have been an advantage play but as Bellamy said it was correct ruling. End of the day they made too many errors and their right side attack isn't firing at all even with Jacks. That right hand side were the best attacking side last year with Vunivalu highest try scorer in the comp. This year the left side with Munster/JAC are picking up a bit of the slack but they need both sides firing to challenge for the premiership. As a Storm fan I'm actually not too worried even though they lost by 20. Its not because of the missing players...they wouldn't make up a 20 point difference and the guys who replaced them did pretty well. Its just that I thought even with their limited amount of ball and new guys coming in they still looked pretty dangerous and broke the Dragons defence several times with a few tries called back. Billy needs to fix his forward passes which spoiled a few attacking shots...especially with Hoffman who seems to overrun the ball but I think that's a timing issue they can sort out. Vunivalu was way off and we know he can play a lot better than that, same with NAS. I also think this Dragons outfit is pretty much replicating what the Storm did last year with their dominant performances. They've lost only one game and we're over a third way into the season. I also think they'll do okay over Origin as one of their games is against the Storm who also lose out in Origin so battle of the reserves. I still think Storm should make the finals and will be interesting if they do meet again in September and if Storm have sorted out their issues by then.
Brett Griffiths
Guest
Storm had the opportunity to take the 2 off the penalty and get the ball back from the kickoff. Maybe Cam Smith just chose the wrong option in this case.
Nat
Roar Guru
No need to refer to the rule book, the pocket ref was calling it before the try was scored but thought he only needed talk to them, not blow the whistle. You reckon Slater heard the pocket ref saying "No No, that's unacceptable" from where he was in a try scoring position? It's not wrong, just poor form.