If the Melbourne Storm can play as poorly as they did in Townsville and still manage an 18-12 victory against a much-improved Cowboys side, I’m not sure who stops them from winning their fourth legitimate premiership.
The Roosters will probably have the most to say in terms of disputing that line of thinking, yet a Melbourne team that dropped the ball consistently, failed to complete sets, and drove their intense and manic coach to the point of exasperation still managed to find their way through the mire and secure their fifth victory of the season.
Frankly, there were moments where they were awful, perhaps preoccupied by the pending achievement of Cameron Smith and his inevitable eclipse of the all-time point-scoring record of Bulldogs great Hazem El Masri.
That moment came early in the second half, after a penalty gifted the Storm two points and levelled the scores at eight apiece.
Prior to the break, Melbourne’s errors had seen the home side build an 8-0 lead, before a late try to Will Chambers brought the visitors well within reach as the teams entered the sheds.
After Smith’s record-breaking penalty, Josh Addo-Carr scored twice. One came from a stunning piece of ingenuity from Jahrome Hughes, who skipped away from dummy-half and laid on a try with a cleverly weighted kick into Addo-Carr’s corner.
There was a late flourish from the home side and Ben Hampton did manage to score in the 73rd minute to set up a grandstand finish.
In the final moments, North Queensland had opportunities to pull off a miracle, yet that is rarely achieved against the discipline of Craig Bellamy’s side – a discipline they rediscovered in the second half.
It was another nail in the early-season coffin of Queensland football.
The Cowboys plummeted to their fourth loss from five matches and the Brisbane Broncos did the same against the Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium.
Thankfully the events on the Gold Coast in the earlier Friday night match saved some face for the Sunshine State.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Even so, the three northern teams have just three wins between them from a combined 15 matches and, if not for the Bulldogs, the Queensland trio would occupy the bottom three rungs on the ladder.
The Titans scrapped and scraped their way to a thrilling win over the Panthers at Cbus Super Stadium, snatching their first competition points of the season.
To say the 30-24 victory was an attacking one, with defence as a secondary consideration, would be an understatement.
Points flowed from the early stages and Garth Brennan’s boys looked more fluid throughout.
Three first-half tries had the Titans in front at the break. Penrith managed two of their own, with Gold Coast errors under the high ball playing a key role in the 18-12 halftime score.
Cleary Inc. appeared to click into gear early in the second half, with James Fisher-Harris and Josh Mansour crossing to establish an eight-point lead for the visitors, but the Titans were not to be denied.
Jarrod Wallace and Bryce Cartwright crossed the stripe, the latter via a penalty try decision, as the home side held on grimly for their first win of the season.
The two points fail to elevate Gold Coast above the bottom of the ladder at this stage, yet do provide some reward for a team that battled hard over the first month with key personnel on the bench.
With those personnel back, they look more threatening.
As for the Cowboys? It’s hard to tell.
The forward pack is nowhere near the standard that many pre-season experts claimed it to be and the connectivity through the halves is somewhat lacking.
The Broncos looked terrible against the Tigers in terms of their shape and organisation.
Curiously, the only team that Brisbane have muscled their way past this season is the Cowboys.
Could it be that the three franchises north of the border accumulate the majority of their 2019 points from matches against each other?
Paul
Roar Guru
I very much favour a captains challenge for that sort of thing Aiden. You're right, the refs have gone too far the other way in calling knock-ons that aren't even close. Smith copped one last night that would have been easily overturned if he could have challenged that ruling and there have been many others in the opening 4 rounds.
Aiden
Guest
What I hate are the balls called knock ons that roll a meter or two back. And then very occasionally they aren't. In the NRL, they err on the side of every dropped ball being a knock on, why not change the rules then so there is no ambiguity. Make it like touch footie, because that is what it resembles at times. You see balls that are clearly not knock ons get called as a knock on every single game.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
I agree. That's why I wrote "more fluid". They weren't great but certainly better in attack than the Panthers.
mushi
Roar Guru
I'm not sure it was actually that fluid in attack from the GC. They seemed incredibly predictable, sets often stalled and it was more that penrith were miserable in cleaning up 5th tackle plays when they were set in defense. More worryingly the titans defensive pattern should have been torn apart by Cleary. The GC line was seemed to alternate between over committing to the outside shoulder/gap or massively rushing outside in. He should have been ripping that over commitment apart.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Another 5-0 start to the season does not mean premiership or even top four. It goes to show however the consistently good starts that the Storm have to hit the ground running. This is their 5th 5-0 start to the season so roughly a quarter of the time Storm start 5-0 which really is a ridiculously good stat. Almost as ridiculous as winning their first game of the season for the last 16 years. That said they have looked pretty poor the last two weeks and the biggest test will come next week when they face the Roosters. If they give the Roosters the amount of possession they gave the Cowboys the game will be over by halftime same as the GF last year. Really happy with the Titans first win of the season. I really hope it is the start of a successful season as their lineup is ridiculously talented. I have to say though they don't seem to have much of a defensive structure especially goal line defense. They cannot just outpoint their opposition like they did last night and will struggle against good defensive sides unless they learn to defend. Great to see Michael Gordon have such a great game on his 250 milestone. He is definitely one of the good guys in the league and good to see him going well.
Paul
Roar Guru
Give the refs and touch judges credit, they're calling more and more forward passes, which is a good thing, but I'm blowed if I can understand how they missed that forward pass that led to Hampton's try against the Storm? It was called 2 metres forward in the game and it wasn't but for sure it was neither flat nor back. I'm also not clear why Munster didn't do more about that eye gouging incident? Thankfully the footage should be clear enough for the NRL to take action, but I don't get why a player can't have a quiet word in the refs ear and ask them to include something in their after match report, so it can be looked at without making a fuss on the field?
Joe
Roar Rookie
Crofts defense has vastly improved which gives me a lot of hope. I did not think he would survive in a Bellamy team with his weak defense as he is a small body but it looks like he has worked hard on it. Took on Mcleand and Cooper in one on one tackles last night and so far this season has put his body on the line a few times.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
The Storm won’t go through the season undefeated. If the referees go back to cracking down on dences trying to slow down the play the ball and allow a fast game they will lose more than just a game or two. Currently the Storm are being allowed to play the game at their own pace. I doubt that will be the case for the entire season.
M
Guest
The storm should win this comp. Would not be surprised if they go thru undefeated this year. Billy easily replaced, Cronk not so but this team are always a team. Forget the big 3 myth. Storm are the big 17. Apart from Smith, everyone in that team can be replaced because of their "team" mentality. The Cows need a better backline to take advantage of their big go forward and perhaps more time to gel.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Clinical defence scares any team.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Their best quality is that they scare the heck out of every other side in the competition. Everyone fears the Storm and that is a great card to have in the deck each week. They can be beaten, but something near the perfect game is required.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
I agree in regards to Slater and Cronk. A lot now rests on Croft's shoulders. He needs to keep developing for the Storm to threaten deep into the finals. I think he will. He is another in the long line of Bellamy stars that just keep on coming. Hughes showed a lot in attack last night. What an amazingly consistent and high performing team.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
If the Storm can win the title it will be a massive achievement after losing Slater and Cronk. Very few seasons follow the script which appears to be unfolding this early in a season however and typically a couple of under performing teams start to fire up towards the end of Winter. I've been wondering for along time why teams aren't kicking for speedsters like Addo Carr from a scrum win a long way out. The poor old Cows look like a mid range team at the moment and maybe that's what they've become. I remember someone saying a while back that some teams like the Cows and Broncos were a fixture in the top eight but history shows that most teams have lean spells.
RandyM
Guest
this is just typical Storm, they hit the ground running season after season. So consistent and clinical however when it comes to the business end of the season they sometimes can't find the next gear. I can see that happening this year. Storm will cruise to a top 3 finish but some other red hot team will come over the top of them in the finals.