Who can really challenge the Melbourne Storm this season?

That win against Broncos was a "false economy" as Geyer puts it. The Broncos were diabolical so you can't gauge good form on that performance.

Manly beat them. So manly.

Looking at the Storm on paper I can't see them winning another GF. Bellamy does an amazing job to squeeze the most out of every single player during the season but when the whips are cracking the Roosters have more strike power and I also think the Sharks have their measure too. In saying that they will be very hard to beat but I see Brodie Croft as a weakness and i am expecting Hughes to be exposed at some stage too.

Trouble is Randy , its hard to get the ball off Wighton. He doesn't like to pass it often. He's a good runner of the ball , but a solid defensive line can contain him with few other options to worry about. Whitehead is a beauty , but he only gets the ball from hit ups to start sets. Croker is the centre that side who doesn't get enough ball from Wighton, and what little he gets he usually hangs onto it too. So when Cotric returns to the left wing ( if Joey comes back) he will once again start to freeze on the wing from lack of action apart from some dummy half runs.

Raiders left side isn't bad though. Whitehead can be unpredictable and Cotric is on that side as well. Raiders have been using that side a lot more this season with Leilua being out injured and Wighton being on the left.

I agree about the Raiders but little else. Manly caught Melbourne napping and only ended up winning by 1 pt in the last minute of extra time when they had possession that they should not have had (Sutton admitted as much). That is a long way from assuming they can beat them in a final. Bunnies & Roosters are a threat but as I say again, if Melbourne play like they did last week against the Broncos, they blow anyone away.

The Roosters are the premiership favorites.

As good as Melbourne has been this year I can't help feeling Easts is the club with the complete package to win the comp. A star studded line up with a first class coach as well as the experience of big end of season games, I can't see Easts losing. When you look at both sides think how many Melbourne players would make first grade at Easts and vice versa. Probably the two Camerons, Josh Addo- Carr and Jesse Bromwich would be the only ones to make it at Easts. Easts to win............having said all that I am no fan and hope they don't win.

There is no such thing as a certainty in football, so, why the assumption that the Storm will be in the Grand Final? I love my team, but, apart from last week, they have been patchy, slow to start, etc, etc. We don't have an easy run to the Finals. However the eight is made up, we then will face pretty much the same teams again. I'd be over the moon if we were to win, but on their day Roosters, Manly, Raiders, Rabbitohs & who knows who else can beat us. Just wish everyone would stop speaking/writing as though we were there already. Are the scribes trying to lull us into a false sense of security?

Absolutely true Mushi but winning that first semi out the top four teams is manna from heaven. Then you get that week off and two games in a row gets you the big one.

You've got to win three games in a row to lift the trophy. No team is good enough to make that a sure thing

The Storm have lost three games by a combined total of four points this year. Four points nobody else in the league is as impressive.

Everyone keeps saying they need another gear, but they are six points in front doing nicely in the gear they are already in.

Couldn't agree more with you Albo about our right side defence or even the attack from those players. When the opposition come down that side of the field it's a case of wondering what's going to happen. Vunivalu is the main culprit as he can have more than one giant stuff up per game. I don't know how many times I have seen him come miles infield too far only to see the opposition winger receive a nicely weighted pass gifting a try. Even in attack he comes up with plays only a novice would make. For instance last week against Brisbane he had one man to beat who was about 20 out and all he had to do was step him. What does he do? He wound up to run over the poor Bugger but when he hit the opposition player, he slowed down and got tackled. Geez. I hate to think what Wade Graham would do us coming down that side now that he's overcome his injuries. He was awesome over the weekend. How I wish he was a Storm player. I think that is the obvious side to attack the Storm on.

Part 2 The top four has three team equal second, plus manly snd parra two and four points out of it. . I don't believe it will be the same top four, so then whichever team drops out the four will not be considered as an outsider chance because they're already losing at the business end of the deal. So either Manly or Parra will sneak into the four, or both. So the outsider could be the Sharks, recent premiers, or the Tigers, who defeated both of last year's Grand Finalists three times in four matches. Of course I'm biased, but for this week let's leave it at the Sharks, or Easts, or the other top four team who stays in it. . So many of these questions will be answers in this weekend's games I can't wait for them to kick off!

Great comments on this article, who's in and who's out of contention, assuming Melb is in the Grand Final etc. The first and obvious answer is any of the other three top four teams, plus one outsider always has a chance and can actually win. So the second question becomes who will finish in the top four, and the third question is who can be the successful outsider? Let's start with the easier of the two questions first, who can be the successful outsider of the top four finishers. Be right back

The only team that can realistically compete with the Storm during the finals are the Roosters. Souths would be an outside chance and the Raiders would be a long shot. Everyone else is making up the numbers (yes even Manly) and I think the top 8 is exactly how it will appear at the end of round 25.

Obviously the finishing positions will be vital come the September finals series. But I reckon the Storm are still very vulnerable with their right side defence from Croft out to Vunivalu . So for me the opposition teams with strong left side attacks are best suited to upset the Storm. The obvious ones are the Roosters who are deadly left side attackers through Keary , Cordner ,Teddy, Mitchell & Tupou. But they might not meet till the GF ? But you also have the Sharks with Graham & Xerrie in particular if they make it through to the finals , and Manly prefer to attack left side with Turbo in particular. Not sure any of the others will worry the Storm too much. The Raiders prefer the middle & right side attack especially when Joey comes back to partner Rapana outside Bateman. Munster can control this side pretty well . While I think Jack Wighton with CNK would be a limited left side threat.

Melbourne will not win it this year. Manly, Roosters or Souths will be the holding that trophy come October 6th. Robinson seems to have Bellamy's men figured out and Manly have proved they are capable of beating them. The Bunnies are a massive chance if they can rediscover their early season form. Raiders are pretenders and that will be exposed in the next 4 weeks.

Think you got the wrong game Jacks. Broncos were held to nil until late in the second half when Bellamy started pulling players off for a rest and even then the final score for the bronc was only 4. I agree with Nat, apart from two unfortunate kicks, the broncos played well enough when they got the chance. The Storm would have beaten anyone that night