Melbourne faded late in the season last year to cost themselves a top-four spot and for large portions of Saturday night’s stoush with St George Illawarra in Wollongong, it looked like the Storm would be fizzling out again.
Cronulla leapfrogged them into fourth with their third straight win on Thursday night when they thumped the Cowboys and the Sharks were cheering on their bitter rivals at WIN Stadium as the Dragons appeared on the verge of upsetting the Storm.
But when it came to the crunch, the Storm played with poise and the Dragons lived up to their familiar trend of shooting themselves in the foot as Melbourne sealed a 38-28 triumph to put their noses back in front of the Sharks in the race for fourth spot and an all-important second chance in the finals.
The Storm are at home to the Titans next round before finishing with a trip to Brisbane while the Sharks are away to Newcastle before hosting Canberra while the Raiders and Knights are also a chance of swamping them both if they finish the regular season with a wet sail.
Xavier Coates breaks out of a tackle. (Photo by Tim Allsop/Getty Images)
Bellamy not Bellyaching much
“There’s some things that we’re not happy about but there’s more things we’re happy about,” was his post-match summation.
“Our completions in the second half won us the game.
“They put a bit of fatigue in us. A couple of their tries, I was disappointed we went away from our defensive systems. We’re stoked that we fought back from that far down and managed to hang on at the end.”
Bellamy said the disappointing aspect was the fact they had 28 points put on them after only conceding two the previous week when they caned Canberra.
“It’s a bit of a mixed bag for us. They really turned up tonight to play, the Dragons.”
Scoring back and forth as defence goes missing
The Storm skipped out to a 4-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes when Will Warbrick capitalised on twin defensive lapses from Max and Mat Feagai.
But the Dragons hit back when off-contract second-rower Billy Burns did his hopes of a new deal a boost by dummying his way over the line.
They went 12-4 ahead midway through the first half when Tyrell Sloan evaded three defenders in a confined space to make the most of a Ben Hunt pass.
“He’s pretty to watch,” said Fox League analyst Greg Alexander, a fair natural athlete himself back in his playing days.
“He just glides and changes direction seamlessly. Doesn’t lose speed and it’s a beautiful running action.”
The bunker gave the green light to a third St George Illawarra try in the 25th minute when five-eighth Junior Amone skidded to the stripe via momentum, not a double movement.
But that is where the Dragons’ momentum halted.
Warbrick finished an overlap and then completed a first-half hat-trick when he brushed off Amone and Sloan on his own in the attacking zone.
Xavier Coates ran through some feeble defence in the middle to run past Sloan to make it 18-18 at the break.
After praising his attack earlier on, Alexander was critical of Sloan for not putting his body on the line in defence to prevent the last two tries.
Warbrick coughed up a bomb and Burns pounced for the Dragons to regain the lead by six early in the second stanza but Eliesa Katoa overpowered three defenders for his first try and then collected a Jahrome Hughes kick for his second as the Storm went ahead 30-24.
Mikaele Ravalawa sliced over in the corner with five minutes remaining but Hunt’s sideline attempt swung wide and the Storm sealed one of their ugliest but most important wins of the season when Katoa crunched Hunt and Hughes scooted away.
It was a fourth straight narrow loss for the Dragons and interim coach Ryan Carr said their “effort has been unbelievable” at a time when they could have turned up their toes.
“I thought our attitude was bang on tonight,” he said. “We were still attacking the game right to the death, which is really pleasing, because there’s been times previously that we probably would have just gone away.
“They didn’t drop one ball … That’s a good game of footy by them but that’s a really good game of footy by us too.
“We’re building a real good attitude and culture around what we’re doing. When you start chopping and changing things you don’t stand for anything.”
Dragons the kings of rocks and diamonds
When you look across the St George Illawarra line-up, you can see why they’re running second last but also why their fans are frustrated they’re not higher on the ladder.
Put simply, they are the kings of rocks and diamonds.
They have several players who can be spectacular on their day but put in too many dud performances in between.
There’s a high variability between their best and their worst.
Zac Lomax, who sat out this match with a shoulder injury, epitomises this unpredictable mantra. His wingman, Ravalawa is just as adept at sensational tries on the right edge as he is at bone-headed tackles which earn the ire of the judiciary.
He kicked off this match with a basic handling error which stifled the team’s early momentum and finished with his 20th try of the season.
Burns is another player who shows glimpses of being a regular first-grader, as he showed in this match with two tries, but his defence can be suspect, Katoa crashed through a tackle from his opposing second-rower to score one of Melbourne’s four-pointers.
The Feagai twins are still young but their form varies wildly while Sloan is still learning his trade as a fullback and as potent as he is in attack, he needs to bulk up and brush up on his tackling technique in the off-season to live up to his potential under Shane Flanagan in 2024..
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Naaa. I don't blame him, he's an 'honest toiler' of sorts. I tease the name because we had a year of Hook's admiration when there were much better options. I was usually flabbergasted when he got picked.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Rava more diamonds than rocks for me
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Yes always out of position
KenW
Roar Rookie
Gus says Billy never loses the ball, although he did once last night. Must be true then! Looking it up on foxsports stats he's recorded 10 errors in 8 games this year. That makes him the worst of Saints forwards, he just seems vulnerable to losing control in the tackle. Agree that it's not all one player in defence - the stats there are rubbery - but I think it's clear he's not improving the average. Cartwright is a good analogy though.
andrew
Roar Rookie
I read it on the Fox sport website.
KenW
Roar Rookie
If true that's a really weird thought bubble.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Hey Bernie. I've watched the highlights again and Feagai is in off his wing when Melbourne target him. Surely Carr and the coaching staff can see that he's always out of position, or is it the fact he's got no confidence of the players inside him. Either way, Feagai still misses tackles.
andrew
Roar Rookie
I read today that Flanagan's interested in bringing Suaali to the Dragons, for 1 year. Is he for real. What's the point of even thinking about Suaali when he's going to Rugby. I hope it's not going to happen, Saints would be better off signing someone long term, not someone who's future is not in the NRL.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Bellamy took on Eisenhuth & Jennings. I thought they were just so, so elsewhere. Is the tackling all Burns, or just part of the overall lack of confidence in the squad & what they are doing as a group? Gus says Billy never loses the ball, although he did once last night. I look at Cartwright now at Parramatta. Always known for good attack & poor defence. His defence at Parramatta this season, has stepped up a lot . Shows what can be done.
KenW
Roar Rookie
I don't think he's the sort of player that Bellamy would do that with. Burns has decent footwork and moves really well - his 7 tackle breaks for 2 tries last night were top shelf stuff, but he also 10 missed tackles according to NRL.com. I could easily forgive the single dropped ball last night while supporting a line break but his ball security generally is also poor. I agree that he has become the butt of the joke and that's a bit unfair, but he's only getting a consistent run at the Dragons in the last month or so due to a heavy injury toll.
Bernie
Roar Rookie
agreed KenW. add to that is the fact the second row on that side is not helping and the half (Junior) is both still a bit raw & needs to find his voice. with Flicka out, it looked like they put Moses on the other side, might have been better to split the twins up.
Bernie
Roar Rookie
sorry Paul, cannot agree on Rava's appraisal - "He kicked off this match with a basic handling error which stifled the team’s early momentum". the "basic handling error" was caused by H.Grant with his hands all over the ball. rava is on his feet, the "held" call had already been made, his arm carrying ball is out at a right angle and grant has both hands grabbing the ball. so he drops it. but no, no penalty, storm scrum feed. agree that Rava is rocks & diamonds, and the Dragons are a poor team, but ref decisions like that particularly involving a team renowned for holding down & hands in the ruck is very frustrating for the average punter.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Scored both tries with his own effort. If they all produced 2 tries from their own doing . St.George wins easily. Watching one Warbrick try. The Dragons had 4 defenders within 5 metres , then only the winger to cover the next 15 metres to the sideline. Poor old winger. I know blaming Billy is the running joke , after any loss. :laughing:
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Billy 6 missed tackles, including being one that Coates ran thru.
KenW
Roar Rookie
The Feagai's are the bigger problem for me. Sloan's cover tackling clearly needs work but he is making pretty good decisions and usually at least in the right place. The Feagai's just look all at sea though, they are not in the right positions and their tackling is poor. Sloan seems an easier fix - and besides, if we had someone tackling on that side there would be far less for Sloan to clean up.
KenW
Roar Rookie
I’d be looking at a few of the forwards defence. With how Coates ran across field & simply pushed through a few forwards, to run away & score....St.George young forwards did some good things with the ball & looked dangerous. That's the same player unfortunately. Ryan Couchman had a top game except for that awful miss on Coates. Him and his twin Toby (Toby's played more games) - I can't tell them apart in looks or in play but they both look really strong for 19 year old 2nd rowers with only a handful of games under their belts. Hopefully mainstays of the team for a long time.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
If St.George don’t want Burns? I could see Bellamy buying him for the Storm. A good bench player at least & he does good things running with the ball. Given specific tasks to do in the Storm system, could be the making of Burns as a first grader.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Poor Billy again. Had one of his best games there, despite the partly missed tackle on Katoa & losing the ball trying to pass after he backed up to make a long run. Two tries & always there to back up , some good tackles. I’d be looking at a few of the forwards defence. With how Coates ran across field & simply pushed through a few forwards, to run away & score. Sloan is a poor tackler & should have taken Warbrick into touch at least once , with an around the legs tackle. He’s very talented in attack. St.George young forwards did some good things with the ball & looked dangerous. Good players for the new coach to work with. Especially work on defensive patterns. A couple of other backline player options may be needed ?
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
In years gone by, teams that looked strong heading into the final few rounds generally went well in the finals. That was the case with the Storm for a decade or more, not so long ago. The 2023 version seems up one week and down the next; terrific on both sides of the ball against the Raiders and dead set ordinary at times in defence against the Dragons. Bellamy needs to somehow get these guys into "up mode for the next 7 weeks because they'll go nowhere in the finals if they play as they did against StGI
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Funny how big blokes can make bone rattling tackles in little blokes and not hit them in the head. As you said, prefect timing and technique.