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Opinion
Melbourne have a pack of workers but they lack fear factor in the forwards.
They are by no means a spent force in these playoffs after Friday night’s qualifying final loss to Brisbane but they need to get some venom in the middle of the ruck.
The Storm don’t lack size – there are some very large humans among their forwards – but never have they missed the impact more of the four established stars from their pack who left in the off-season.
Jesse Bromwich has arguably been the best prop of the past decade, his brother Kenny’s rugged play on the edge was an under-rated threat, Felise Kaufusi brought the mongrel and Brandon Smith added the element of unpredictability in the middle of the ruck.
The Storm now have a pack of willing toilers who rarely miss a tackle, get through plenty of hit-ups but don’t seem to unsettle opponents as much as previous iterations.
Melbourne look shellshocked during their qualifying final loss to Brisbane. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Melbourne didn’t match the big bucks thrown at their big-name forward quartet last year because they prioritised their all-star spine of Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes, Harry Grant and Ryan Papenhuyzen.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona is paid well to be the spearhead up front but his impact does not match his massive 2oocm, 115kg frame.
“Big Nasty” came off the bench at Suncorp Stadium with a perfect chance to dominate Brisbane’s secondary unit of middle forwards – Kobe Hetherington and Keenan Palasia coming on for Payne Haas and Tom Flegler.
But not only did the Broncos’ back-ups hold their own, coach Kevin Walters also had the luxury of keeping Pat Carrigan in his rotation.
The Queensland and Australian star played through the first hour of the match, racking up more running metres than anyone else on the park.
Haas was into triple figures after his opening 31-minute stint while Hetherington and Palasia also cracked the hundred before any Storm forwards.
Brisbane racked up nearly 300 more running metres at Suncorp Stadium and dominated the post-contact gains 610-479.
Asofa-Solomona was the only Storm forward to reach the 100m benchmark, just nudging past with his 11th and final hit-up.
By contrast, Hetherington (140), Flegler (102), Palasia (153), Haas (180) and Carrigan (a game-high 193) registered triple figures.
Carrigan is a different style of player to three-time Dally M Lock of the Year Isaah Yeo but he’s challenging the Penrith veteran for the title of the top No.13 in the NRL.
When it comes to the coach’s dream of a forward with potency and stamina, there are few better in the game.
It’s the kind of combination that Jason Taumalolo had in his prime a few years ago, it can be a huge factor in winning premierships, nearly as important as a savvy chief playmaker.
What Craig Bellamy would give up to have Carrigan on his side.
Now they have to lick their wounds from their first-up finals failure and get to enjoy the comforts of home next weekend at AAMI Park against a resurgent Roosters team which has won six straight after outlasting Cronulla by a point at Shark Park.
The Roosters have injury problems of their own out wide with Billy Smith (broken jaw) out for the rest of the year and Joseph Suaalii (concussion) out and Joey Manu (hamstring) in extreme doubt.
From there the path to a now much more implausible Grand Final appearance would run through premiers Penrith on the road in Sydney.
And with Ryan Papenhuyzen’s injury-plagued career suffering another major setback with his ankle fracture and Maroons winger Xavier Coates (syndesmosis damage) joining him on the sidelines, Melbourne are in danger of being bundled out of the finals in straight sets.
The Roosters’ pack is also not at full strength with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves suspended and Sitili Tupouniua sidelined with a serious neck injury.
But they have the impact factor led by Lindsay Collins, arguably the NRL’s most improved player in 2023, with Victor Radley and Brandon Smith getting back to their best.
And you can see why the Roosters are prioritising keeping Siua Wong on the books long term even if it means letting Angus Crichton switch to rugby union.
The 20-year-old second-rower, who represented Fiji at the World Cup last year before making his Roosters debut, was a constant handful for Cronulla’s edge defence in just his ninth NRL appearance.
His game-levelling try was somewhat fortuitous off a kick ricochet but he will score and create plenty more tries down the right edge in years to come with his size, strength and speed.
There was nothing lucky about the way he kept himself in the play to chase down the bouncing ball when James Tedesco charged down a late Nicho Hynes field goal.
Whichever forward pack shows that sort of commitment on Friday night will be the one that gets the “reward” of a preliminary final showdown the following week with premiers Penrith.