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.
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
Felise Kaufusi only played 16 games this season being suspended for 7 games. Not picked in Origin, would not have had half the impact young Katoa has in 2023
Morz
Roar Rookie
Melbourne have made some strange decisions in recent years to offload some seriously, seriously good players. I believe the Bromich bro's should have been kept at all costs...well, not at a cost of breaching the cap as they have been down that path before . Easy to say from here of course, but those lads added both skill and mongrel respectively to the Melb pack. Kafusi too was a HuGE loss
Morz
Roar Rookie
If that pans out, Brisbane have good players, but I believable they will get an absolute thrashing by the Panthers. The Panthers seem very hungry for the three-peat. However, in my opinion, Brisbane will drop their bundle in the semi-final which I think will be against Newcastle or Warriors? If I am wrong, then congrats in advance to Broncos fans...you have had a fine 2023 whatever happens from here on in.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Have to disagree. Grant is a different type of player to Smith. More of a strike weapon out of dummy half. Obviously he is very good at all the other roles of a modern hooker but he is no Smith when it comes to controlling the game. I do not think Melbourne has a player like that.
Footy Franks
Roar Rookie
Yeah neither will come close to the Panthers the following week. Looks like a Brissy vs Panthers gf
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
Cam, I think Grant has been not so effective maybe since SOO? He's definitely played some great games this year but could be fatigued or carrying a niggle. I think we should be reducing his workload wherever possible if continues in SOO. Smith was a physiological freak. Hughes and Munny definitely wounded. Agree I think you can have toilers and Storm always have had but they need a bit of front row class and power to support Nas. Back row ok I think; Moeroa, Katoa, King, Howarth, Chan etc. Cheers
Dionysus
Roar Rookie
"Marion Seve and YT are barely 1st grade standard for centres yet Bellyache likes them" You are spot on and I think we have more than these two in this category. That is what I was meaning earlier about it being time for Bellamy to make some tough decisions. There has been a softer side to Craig's character that has come to the fore in recent years and he needs to get back to the tough no nonsense Craig that won premierships. I did wonder earlier in the year whether the time had come for Craig to step down, if Slater was available, that wondering would become a shout.
MB088
Roar Rookie
I think Slater too and he has the makings of a great coach, but its a tough act to follow IMO
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Thanks Nick , I'll keep an eye out for him.
Phil
Roar Rookie
Some good points about Melbourne and their lack of fire power in the forwards. Observing as a neutral, they need two props and two centres. Tui Kamikamica, as big a unit as he is, doesn't do any damage and Welch has lost his sting. The loss of four top tier forwards has hurt them badly to the point I doubt any team fears them any more. With forwards not winning the battle up front there is little chance of the halves shining. You only have to look at Penrith and Brisbane to see the benefit of dominant packs paving the way for the playmakers. Cleary and Reynolds must feel blessed having the best club packs of all.. As for Munster, he looks to be wounded, hence his below par performances of late. His attempt to stop Staggs from scoring was weak as was Young Tonumaipea's. Munster appeared to be limping after the feeble attempt. Marion Seve and YT are barely 1st grade standard for centres yet Bellyache likes them. He must have his reasons for keeping Olam and R. Smith exiled as they could do no worse than the other two.
Nat
Roar Guru
I was on the sideline in Redcliffe for their (Falcons) semi a few weeks back. If he was 105kg coming out of school he must have 10kg more but that doesn’t sound right. He certainly cuts an imposing figure.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Grant genuinely looks like Cam Smith 2.0, but he might still be 200 games away from developing the same level of match management and leadership of Smith. The Storm have been at their best this season when Grant is the dominant playmaker, which in turn allows Hughes and Munster to do what they do best, which is run the ball. Grant has struggled a touch with consistency, which is either because/why the Storm have been inconsistent. I thing if the Storm were to cull a couple of their forwards (Loiero, Eisenhuth, Sims) and replace them with either development players (Jack Howarth) or go to market on November 1st (Brendan Piakura, Moeaki Fotuaika, Nat Butcher, Angus Crichton), the spine might fix itself.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
TB, Jason Ryles?
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
Nat, he was apparently 195cm and 105kg coming out of school but looked bigger the other week, especially through hips & thighs. He ran for 80 odd metres but half was post contact mostly from a standing start, plus 31 tackles. He didn't look out of place IMO. Agree, my hunch is he'll be in the frame for round 1 2024.
Nat
Roar Guru
Olam does install fear but when he misses those shots it leaves the line broken and exposed. Too often this year that happened. He also needs to get back into the dirty ruck work coming out of trouble.
Nat
Roar Guru
I think they need to give Howarth a go. I’ve also been watching him at Q Cup and he has filled into his huge frame but I don’t see him getting better at that level. To me, much like Piakura in Brisbane, he will improve when he gets the chance to step up a class.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
FT, Jack Howarth has been going well in QCup and played well in the "Reserves" win over the Broncs. He's been kept back deliberately for development but also had some injuries. He was a centre at junior level but will probably be an edge forward at NRL level.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
Albo, that's all correct however very rarely two bad ones in a row (he says hopefully!) :laughing:
The Barry
Roar Guru
Storm still have wraps on Howarth but have apparently held him back playing Qld Cup for a bit longer because of the footy / development he missed due to COVID
The Barry
Roar Guru
Slater…?