Roar Rookie
Joined September 2015
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Former rugby league player. Sydney by way of Brisbane and New York. Forgets to breathe when speaking publicly.
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In the aftermath of Melbourne Storm's victory over the Sydney Roosters, a range of implausible excuses have been made by Roosters and non-Melbourne supporters.…
Definitely a shoulder charge. And also think it was a protective move. He clearly didn’t want to extend his arm and risk contact with his shoulder like that. Tried to keep his body and shoulder posture small to minimize impact.
He will be a defensively liability in the finals.
Chook lotto, effort to spare and more NRL Round 22 talking points
It’s genuinely surprising how bad Nine’s commentary setup is with Slater and Smith.
They’ve immediately adopted the traits of Johns, Filter, Gould… Who often sound like mates watching a game at a pub, expressing astonishment at plays rather than breaking them down.
Especially Johns, Slater and Smith. Too many “wow, how did they do that” comments when all three of them know exactly how it was done, and what would really be valuable is some insight into the structures and player decisions that caused the play.
Chook lotto, effort to spare and more NRL Round 22 talking points
The Storm win the penalty count 33% of the time. The idea that Smith has undue influence on the referees is not supported by reality.
Why all the hate for Cameron Smith?
Not sure I fully understand the “ref whisperer” label, or that he can influence the referees. The Storm win the penalty count only 33% of the time.
If one of his key values is as a “ref whisperer”, then it’s not a very good one.
Cam Smith loves footy like Sco-Mo loves a happy clap
The Inglis tackle was incidental.
No effort by Bromwich to lift the arm up or pull away. You can see Inglis had his arm out for support against the players, and as he went down, Bromwich was reaching for his body to pull him up. Two arms going in different directions that got tangled.
Storm in a stunner! Melbourne stump Souths, book home prelim
It’s a bizarre fixation.
The Storm want what every team wants — slow play the balls in defence and quick play the balls in attack.
The Roosters tried and failed to win the wrestle
And do your other point about the forwards, I would say Guerra is probably the Roosters’ best and most dangerous forward, because he understands the small things when making contact (again, a product of the Storm no less).
I could imagine Robinson having endless conversations with Napa about his style. If you can’t stick to the player when making contact, you’re hurting your own defence.
The Roosters tried and failed to win the wrestle
Thanks.
I don’t understand Gould’s, or NRL fans, constant rumblings about the Storm’s style of play. It hasn’t changed much over the past decade.
Whenever they score a try through brilliant, open-play style, the commentators say “Vintage Melbourne try!” or “A try only the Melbourne Storm could conjure”.
So which one is it? Either they’re boring and slow or are methodical (yes) with great attacking flair (yes).
A team like the Tigers would do so much better if they could learn to control their creativity and not go for the Hail Mary attacking-style all the time.
The Roosters tried and failed to win the wrestle
Yes, but that says nothing about Melbourne, while being way off the mark, were still in control for long periods of the match.
I suspect Smith’s virus messed up their preparation—timing of passes were poor, players overran lines and had to stop and catch the ball standing still, Smith’s passes went behind runners, Cronk’s kicking radar was way off, a lot of simple dropped balls, etc.
The Roosters didn’t so much have an off-night but were suffocated in attack and left with few opportunities.
The Roosters tried and failed to win the wrestle
Freeze at 2:03. That is the end point of a shoulder deliberately and forcibly connecting with the cheek of Manu.
Another crazy chapter in the Book of Feuds as Mitchell's moment of madness stuns Manu