Storm
18
Match Complete
Bulldogs
16
| 77 |  | R. Smith | ||
| C. Smith |  | 70 | ||
| C. Munster | | 69 | ||
| C. Smith | | 55 | ||
| T. Kamikamica | | 53 | ||
| C. Smith | | 32 | ||
| W. Chambers | | 31 | ||
| 23 | | R. Martin | ||
| 22 | | J. Okunbor | ||
| 5 | | R. Martin | ||
| 4 | | K. Holland |
| 3 | Tries | 3 | ||
| 3 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Round 4 will see the struggling Canterbury Bulldogs undertake the NRL’s toughest road trip, as they travel south to face the undefeated Melbourne Storm in the penultimate game of the round. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog, starting from 4:05pm AEST.
The Bulldogs are coming off an unlikely and admittedly quite impressive win against the Wests Tigers. Coach Dean Pay made significant changes to the side for that game, bringing a bit of youth and enthusiasm to the fold in the form of Nick Meaney and Jayden Okunbor.
However, they were dealt a cruel blow on the injury front, with star half Kieran Foran picking up a long-term ankle injury in the game against Wests. New recruit Jack Cogger will slot into the halves to replace Foran alongside Lachlan Lewis.
This is one of the least experienced halves pairings in the competition – the Bulldogs will likely struggle (more than they already were) without Foran guiding them around the paddock.
For the Storm, they’re simply a well-oiled machine. Cameron Smith pulls the strings from hooker. Jahrome Hughes has seamlessly replaced the great Billy Slater at fullback.
Their forwards are dominating – they don’t lose anything when they go to their bench. Will Chambers and Curtis Scott have swapped positions, with both players benefiting from the switch.
The Storm are flying – they will be very hard to stop in this game.
Prediction
This is really Melbourne’s game to lose. They will have to be significantly sub-par for the Bulldogs to even be in with a chance.
That’s not to say the Storm will necessarily put a score on the Bulldogs. I actually think the Bulldogs will show up ready to go, and take the fight to Melbourne. They could even shock them and score some early tries.
I just think this Melbourne side is good enough to handle an early shock. No matter what happens, Cameron Smith will not panic, and he will find a way to get his side back into the game if the Bulldogs start well.
The Bulldogs are coming off a great win, despite their overall poor start to the season. They will not simply roll over for the Storm.
But even if they match it with Melbourne for the first hour, fatigue will catch up with them and the Storm will get them in the last 20 minutes.
Melbourne by 20
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 4pm AEDT.
Where: AAMI Park, Melbourne
When: 4:05pm AEST
TV: Channel 9, Fox Sports
Streaming: Kayo Sports, NRL Digital Pass
Storm
1 Jahrome Hughes 2 Suliasi Vunivalu 3 William Chambers 4 Curtis Scott 5 Joshua Addo-Carr 6 Cameron Munster 7 Brodie Croft 8 Jesse Bromwich 9 Cameron Smith (c) 10 Nelson Asofa-Solomona 11 Felise Kaufusi 12 Kenny Bromwich 13 Dale Finucane. Interchange: 14 Brandon Smith 15 Christian Welch 16 Tui Kamikamica 17 Marion Seve Reserves: 18 Ryan Papenhuyzen 19 Patrick Kaufusi 20 Albert Vete 21 Billy Walters
Bulldogs
1 Nick Meaney, 2 Jayden Okunbor, 3 Kerrod Holland, 4 Will Hopoate, 5 Reimis Smith, 6 Jack Cogger, 7 Lachlan Lewis, 8 Aidan Tolman, 9 Jeremy Marshall-King, 10 Dylan Napa, 11 Josh Jackson, 12 Corey Harawira-Naera, 13 Rhyse Martin. Interchange: 14 Michael Lichaa, 15 Ofahiki Ogden, 16 Adam Elliott, 17 Chris Smith Reserves: 19 Danny Fualalo 20 Marcelo Montoya 21 Ramond Faitala-Mariner 22 Sausaso Sue
Old mate bigJ
Roar Rookie
That’s funny
Cat
Roar Guru
Highlight is clearly watching you whinge and sook after the Legend wins yet another game.
steveng
Roar Rookie
No its not, what's fair is fair (not that it would of made any difference) but, before 1/2 time the refs ended the half 5 sec before time when the Dogs were 1 meter away and attacking, who knows the Dogs could have scored, these dumb refs just dont get it, there's no tin foil mate, I dont follow any of these teams but what's fair is fair
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Highlight of the match... Jayden Okunbor running straight over the top of Cam Smith THREE TIMES!!! Bahahahahahaha Low point of the match... Cam Smith proving what a cheat he is running a player off the ball in a blatant penalty then wasting time by lying "like a boss" and ignoring the referees orders to play on.
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Shut up and play your keyboards, Martin. You couldn't hang on to Gwyneth, stop sooking about it and grab another neurotic supermodel.
Chris Martin
Guest
Melbourne tried but the dogs would let them. That's why it was hard for Melbourne. It was 60 - 70 min mark that the storm play like the storm. Dogs where so tired only have 16 plays and 15 or 30 mins of that game. 3 for the forwards played 80 mins
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Massive respect to the Dogs today. I was enthralled with the game, and look forward to the rest of the Dogs's season ... starting with St George next week!
Daniel Szabo
Roar Guru
Full Time Melbourne Storm have defeated the Canterbury Bulldogs 18 points to 16 in a game in which few gave the Bulldogs a chance. It was a fantastic game from both sides, and the Bulldogs certainly did themselves proud. But the Storm showed their class - particularly at the back end of the game - and were able to come away with the win in the end. The Bulldogs started out much better than their more fancied opponents, with Kerrod Holland scoring the easiest of tries in just the 4th minute. Rhyse Martin converted to send them out to an early 6-0 lead. The game then settled into an arm wrestle, with the Bulldogs setting the pace for most of the first half. They scored again in the 22nd minute through Jayden Okunbor, with Martin converting again for a 12-0 lead. The Storm didn't panic though, and put some impressive plays together. In the 33rd minute, a Cameron Munster grubber found the ingoal. Will Chambers looked certain to score before he was pushed off the ball by Remis Smith. The play was sent upstairs, and the Storm was awarded with a penalty try. Cameron Smith converted from in front of the sticks for his side to trail by just 6 at the break - a very good result for the Storm considering the Bulldogs had been much better in the first half. The Storm started stronger than the Bulldogs in the second half. The Dogs lost Dylan Napa to an ankle injury, and looked tired for having one less player on the bench. Despite winning the arm wrestle early, it took the Storm 13 minutes to score through a beautiful face ball from Cameron Smith to bench forward Tui Kamikamica who crashed over next to the posts. Smith converted and the scores were level. The Storm then did what they do best - turn the screws and apply constant pressure on their opposition. The pressure soon paid off, with Jayden Okunbur dropping a bomb and gifting the Storm a chance, which they took with both hands as Cameron Munster strolled through Adam Elliot and Corey Harawira-Naera to score easily, putting his side ahead for the first time in the game. The Bulldogs weren't done though, scaring the Storm with a 79th minute try to Remis Smith in the corner. Fortunately for Melbourne, Rhyse Martin sliced the ball badly to the right - a successful conversion would have sent the game to extra time. The Bulldogs can be very proud of their effort. Jayden Okunbur in just his second game ran over Cameron Smith TWICE - the Storm skipper will no doubt have nightmares about the Jamal Idris lookalike for many nights to come. Jack Cogger was very impressive for the Dogs. He combined well with halfback Lachlan Lewis, and looks to be a more than handy replacement for the injured Kieran Foran. For the Storm, they won't be happy with their start to the game, but they'll be proud of the resolve they showed to avoid panic and back their ability to win a game against the odds. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs they were simply outclassed in the end. However, they can take plenty of positives out of this game, and there is plenty to look forward to for them in the coming weeks, despite a poor start to the season. Storm - 18 Bulldogs - 16
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Brave effort Bulldogs showed how to frustrate the Storm by moving the ball to both sidesof the field, attacking their rdge defence snd move their big forwards around. The game turned on a double brain snap from Reimis Smith and a bad decision from the refs to miss a blatant forward pass called by the FOX Sports commentators from dummy half by Brodie Croft in the play before the last tackle kick that was dropped by Okunbor and which lead to the match winning try for the Storm. WHY did Reimis Smith not score closer to the posts? He could have scored 8 metres closer than he did but chose to run to the corner instead where Rhyse Martin chocked with his sideline kick because of crowd pressure. Had he been 10 metres further in field I think he would have kicked it. Still, well done to the Dogs who have looked better than the Rabbitohs have in their last two games. For the last 4 years I have called for the Dogs to have a total spine transplant and now that this has happened they finally look like a different team in attack. The Bulldogs face a tough test in the next two weeks playing the Dragons and then the Rabbitohs and this game wil l have no doubt taken a toll on them.
Chris.P.Bacon
Guest
Well said TB.....hope your barbie went well!!! :)
The Barry
Roar Guru
Only one way I could have been happier with this game and I certainly couldn’t be any prouder of the boys. The Storm were too professional and too clinical in minutes 60-75 when the game was on the line. It says a lot to me that the Dogs looked dead on their feet but still managed to come back into it and give themselves a last shot at the game. Massive effort all the way from the Dogs who played most of the game with 16 and missing one forward from their rotation. Two points (or even one!) would have been fantastic but couldn’t be happier with the effort. If they keep turning up like that they’ll win their share of games. I’ll admit to being completely biased (as if anyone needed to be told :-) ) but I reckon that was one of the best games of the year.
Emcie
Roar Guru
was it closer to the sideline then i thought?
Joe
Roar Rookie
What a game! Right down to the last tackle. For a moment there I thought it would be the 3rd Golden point game. Bulldogs were tremendous tonight. Okunbor was outstanding. Just kept finding Cam Smith and running through him. That's definitely going to be a target for teams after that. Smiths catching style is found out against a big body coming at speed. The Dogs are well on the way back to being a good team. So many youngsters did so well but struggled in the last 15. Lewis was outstanding but had a few shanks under pressure and fatigue. His defense was top notch keeping the Storms right edge out all night. Considering they lost their gun prop in the first 20 that was a tremendous performance. The Storm just had enough to find a way to win. Great night for me, got my Dogs bet paid out at halftime and then Storm win.
Chris.P.Bacon
Guest
Absolutely jimmmy!
Chris
Roar Pro
Not the greatest of efforts by the Storm but they did well to come back from a 12-0 deficit against a side that really turned up despite no-one believing they had a chance. Every so often Melbourne have a game where they're found out and look extremely ordinary and today was no different. Unlucky Doggies and good luck for the rest of the season.
Chris martin
Guest
Once again refs let Melbourne do what they want in the ruck. It should have been about 20 penalties to the dogs
Chris.P.Bacon
Guest
Great effort Doggies!
Dan
Guest
For some reason refs are marking tries wider than where they are scored. Not the first time this year a try is scored 5 m from sideline and conversion is marked 1 m out.
Old mate bigJ
Roar Rookie
How bout that one Barry???
Chris
Roar Pro
Waa waa