Storm
29
Match Complete
Rabbitohs
28
| C. Munster |  | 76 | ||
| C. Smith |  | 75 | ||
| C. Blair |  | 74 | ||
| 72 | | A. Reynolds | ||
| 70 | | C. Murray | ||
| C. Blair | | 65 | ||
| 61 | | R. Jennings | ||
| 56 | | A. Reynolds | ||
| 55 | | G. Inglis | ||
| C. Smith |  | 45 | ||
| C. Smith | | 39 | ||
| S. Vunivalu | | 39 | ||
| 36 | | G. Inglis | ||
| S. Vunivalu | | 31 | ||
| 26 | | A. Reynolds | ||
| C. Smith | | 24 | ||
| C. Scott | | 22 | ||
| 12 | | A. Reynolds | ||
| 8 | | D. Gagai |
| 5 | Tries | 5 | ||
| 3 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 1 | Penalty Goals | 2 | ||
| 1 | Field Goals | 0 |
The Melbourne Storm have the minor premiership and will be looking to take the next step in going back-to-back as they host the South Sydney Rabbitohs with a week off on the line in the first qualifying final. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:40pm (AEST).
Melbourne, attempting to win their second straight premiership, finished the season with a loss, but will be comfortable with where they stand entering September footy.
They went down to the Penrith Panthers last week, but had a heap of players out for various reasons.
Craig Bellamy’s side are almost back to full strength this weekend, with Billy Slater, Cameron Munster and Suliasi Vunivalu all back in the fold.
While the trio will add plenty of attacking flair to the side, they are still without Nelson Asofa-Solomona up front, and that may be the biggest point of discussion coming into the match.
The strategy to beating the Bunnies has been to control their forward pack this season, slowing down one of the competition’s most in-form players Damien Cook at hooker and their incredibly dangerous left edge.
Control the tempo and win the yardage game and most of the battle to stop South Sydney is won.
The Rabbitohs returned to form last week though and will be full of confidence as they arrive at the finals. After two losses on the trot against the Brisbane Broncos and Canberra Raiders raised questions about where the team was at physically, they responded in cracking fashion, with a 51-10 rout of the Tigers.
South Sydney’s left edge has been dangerous all year, and scoring enough points will be key for them here. The efforts of Cody Walker, Alex Johnston, John Sutton, Greg Inglis and winger Robert Jennings could determine whether they get a week off or not.
They have a horrendous record in the Victorian capital though. With seven games played at AAMI Park and seven at the old Olympic ground, they haven’t tasted success once against Melbourne, so to win a final there will be an uphill battle.
Prediction
This should be an excellent game of footy. South Sydney have set themselves up as the team to beat in Melbourne, but they have a horrendous record in the Victorian capital, and I reckon the experience of Slater and Smith gets the hosts across the line.
Storm by 4.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the first NRL qualifying final from 7:40pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Gameinfo
Kick-off: 7:40pm (AEST)
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
TV: Live, Fox League, Nine Network
Online: Live, Foxtel app, Foxtel now, 9Now
Betting: Storm $1.78, Rabbitohs $2.05
Overall record: Played 29, Storm 24, Rabbitohs 5
Last meeting: Round 21, Rabbitohs 30 defeat Storm 20 at ANZ Stadium, Homebush
Last five: Storm 4, Rabbitohs 1
Record at venue: Played 7, Storm 7, Rabbitohs 0
Record in finals: Played 2, Storm 1, Rabbitohs 1
Referees: Ashley Klein and Adam Gee
Melbourne Storm
1 Billy Slater, 2 Suliasi Vunivalu, 3 Cheyse Blair, 4 Curtis Scott, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Cameron Munster, 7 Jahrome Hughes, 8 Jesse Bromwich, 9 Cameron Smith (c), 10 Tim Glasby, 11 Felise Kaufusi, 12 Joe Stimson, 13 Dale Finucane
Interchange: 14 Brandon Smith, 15 Christian Welch, 16 Tui Kamakamica, 17 Kenneath Bromwich, 18 Ryan Hoffman, 19 Brodie Croft, 20 Sam Kasiano, 21 Sandor Earl
South Sydney Rabbitohs
1 Alex Johnston, 2 Campbell Graham, 3 Greg Inglis, 4 Dane Gagai, 5 Robert Jennings, 6 Cody Walker, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Tom Burgess, 9 Damien Cook, 10 George Burgess, 11 John Sutton, 12 Angus Crichton, 13 Sam Burgess (c)
Interchange: 14 Hymel Hunt, 15 Cameron Murray, 16 Jason Clark, 17 Dean Britt, 18 Braidon Burns, 19 Tyrell Fuimaono, 20 Tevita Tatola, 21 Matt McIlwrick
RM
Guest
...that's what I just said.
Eagle
Roar Rookie
How can the refs call for video on what have looked like grounded balls for both sides, & then not over ruled this decision ? The NRL need something like Cricket were the captain can ask for a review of a call & they go to the video ? ! This sort of call in a GF could be game changing, i hope who ever made this call is NOT officiating in the rest of the final series !!!
steveng
Roar Rookie
Rubbish, what a clown you are > CTSTORM youse were just lucky!
David Gough
Guest
Great performance just twick to suit the referees. Seibs Greg and Sam just build and a few subtle changes Glory Glory to South Sydney
farkurnell
Guest
Both sides need to improve there defences to progress,Souths in particular. we know how great the attack is with the Rabs scored the most tries in the comp,having the 3 Burgii is great for atttack but is a double edge sword, as they are relatively slow in cover defence.The left side was particularly exposed by the Storm.When Souths get there bench players on they are far more effective .Having the 3 Burgi playing at the same time is a liability they cant afford
steveng
Roar Rookie
HaHaHaaa you've got it all worked out??? Just remember things don't work out like they should in the finals and the Broncos will get a hard game against the Dragons on Sunday, the Dragons are big chance
Mycall
Guest
It's not about who wrestled who more, who was more off side than who but if you are going to put the whistle in the pocket for match between souths and storm, it is going to benefit the Storm more. It is astonishing that nearly 60 points was scored with a 5m defense line. There is a reason why they changed the 5m rule to 10m and for me, tonight showed why. It was a tense match despite the officiating and definitely not because of it. Allowing the defense to get up off the line faster (even if its evenly for both teams) and put pressure on the dummy half and 1st receiver was always going to benefit the Storm more. The Storm are the best in the business when games are officiated like that. In a more open game, Souths would have been a lot harder to stop.
RM
Guest
What a game. Kaufusi, Finucane, Slater and Munster take a bow for Melbourne. Inglis and Murray great for the Bunnies. Munster is an interesting footballer. Thought he was having a bit of a flat game right up until about 10-15 to go, and then he suddenly stepped up. Looked dangerous whenever he got the ball in his hands and then nailed the winning field goal. Just seems like a bloke who knows how to get the job done. As a Broncos fan, this is the exact result I wanted. A very tough game with Souths having to back up next week. Provided we can get past the Dragons (which isn't by any means a given, despite all the experts picking a Broncos win) then we have a great record against the Bunnies and they will be hurting after this loss. As a fan who was all on board for the refereeing crackdown, I wasn't happy with the refs putting away the whistle for the Finals. If players break the rules, penalise them. That said, it was still an amazing game and the calls (or non-calls) went both ways. Probably favoured the Bunnies in the end - the two calls that led to the last two Souths tries were 100% incorrect as far as I'm concerned, but the Storm also got some in their favour over the course of the match as well.
CTSTORM
Guest
mate, your million dollar man SB has got ball handling issues. The ref tried to win the game for you lot
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Don't think the Rabbitohs lost any admirers after that effort. I think they'll beat whoever they play next week. The Storm just found enough to get themselves over the line.
Ken
Guest
Agreed DUncan talk about sour grapes Souths wrestled better than the storm tonight but if you say something long enough you will believe it .
Matt P
Roar Rookie
No team was wrestling that much? They were both doing their best WWE impressions all night.
Ke
Guest
That’s wrong , last time we played you Sam Burgess complained to the ref repeatedly about us slowing your ball down ,the game statistics showed your play the ball was faster than ours an that your team had slowed down our ball better , “ Perception is reality “ I guess .The refs let a lot go on both teams ,your last try came about from a incorrect forward pass call so there’s excuses on both sides.
Rob
Guest
Cameron Smith is by far the best passer of a football in the modern era if not the history of the game. The way he moves the Storm around the park and the accuracy of his passing is the difference IMO. Slater is brilliant and Munster always steps up in the big games. With big Nelson and Chambers coming back the Storm will be very hard to stop from here.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Another stunning contribution from the stalker...
Peter Smailes
Guest
Right on..agree...I almost gave the game away tonight...I only checked in now because I had 5 mins to chill...probably won't ever give it away.....had to look to be sure of result. I am absolutely, completly, utterly over the refereeing...a game of such intensity and quality unduly influenced by incorrect refeering....if storm had lost would have been a travesty...betting..how? Not just tonight...it's game after game..week after week. Refs have pre conceived subliminal bias..favourites almost allways get the rub. It seems they don't even understand basic play at times..review to minutae to deny tries but won't review issues such as Addo-Cars pass to Billy..wtf linesman..perfect face ball..thats how you throw em!!..does anyone reckon that touchie has ever played a game??? We dont want to interfere all the time but jesus..how to fix this? Would Captains challenge be worthwhile? It would get abused. .put a codicil on it..loose challenge and the captain off for 2 defence sets..or 4 mins? We (Souths) scored twice due to refs allowing us to build pressure.well once on next play......Last try I actually turned the tv off in disgust after we (I am Souths) scored our last try.. I was just about ready to quit the game entirely!! Perspective: I drove hundreds of klms to see Souths v St George first game back after exile...I used to pay to get strapped in bush league. .I've played in 3 countries..till I was 41..refs just don't seem to understand the game. Goddam sick of it. We did not deserve to win tonight...forwards didn't roll..so Cook couldn't run. Sam went well..George ran a lot of decoys but looks unfit..or something...not too bright the boy.....lazy tackle EARLY in second half, sinbinned for bad acting. Get a haircut George.Inglis is class eh. Well done Storm..Rabbits..get a bit of mongrel in ya and win the GF..you look mentally soft.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Cheers Baz! Thanks for your insights mate. Finals time! I don't sleep much, but fair to say I love it!
The Barry
Roar Guru
Haha... #refsfault rules ok !
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Sour grapes. Get a life.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Amazing...especially in such an intense brutal game...even if it’s just to give someone a ten minute spell. Clarke didn’t play many minutes either.