Melbourne went back to Docklands and instead of playing like they did in 2007–2010, decided to throw it all the way back to the 2001 #MuppetShow.
Melbourne – 16 (Grant 15', Asofa-Solomona 25' tries; Meaney 4/4 goals)
Penrith – 34 (Tago 35', 47', Crichton 32' (pen), Martin 40', Hosking 63', To’o 73' tries; Crichton 5/6 goals)
Pretty damning highlights this week of the second half lack of effort by Melbourne in defence.
What a gee up
Let’s get this out of the way — I don’t rate Adam Gee as a quality referee. Melbourne have now lost five straight matches when he is the referee, as well as their only final played under his whistle.1 He’s easily suckered into the narrative of certain teams, and a check of the stats would suggest Penrith in particular thrive under his refereeing.2 Gee is a prime example of a referee who doesn’t perform under the single referee system. There were many good reasons that the NRL went to two referees from 2008, and if the adults were still in charge at League HQ, the idiotic decision to go back to one referee because of Boomer nostalgia3 would have been reversed already.
In this match it was clear that Penrith would not be held to account for either not retreating 10m from the play-the-ball, or that they wouldn’t be punished for holding down in tackles. The former is the reason why Penrith’s famous line speed is a lie. The latter is a big part of how Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo have taken wrestling tactics further than any team since Melbourne were continually hounded about it over a decade ago. The art of wrestling is fine, but only if the rules are being applied equally to both teams. The third thing that Penrith get away with more than any other team is their use of blockers protecting their kickers. Their effectiveness in this area is a big reason why they are able to cover the absence of Nathan Cleary, and also why he struggles at Origin level in comparison.
Reviewing the match closely, the Bunker also continually gets things wrong that they really shouldn’t be getting wrong. Nelson Asofa-Solomona has the ball knocked out of his grasp when trying to score. That should have been a no try call. Stephen Crichton catches a ball after jumping from the field of play and instead of the call being a goal line drop-out, Penrith received the advantage of a seven tackle set.
The penalty try to Crichton is the 100% correct call and credit to the officials for paying that. Nick Meaney had an off night at the back, and it felt like this call rattled him for the rest of the match.
The other egregious call that awarded Penrith a try is the decision just before half time not to recognise that Lindsay Smith is in front of Jack Cogger’s kick that led to the Martin try. I find this is becoming a blind spot for the Bunker, and yet they plucked the no try decision from their arse when Will Warbrick was denied a try against Brisbane in round 11.4
Before moving on from the referee, was interesting to see the judiciary report from the match. Jarome Luai was fined for his late hit on Jahrome Hughes in the first few minutes, and Izack Tago was also fined for a shoulder charge on Hughes in the 38th minute. The Luai hit was penalised, the Tago one wasn’t. With two minutes left in the half, it’s hard to say what difference it would have made, but a sin bin and possession would have at least kept Melbourne in front going into half time.
Melbourne started okay, but got progressively worse
Ignore the outcomes of the previous paragraphs – Melbourne were their own worst enemy in this match and deservedly lost to a team that has their measure.
After taking an early penalty goal for Luai’s late (albeit marginally) tackle on Hughes, the game was a sloppy affair with both teams adjusting to the indoor environment.5 Meaney’s goal brought up his 500th career NRL points.
It was clear that Melbourne were going to try and rush the Panthers early, moving early in defence, and trying to shift the ball in possession. That they had all the early ball but could not take advantage was an early sign of what was to come. Hughes and Cameron Munster’s kicks weren’t finding dangerous positions, and they were unable to take advantage of any of the six again calls from Gee.6
That Melbourne opened the scoring through a Harry Grant charge-down was reward for the Queensland hooker’s ability to work hard. Penrith’s kick blockers all went to stop the markers, not noticing that Grant could sprint the 20m to Cogger unrestrained.7 The try would be the highlight of night for Melbourne fans.
After a stretch of sloppy play from both teams and Gee doing his best to keep Penrith with possession, it was a nicely put together play from Hughes and Tom Eisenhuth that gave Melbourne the impetus to score again. Getting the ball from Reimis Smith, Big Nasty was able to find a seam down the right edge to get over the line, but as mentioned earlier had the ball knocked out of his grasp as he went to score. The delay from the Bunker decision was lengthy and how they arrived at the decision still feels wrong. The result though was a 14–0 lead for Melbourne before half an hour of the game was done, and to be fair they probably deserved it on the balance of the play.
The unravelling
When in an overly extended tackle Will Warbrick lost the ball, Penrith were able to capitalise immediately. From a Cogger grubber that was always bouncing away from Meaney, Crichton would have scored if not for Meaney’s interference. The decision of penalty try is the only decision that the Bunker could have made. That wasn’t a game-changing decision, but the next one from Gee was when he incorrectly called six again when an offload from Scott Sorensen was knocked-on by Mitch Kenney. On the resulting set a bunch of missed tackles saw Tago score with the Storm defenders sliding right instead of coming up and at the Panthers outside backs. Perhaps stung by the penalty try, Meaney looked hesitant in defence too.
Down only 14–10, Penrith had one last crack at Melbourne before half time, scoring a try from the bounce of the ball, with the non-call from the Bunker not overshadowing the lack of effort from Melbourne in shutting the play down.
From a 14-point lead, to a two point deficit at half time. That’s where Melbourne lost it. It was fortuitous from Penrith, but there was hesitancy from Melbourne and just like that they were behind.
That Melbourne took the two points on offer from a penalty early in the second half spoke volumes about the team’s mindset. If they thought they could grind their way to a victory against this Penrith side. Ooof. With Munster quiet, and Grant expending a lot of energy in defence, it felt like a negative move.
After Warbrick was tackled in the air without penalty, Melbourne should have challenged instead of going for the short restart. On the back foot, Tago’s lightstepping saw Warbrick concussed trying to tackle and as many as four Melbourne players forgetting how to defend. Only Grant made any kind of effort to stop the Panthers centre.
Back in front, Penrith were able to grind Melbourne out of the game. Even when Melbourne got the ball legitimately in a one-on-one steal, Gee would penalise them. High tackles would go unpunished too, but it would be dumb panic football from Melbourne that cost them most.
That panic spread into poor defensive efforts as the half progressed, with Melbourne’s missed tackle count eventually hitting 48 for the match as Penrith controlled 57% of possession. Melbourne looked gassed. NAS played the first 66 minutes and was made to do a lot of work in defence. The bench rotation went awry when Tariq Sims went off in the first half with head injury, and without the injection of Alec MacDonald this week, the middle defenders lacked energy.
That lack of energy and effort saw Penrith score twice more, making it six straight tries in a period of play from their ill-gotten possession in the 30th minute, to Brian To’o gathering a Luai kick in the 73rd minute.
The final five minutes were pure junk time with Melbourne still not offering the fans much. In the end a 34–16 scoreline was an accurate reflection of where Melbourne is at. Penrith were able to withstand Melbourne’s early advantages, counter, and blow past them. Yes they had assistance in doing so, but the story for Melbourne fans is that the Panthers are the team to beat, and Melbourne aren’t up to that standard at the moment.8
Coach quotes
Bellyache looked bemused by the performance post match:
We stopped doing the things we were doing earlier. We stopped competing in some areas and paid the price. They've been the top side for three years and haven't got there by luck. For that last 55 minutes we hardly got down their end.
We got what we deserved tonight and need to learn from that.
We knew we had to do a good job to beat them, and for the first 25 minutes we did do a good job. But we just lost field position and kept making errors… it just all dissolved after 25 minutes.
Was it worth it?
Sigh.
Have tried to calm down after being full of rage after the game on Friday night. Melbourne had their chance to prove that they are good enough to win the premiership, but instead showed that they are not. Penrith have Melbourne’s measure at the moment, and to do it without Cleary made it clear that they are the team to beat yet again, with the rest of the league playing catch up.
Penrith are an enraging team to watch at the best of times, but the way they manipulate the rules with officials who allow this at almost every opportunity, really angries up the blood. Their current success built on V’Landysball and pokies money hopefully will eventually be unsustainable, but for the moment, there’s no halting their juggernaut.
As for playing at Marvel Stadium – the best thing that can be said is at least it gets us out of the weather.9 Even sitting on level two is making the best of a bad situation. There really isn’t anywhere in the ground that provides a better viewing experience than AAMI Park,10 plus with the way the club allocated seating for members, there was an overabundance of officious ushers enjoying their power trips.
Thankfully there’s only one more match there and we should never have to relinquish being the lead tenant at AAMI Park (well until maybe 2032).
2/10
Storm Machine Player of the Year
Apart from Harry Grant, not many Storm players had the better of their opponent this week. Trent Loiero despite giving away a couple of penalties11 probably deserves a point for his efforts (48 tackles @ 90.57% efficiency), but it’s hard to award points for anyone else.
Round 18 points:
2 – Harry Grant
1 – Trent Loiero
Leaderboard
21 – Harry Grant
15 – Cameron Munster
13 – Nick Meaney
9 – Christian Welch, Jahrome Hughes
8 – Trent Loiero
6 – Will Warbrick, Nelson Asofa-Solomona
5 – Josh King
4 – Eliesa Katoa, Tui Kamikamica, Xavier Coates
2 – Alec MacDonald, Jonah Pezet
1 – Reimis Smith, Justin Olam
Next up
Sydney Roosters – SCG, Saturday 15 July, 7:35pm
With a timely week off for the players to be absolutely flogged at training, the Roosters match after the bye looms large. Lose away at the #ShitCG and the proof that Melbourne will be making up the numbers in 2023 will be fully confirmed, win well and some respectability will be restored.
Preview post closer to the game.
Which was a pretty shitty game of rugby league.
South Sydney is another – the only match they’ve lost with Gee as the referee was against Penrith.
Their excuse of cost-cutting due to the pandemic still doesn’t add up.
Again, the solution is a fixed camera on the 20m line at stadiums.
Don’t for a second believe those who suggested the turf was damp inside Marvel Stadium by the way. Having been out there it was dry and fast, players just need to wear proper studs in their footy boots.
It almost appeared that Melbourne had never heard the six again klaxon before this match. Every time they got the call for one, they would turnover possession.
Grant sprints from right beside the referee to charge that kick down. It’s those kinds of plays that often go unrewarded that prove why he is the true heir to Cameron Smith’s crown in Melbourne.
It was the first time Melbourne had conceded more than 30 points in Victoria since the Cowboys freight train 32–12 win in the 2015 finals.
The irony in the early comment from Andrew Johns on Nine: “how good is the roof - gee Allianz would look good with a roof.” Indeed the man who can not die is 100% correct. Imagine in this decade building a stadium in the rainiest city in the country without a roof. Typical of The Bad Place, they’re going to keep repeating their errors.
The ONLY thing that I appreciated about the viewing experience at Marvel is that you can really pick up how little the referee keeps Penrith back 10m.
One of which was absolute bollocks.