Not only is this a satisfying score line against a rival, the performance and the underlying numbers indicate that a corner may have been turned.
Melbourne – 28 (Coates 17’, 43’, 48’, Meaney 28’, Munster 33’ tries; Meaney 3/5, Munster 1/1 goals)
Sydney Roosters – 8 (Paulo 12’ try; Walker 2/2 goals)
While the squad still looks like a work in progress, was this the same team that played the Titans a few weeks ago?
From the kickoff, Melbourne looked on, causing a knock-on on the first set. It wouldn’t amount to points inside the first ten minutes, but a tone had been set in the moist conditions. Melbourne wanted to maintain possession, not taking too many risks, but also showing enough movement shifting the ball to cause issues on the edges.
Easts would open the scoring though through a try to Jaxson Paulo. Coming off the back of three straight sets with the ball, the final lob pass from Sam Walker might be a little embarrassing for the left edge, but it was a well worked move from the Roosters to isolate what is usually the stronger side of Melbourne’s defensive structure.
The extra numbers from this angle showed just how the Roosters were able to outnumber the a compressed Melbourne left edge, meaning that any pass that Walker threw was likely to lead to points,1 while the pass selection from Brandon Smith at dummy half felt like the only good moment he had for the game.
As I wrote in the preview, Smith is playing a different role for the Roosters, but his impact is far less than what he was able to achieve in Melbourne last year. I’m nominating his knock-on in the second half as the moment of zen for the game.
After the Roosters scored and then lost the ball not longer after the restart, Melbourne clicked into gear with an expansive passing game just probing for weaknesses in the Easts line. Cameron Munster was clearly the best player on the field, but there were a bunch of players each playing their roles that enabled Melbourne to pile on the points. Shout out here especially to Christian Welch and Trent Loiero who both used their ball playing skills in the lead up to the first Coates try.
The next flashpoint in the game is the Victor Radley sin bin. I must admit on the night I thought penalty sufficient,2 and I do sympathise with Radley whose reputation isn't great, but his coach knows it was a sin bin:
Look you can’t do that, if that happened to Kez (Keary) I’d be really frustrated there, it wasn’t necessary and it wasn’t the end of the world at the same time.
If Andrew Johns and Cameron Smith call your play lazy and silly, you know it wasn’t great.
During the power play, Melbourne took advantage to move from 8–6 down to score two tries to take an 18–8 lead. Munster’s deft chip kick for Nick Meaney to beat Joseph-Aukuso Suaali’i was brilliant play at the start of the ten minutes, while the move down the left that started in midfield with Jahrome Hughes, Munster and Meaney attacking the spot player Sam Walker to end up with Munster clear to score under the posts to cap off a good ten minute spell.
At the start of the second half, the Roosters did have an opportunity to get back into the match, but some very nice defensive efforts, and some smart play from Munster not to panic when the ball was loose, saw Melbourne come up with possession. The next set saw Coates score his second try with Easts shot to bits. Hughes and Harry Grant had their hand in the movement, but it was another Munster kick that was the killer strike.
Could not agree more with this from the @NRLTweet team:3
We’re lucky in Melbourne to have him sticking with us.
A third try to Coates was the last try scored for the night,4 as Melbourne shut down the rest of the game, controlling possession and corralling Easts in defence.
Bellyache seemed pleased post match:
I thought we controlled the ball really well which made it easier on our defence which was good tonight. We improved last week and then took that another couple of steps further tonight. It was our completion that stood out tonight, just how we closed the game out and showed a lot of patience.
Was it worth it?
At least Melbourne fans were at the game in the moist conditions, unlike both sets of television commentators.5 Rohan Connolly at his Footyology website had a good opinion piece about this relating to the AFL this week, and everything that applies to Fox Footy applies to Fox League (and Nine).
Fortunately #TheBaiStand is just far enough under the AAMI Park roofline that I kept dry for the game, although the moisture did do a number on the banner. It did look nice for a moment though, and I’m sure my symbolic $28.80 donation to The Good Friday Appeal helped bump up the club’s $45,000 raised for the cause.
It was an enjoyable game to watch, despite the elements and #Kleined’s usual shenanigans. Probably won’t go down as a classic in the Storm versus Roosters game library though, especially as the last half hour did drag on just a little.
7.5/10
One more thing…
Umm… MOPT, what’s doing?
Storm Machine Player of the Year
As I mentioned, Munster was clearly the Storm’s best player yet again, and the rest of the points could have been spread amongst a few players, given the entire team effort across the park.
Honourable mentions this week to the bench forwards who all played at least 20 minutes and were able to make an impact when they were on the field,6 and the centres Reimis Smith (in defence against Suaali’i) and Justin Olam (with the ball) who had great games.
Round 6 points:
4 – Cameron Munster
2 – Xavier Coates
2 – Harry Grant
1 – Trent Loiero
Leaderboard
12 – Harry Grant
11 – Cameron Munster
6 – Nick Meaney
4 – Christian Welch, Josh King
2 – Xavier Coates, Eliesa Katoa, Trent Loiero, Jonah Pezet, Will Warbrick,
1 – Jahrome Hughes, Alec MacDonald
Next up
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles – 4 Pines Park, Friday 11 April, 8:00pm
Uggh. Fortress Shithole. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
The new stand has only tarted up the place from something that should have been condemned and abandoned, to somewhere that should instead be destroyed by a targeted drone strike.
Melbourne probably won’t have any major personnel changes this week, with Nick Meaney passing his HIA during the match. Manly copped a hiding by the Panthers and look very much like a team being coached by a sleeping hobo at a Maccas.
Preview later in the week, although I won’t be watching any old Storm vs Sea Eagles game this week.
Also, all stadiums should have this angle available at both ends, and any ground that doesn’t is not fit to host NRL matches. If Nine or Fox League ever wanted to bring in proper rugby league analysis, show replays from this angle more often, combined with fixed cameras from the camera stanchions that should be present about 15m out from the try line.
Especially as #Kleined had already awarded one for offside.
Substack’s having issues with embedding tweets as that platform dies a slow death due to the owner, so apologies for the screenshot.
Grant’s 40-20 kick in the lead up and Olam’s little grubber kick for Coates to score were both high quality in the conditions.
With the exception of Billy Slater and Danika Mason who were on the sidelines for Nine.
Again, I might be the only member of the Alec MacDonald fan club, but he impresses me every week in whichever role Bellyache throws at him.