Game 708 – S27E24 Review
Penrith Panthers 22–24 Melbourne Storm
Doing the double against the premiers and silencing the locals (well temporarily at least). Chalk it up to things you love to see. The J.J. Giltinan Shield is almost within grasp.
Penrith – 22 (Smith 22', Tago 25', Edwards 47', McLean 57' tries; Cleary 3/5 goals)
Melbourne – 24 (Katoa 15', 36', Anderson 4', Wishart 61' tries; Meaney 4/5 goals)
11 minutes of highlights this week? Well I guess there was a lot going on.
When you have low expectations of success, reaching that success means so much more than normal. When the opposition think that they are all it too, it makes it all the sweeter to put one over them.
Being on from the first whistle
Melbourne’s second win of the season against Penrith was built through a solid start, perhaps the lessons of the past two outings finally sinking in to the players.
A good defensive set was backed up by a sharp couple of sets in attack after Isaah Yeo was penalised for an obvious high tackle that raised the hackles of a baying home crowd. A Panthers error on their next set putting Melbourne back on the attack with a scrum play… 🚨 SCRUM TRY ALERT 🚨
Yes Nathan Cleary moved to tackle the decoy run of Jack Howarth and was obstructed, but his centre Izack Tago was the weakest link in the Panthers line and was superbly exploited by Ryan Papenhuyzen to put Grant Anderson down the outside past Daine Laurie. It was a poor read by Tago to leave his winger isolated in defence, and while Cleary is apparently Kal-El in the eyes of some, he’s not stopping that move.1 First points to Melbourne, although Nick Meaney would miss the conversion attempt.
It was a fast start from Melbourne and the Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster combination was looking hot early, Munster putting Hughes into a massive gap in the middle of the park that should have resulted in a try, but for Dylan Edwards and Brian To’o just foiling the support run from Papenhuyzen. Melbourne were on and after a lacklustre few weeks from the Storm, it was impressive to see everything clicking.
While that play didn’t result in points, it was a portent of good things for Melbourne. Backed up by a strong defensive attitude, with the Storm using the Panthers fast line speed approach2 against them, Melbourne were able to repel a couple of dangerous attacking sets.
When their Head Boy and Roger Ramjet lookalike3 was penalised for a shoulder charge on Nelson Asofa-Solomona, that probably aggravated his preexisting shoulder injury, the crowd wanted blood. But instead they were silenced by a strong set with the ball from the Storm that resulted in points.
Hughes’ kick was pinpoint to the wing of Will Warbrick, the tap back from the Kiwi to Katoa was spot on, and the second-rower powered through tacklers to score. The work of Warbrick in boxing out Edwards in the air was super intelligent from him. You can tell that he’s worked so hard on his game this year, even if he’s not scoring the same number of tries as 2023.
It wasn’t long though that Melbourne’s scrambling in defence did crack though under the pressure of the Panthers attack. Yeo and Lindsay Smith finding a seam in their right channel to get through the line after Shaun Blore slipped and Munster couldn’t stop the passing move. Cleary’s conversion attempt clanked off the post to have Melbourne’s lead stay at 10–4.
This game was fast
That lead would evaporate though in the very next set, Penrith stretched the Storm defence by attacking the left edge from broken play at midfield, causing Paps to be out of position for a Jarome Luai kick back towards the posts. Just like that Penrith were level through a try to Tago and it was time to start again with 15 minutes left in the first half.
With both teams making changes, it was interesting to see the change in dynamic in the middle of the field. Tui Kamikamica and Alec MacDonald’s impact here can’t be understated. Both players go out there and just do their jobs and they do it so well. It’s part of what makes the Melbourne system work. Each player has a defined role and receives the right feedback to play their role in a way to benefit the team. No one exemplifies this more than Eli Katoa. His second try, again coming from a Munster kick that was tapped back by Brick,4 saw him backing up and in the right position yet again. Attitude and effort. Katoa has brought both almost every week since joining the club.
Melbourne’s lead restored, half time beckoned both teams after a very speedy first half. As if the half could end without a further talking point though. I’m not as baffled by what occurred with the 20m optional restart as the Nine commentators were. More referees should penalise teams for taking a tap (or a kick) when their team mates are offside. That it was Melbourne caught out this time, albeit after a captain’s challenge that wasn’t even for that part of the play was frustrating in the moment, but amusing in hindsight. As always, as long as the decision making by the officials is consistent, then play on whistle blowers.
A game that lived up to its billing
So often with over-hyped matchups, the teams tend to cancel each other out and it turns into a grinding slug fest. After a zippy first half,5 the second half was more akin to how this game was supposed to play out. Penrith were all out attack to start the half and Melbourne were in full scramble defence. With the ball Melbourne’s best attacking moves were down the right edge, Grant weaving on a last tackle play was a thing of beauty, only his little kick bouncing the wrong way souring the move.
It was Penrith though with the thrust to take the lead. Edwards scoring the try, finishing a move that focused down their left channel, Melbourne’s right edge unable to stem the torrent of possession coming at them.
Tyran Wishart’s introduction in the 50th minute was just the spark that Melbourne needed, but that was in danger of being the spark that caused this game to boil over because of a tackle from Big NAS in game 199. It’s a tricky one to judge. NAS has a swinging arm that bounces off the back of Daine Laurie into Cameron Munster. Both Laurie and Munster went off for HIA tests, while NAS was put in the naughty corner. It’s probably the right call, even if it feels a little unlucky.
On the penalty kill, you just knew Penrith would take advantage. It only took a minute. This time is was their right edge getting around Melbourne, precision passing and the extra man getting the job done for the home team. Penrith’s lead was only six though after Cleary missed another conversion attempt.
Tyran Wishart: Super sub
There are moments in NRL matches where big plays are needed. During the penalty kill, Grant Anderson made the first one with a steal from Lindsay Smith. Then Tyran Wishart started to cook in the middle of the park. An offload set Harry Grant on a path to the tryline, with the skipper denied a try by the Bunker despite putting the point of the ball on the paint. It was moot though when on the next set Wishart TORE APART THE PANTHERS.
Fuck me what a try. Wishy’s dummy fooled three of them. Three. His running game this season has been top notch. Melbourne’s super sub putting Melbourne level by scoring a shortie under the sticks which Meaney easily converted.
All to play for
With three minutes left of the penalty kill, Melbourne needed to hold on. Things were against them when Hughes was ruled to have played at the ball from a dud Yeo kick, but in the end the Storm held strong. With NAS and then Munster back, the next big talking point was the injury to Nathan Cleary. Have to laugh about some of the Prefects fans blaming Melbourne for the hurting the ticking time bomb that is their halfback’s shoulders.
The home fans though didn’t want to acknowledge that one of their own players knocked out Grant Anderson who will now miss next week’s match. His assailant will too via the match review, but how he remained on the park when his tackle was similar to one that resulted in a sin bin 15 minutes before… only the officials know. Thankfully they didn’t miss the next big decision, penalising James Fisher-Harris for his undisciplined late whack on Hughes in the middle of the field. Was it there? Yes. Was it controversial? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That’s the thing when you know that Ashley Klein is the referee. You know that #Kleined is a state of existence. It’s going to happen and you can’t stop it, only wait for the next dodgy decision to instead go your way. I’m not sure that there’s a fan base that enjoys having their game officiated by Klein, but you know that for most of the time, everyone is having a bad time.
Melbourne converted the penalty to take a slender lead and were able to grind this one out, Penrith unable to repeat their efforts against Parramatta last week, the Storm holding firm for a famous win.
Post match quotes
A happy coach? A contented coach:
We done a really good job, to get to that 10–0 lead. The disappointing part was how easily we let it be 10–all. We lost a bit of control of the game with our discipline and defence fell off a bit there. Other than that, I thought our guys were tremendous. They really stuck at it. They backed each other up in defence.
With the way Tyran’s been playing, he’s done a great job there today. He played in the ruck, he played five-eighth, he played a bit on the wing. It just goes to show how far he’s come. To do the job he did, outstanding.
Whatever came up tonight we seemed to be able to handle it okay.
We all knew it was going to be tough to come here, but we were determined to play our best footy, and we know what our best footy is. We just wanted to see where we were at. There were some tough periods during the game, but we come through.
Stat offloads
Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s grade one careless high tackle charge is (by my calculations) his 21st career charge. He’s missed six matches through suspension and been fined $24,100. His fifth career sin bin broke a tie with Aaron Moule for third most in club history. It was his first time being sent to the naughty corner since round 15 of the 2021 season.
Melbourne completed their sets at 85%, again having less time in possession.
That was only the third match that Penrith had played under Ashley Klein since the 2022 NRL Grand Final. They’ve lost two of those three matches.
Lazarus Vaalepu went unused on the bench for Melbourne. It’s the second time Craig Bellamy has gone with 16 players this season after Tyran Wishart didn’t see any game time in round 7.
Was it worth it?
Literally planes, trains and automobiles got me to Penrith for this one. Must admit when my flight from Tullamarine was delayed at 2pm I was yet again cursing Thursday night football.
Trekking out to Penrith and making that walk to the stadium was interesting. As a Victorian, it has always been confusing as to why the football grounds elsewhere were built a reasonable distance from train stations. Almost all of the old suburban VFL venues were built a short walk from a station or tram line, yet there’s a few in The Bad Place that didn’t take advantage of that. Odd.
Walking into Penrith Stadium is something akin to a time warp. The design choices that some of these suburban shitholes made along the way are very weird. How none of them ever saw how English stadia evolved and decided to follow suit will always baffle me, but thankfully this one is marked for demolition and an already outdated edifice will rise in its place
Plus they still have cheerleaders doing a routine to Gettin Jiggy Wit It.6 What decade did I travel to‽
I had opted for a prime seating position for this game, not wanting to be subjected to standing on a hill for hours. My choice of seating was right behind the Storm bench, where I got to enjoy the pithy banter of the local inhabitants who seemingly perform their little verbal routines each and every week. Some of the banter was amusing and did raise a wry grin from a couple of the Storm players and officials, but most of it was just banal abuse.
I was found to be an oddity by a couple of fans who did have a chat, one guy couldn’t believe that I was a Victorian who flew up just for this match at that venue. Look, we all do silly things sometimes, this was just one of mine. I think my 27 year history with the Storm did impress him though, so at least there was something of a human connection.
I’m not one to go off during away matches, but will admit that the Tyran Wishart try got me out of my seat and embracing the moment. Fuck me that was something.
The catharsis of witnessing an upset win at a hostile venue though, c'est magnifique, très bien. Well worth the outlays.
The vibes were immaculate post match. Stopped and had a chat with a few of the players (Xavier Coates is ready to go) before rushing off to make the train.7
9.5/10
Storm Machine Player of the Year
This was a full team performance.
Thought that Melbourne’s core players all played well, but it was the role players who really stood up when it mattered. Katoa and Warbrick were great on their edge, while Howarth was super on the other side of the field, despite his brain fade just on half time. Munster had his best game since returning from injury, even with a spell to get his head checked. Grant probably needs a week off, hopefully he can freshen up before the finals.
Round 24 points:
2 – Jack Howarth
2 – Tyran Wishart
2 – Cameron Munster
2 – Harry Grant
1 – Eliesa Katoa
1 – Will Warbrick
Leaderboard:
25 – Jahrome Hughes
13 – Eliesa Katoa, Harry Grant
9 – Tyran Wishart,
8 – Xavier Coates, Ryan Papenhuyzen
7 – Cameron Munster
6 – Grant Anderson, Josh King,
5 – Jack Howarth
4 – Christian Welch, Shawn Blore, Trent Loeiro, Nelson Asofa-Solomona
3 – Tui Kamikamica, Grant Anderson, Nick Meaney, Sualauvi Fa’alogo, Will Warbrick
2 – Joe Chan
1 – Jonah Pezet, Alec MacDonald, Reimis Smith, Bronson Garlick
Around the grounds
Jersey Flegg Cup — Penrith Panthers 22–16 Melbourne Storm
The home team jumped out to a 18–0 first half lead in the Thursday night curtain raiser. The Storm scored through Matt Hill early in the second half, but Aston Warwick’s second try put the result out of reach. Melbourne made the score look close at the end with Hill scoring his second try in the final minute.
Queensland Cup — Souths Logan Magpies vs Sunshine Coast Falcons
Sunday 2:10pm
Queensland Cup — PNG Hunters vs Brisbane Tigers
Sunday 3pm
NSW Cup — North Sydney Bears vs Penrith Panthers
Sunday 3pm
Next up
Round 25 vs Redcliffe Dolphins – Saturday 24 August, 5:30pm @ AAMI Park
Final home match of the regular season and the first visit of the Red Fish to Victoria. There’s a couple of milestones to be acknowledged to as September looms large.
Preview post coming Thursday morning.
Plus y’know swings and roundabouts — Penrith received the benefit of this call last week against Parramatta, this week it goes against them.
Aka being inside 10m and getting away with it.
Mary Fowler’s boyfriend should dye his hair orange and cosplay already just for everyone’s amusement.
Or knocked-on by To’o, take your pick as to which it was, or both.
The time elapsed for the first 40 minutes of play was about 45 minutes.
“Would you people just shut the hell up with the ‘Fresh Prince’ already?!”
I also spent my Friday evening at the new SFS, where of course it rained and ruined the turf. You couldn’t make this up — the rain capital and their new stadium without a roof.