With Melbourne away from Swan Street for a few weeks, this week’s match against the reigning premiers provides us with a chance to look back as we move forward. First look back this week is a seemingly random match from the Melbourne and Penrith back catalogue.
S09E12 – Melbourne Storm vs Penrith Panthers
Ignoring the last few years of matches between these two teams to instead focus on the 2006 meeting at Olympic Park. This match was played on what started as a sunny Sunday afternoon, on the weekend after NSW defeated Queensland 17–16 in Origin I at Stadium Australia. Melbourne would have Cameron Smith, Dallas Johnson, Matt King and Inglis backing up from Origin duty.
I say sunny afternoon, because this game quickly turned rainy during the second half, much to Warren Smith and Laurie Daley’s bemusement in the Olympic Park commentary box. At least it meant Greg Alexander got wet on the sideline.
2006 was Inglis’ second year in the NRL and he was starting at fullback in place of the suspended Billy Slater. Inglis would be used in a number of roles through the game, drifting into the centres at times, with Steve Turner and Matt Geyer often switching to fullback.
Dressed in their terrible aqua jerseys,1 Penrith would open the scoring early, with Luke Lewis looking menacing on the left edge, chipping and chasing ahead to put Nick Youngquest over in the corner for a 6–0 lead. It would take Melbourne ten minutes to find an equiliser through a Geyer intercept, with Boofa running 90m after taking a Lewis pass.
Lewis and Rhys Wesser were running things well for the visitors, regaining the lead through a Wesser try. The mercurial fullback getting outside of King and Turner, crossing the line with momentum despite a last ditch tackle.
It was a pretty even first half hour with referee Shayne Hayne in faux-Origin mode, not blowing any penalties. Melbourne would have chances to score when Inglis bust Penrith open on the right edge, but he would just be stopped by Wesser. Cooper Cronk’s kick to end the set to King was somehow foiled by Preston Campbell.2
Cronk’s passing game came to the fore for the second Storm try, with the halfback putting Jake Webster into space after wrapping around David Kidwell. Webster would score untouched, with Geyer adding the extras for a 12–10 Melbourne lead.
Just before half time, a short pass from Nathan Friend to Jeremy Smith just five metres out from the line was called forward by Hayne, with replays suggesting the pass wasn’t forward. Smith would have been under the posts to extend the advantage, but for the referee’s whistle.
Coming back for the second half, with the weather having shifted, the next 20 minutes would be Melbourne holding out Penrith attacks, with the visitors probing without substance. Their error rate was climbing, and they weren’t helped when Lewis would leave the field with an injury.
Penrith would eventually score through weight of possession, with Wesser’s pass off the ground not called by Hayne, leading to Michael Gordon scoring. Wesser’s kick would bounce off the post though, giving the Panthers a slender 16–12 advantage with 15 minutes to go.
Melbourne would go all out attack from there. Cameron Smith, Friend, Cronk and Scott Hill would all be around the middle of the park looking for opportunities. The chance would come when Campbell’s attempted intercept led to a scrum for Melbourne in the redzone. From the scrum win, Inglis bamboozled the defenders, grabbing the ball and drifting right across the field, and with one fend off against Luke Priddis would score in the corner. Smith’s kick from the sidelines would just miss to set up a frantic final 10 minutes with scores level.
Both teams were looking for field goal, and Penrith would have first crack, but instead of Campbell, it would be Wesser who would miss the chance in the 73rd minute. Campbell would then have a long-range attempt fall short.
With less than five minutes to go, a 45m attempt from Cronk was a bit of a shocker. When Trent Waterhouse knocked-on 40m out from the Panthers’ line with three mintutes left, Melbourne should have been able to work into field goal position, but would instead go for a try down the left edge. Campbell again would go for an intercept, but in failing to grab the ball cleanly, he gave Melbourne a perfect chance to set up again for a field goal. From the scrum win, Geyer tried to run a similar play as to how Inglis had scored earlier, only to be bundled into touch.
There would be one more Cronk field goal attempt in regulation time, but golden point was needed when his kick landed short on the goal line. This would be Melbourne’s second trip to extra time, just under three years since the Minto match.3
So to extra time, with Melbourne attacking the Yarra end of Olympic Park, but with the Panthers having first use of the Steeden. The visitors would be kept inside their own half in their first set, setting up Inglis on the kick return. GI would earn a penalty to immediately put Melbourne on the attack.
Looking for a try, Jeremy Smith would go close, Friend would try to barge over and Geyer almost made a bust down the right edge. Those chances gone, Cronk would aim for a field goal 15m out only to have the kick charged down. Getting the ball back, Melbourne would set up again only for Cameron Smith’s attempt from point blank to go wide right.
Trapped in their own half, Penrith wouldn’t get another chance until the final seconds of the first half of extra time, but Wesser’s miracle attempt wasn’t close.
With Frank Pritchard leaving the field with a hand injury,4 it was advantage Melbourne in the second half of extra time, with the Storm having the better field position in the period. It came down to the final 90 seconds though when with one last set inside the Penrith half, Cronk finally landed a perfect field goal from 25m out with 56 seconds left in the match to win the game.
The victory was Melbourne’s eighth for the season, and would spark an 11-match winning streak as the club lost only one more match for the season until a fateful October night.5
Melbourne – 17 (Geyer 15', Webster 32', Inglis 69' tries; C Smith 1/2 Geyer 1/1 goals; Cronk 90' field goal)
Penrith – 16 (Youngquest 4', Wesser 23', Gordon 63' tries; Campbell 2/3 goals)
Stat pack
Melbourne have played three times on 30 June, with the Storm only winning once. The lone win was a 42–12 triumph against Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium in 2017, with the losses coming against the Dragons at Wollongong in 2014 (24–12), and Manly last year at #FortressShithole (36–30).
Penrith have only won 12 of the 41 previous matches against Melbourne, their worst winning record (29.26%) against active opponents. The Panthers have only left Victoria with the competition points on three occasions, twice at Olympic Park (2000 and 2005) and once at AAMI Park (2018).
Melbourne had a 11-match winning streak against Penrith from 2006–2012, with the Panthers only scoring 20 points once in that span.
Last year’s 32–6 loss during Magic Round was the first time Penrith had scored 30+ points against Melbourne since 2005.
The only previous match played between Melbourne and Penrith at Marvel Stadium (then Colonial Stadium) in 2001 saw the Storm win 28–24 on a Monday night.6 Tasesa Lavea scored the winning try five minutes from full time.
Team line-up
Nick Meaney
Will Warbick
Remis Smith
Justin Olam
Xavier Coates
Cameron Munster
Jahrome Hughes
Tariq Sims
Harry Grant
Christian Welch ©
Trent Loiero
Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Josh King
Bronson Garlick
Alec MacDonald
Tui Kamikamica
Kane Bradley
Tyran Wishart
Tom Eisenhuth
Chris Lewis
Sualauvi Fa’alogo
Jonah Pezet
Referee: Adam Gee
Indoor rugby league
This week will be the 21st game played by Melbourne Storm under the roof at Docklands.7 John Ribot and Chris Johns in their infinite wisdom took the club to the still new stadium in 2001, moving away from Olympic Park. It was, in short, a mistake. Storm fans didn’t like the oval venue which moved fans even further away from the action than we were behind the Olympic Park running track.
The club tried a few things to get fans through the gates (I have a vague memory that Mark Seymour played before the first game against Canterbury), but having to schedule around the AFL (there were matches played on Thursday and Monday nights) meant that attendances ended up averaging less than Olympic Park from 1998–2000. The only match that was played with the movable seats against Brisbane was a success, attracting the loudest and largest attendance for the season, but the expense of moving the seats8 and the damage to the already poor quality turf, didn’t see this ever replicated again for rugby league.
After returning to Olympic Park for the 2002 season, Melbourne would only return to Docklands for a smattering of matches from 2007–2010 before AAMI Park opened. Those matches included preliminary finals victories in 2007 and 2009 on the way to NRL Grand Final triumphs.
The last match was in the days following 22 April 2010, when just under 24,000 emotional fans saw the players pick themselves up from the dirt in a 40–6 thumping win over the Warriors.
Melbourne @ Marvel Stadium
20 matches – 13 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses
Highest score: 64 points vs Wests Tigers
Biggest win: 64–0 vs Wests Tigers
Lowest score: 10 points vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs; vs Parramatta Eels
Biggest defeat: 54–10 vs Parramatta Eels
Most tries: 11 – Billy Slater
Preview
Cameron Munster will make his return from illness to face the Nathan Cleary-less Panthers. Tui Kamikamica has been named on the bench, replacing Aaron Pene. Pene is back on the reserves list after limping off against Manly. For the visitors, their Origin players will play after missing last week’s win against Newcastle.9
After Storm’s triumph in the 2020 NRL Grand Final, Penrith have won three of the five matches between the teams, with Melbourne’s two wins coming against under-strength squads. Indeed, Penrith have only defeated Melbourne once without Nathan Cleary in their team.
With both teams currently tied with the Broncos atop the NRL ladder, banking points at this time of the year becomes all the more important at the end of the season. Under the roof, I would expect a high quality game, with both sides tending to keep the ball in their hands, with high completion rates in recent weeks.
Hopefully the Melbourne playmakers have been able to reacquaint themselves with the oval surface of Marvel Stadium in order to ensure that their kicks stay within the confines of the rugby league pitch. It can be a tricky thing to get the correct bearings when playing in different conditions, so hopefully the Storm adapt first on the night. It will be interesting to see how the no-nonsense fullbacks go, with Nick Meaney capably filling in for Ryan Papenhuyzen this season, and Dylan Edwards potentially looking for representative honours in the future. Expect a few high balls with the Steeden harder to see under the roof and the way the lights are set up at Marvel Stadium.
After the big loss to the Cowboys a few weeks ago, Melbourne have been able to find some form and return to the top four of the ladder. Penrith also had a hiccup against the Cowboys a couple of weeks ago, their first since back-to-back losses to the Tigers and Rabbitohs in April.
My prediction for this one is that it will be tight. Hopefully referee Adam Gee and the man in the Bunker have little impact on the result.10
The design of these particular Penrith jerseys are one of the worst of the NRL-era.
Can’t help but wonder what the Bunker would have made of that moment under the current levels of scrutiny.
I really don’t want to do a recall of that game. You can’t make me.
He would also make an allegation against Ian Donnelly of an eye-gouge in the game, but refused to make an official complaint, and there was no video evidence.
#SimpkinsIsADickhead.
The 8,808 match attendance was the smallest home crowd for the season.
I’m going to include in this piece the one game that was accidentally played with the open roof during the 2001 season against Newcastle.
Reports suggested it cost about $1m to do.
Or as Christian Welch put it “the Panthers didn’t have anyone.”
But we know that they will, it is the way the Prefects operate.