After falling to the Knights, a visit from Parramatta comes at a crucial time for Melbourne on this roller coaster 2023 season. Having avoided watching Melbourne Storm finals matches so far this season, this week I couldn’t resist a trip back to 2007 for the last time the Storm faced off against the Eels under the roof.
S10E28 – Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels
When looking back at games like this one, it’s hard not to get caught up in reminiscing about your own personal emotions at the time. After the anger and disappointment of the finish to the 2006 season, Melbourne were on a mission in 2007 losing just three games during the year, claiming the J.J. Giltinan Shield for a second successive season. A fortnight before this match, Melbourne had demolished the Broncos 40–0 at Olympic Park to earn a week off to prepare for this Grand Final qualifier.
This was Melbourne’s first return visit to Docklands Stadium since the 2001 season, with the then Telstra Dome able to host this match after changes to the NRL rules that had seen the club travel to Sydney the year before in the corresponding fixture against the Dragons.
The club and the league was rewarded with a bumper crowd for this match, with 33,427 in attendance to set a new highest attendance for a NRL match in Victoria.
Facing off against Parramatta, whose path through the finals from fifth on the ladder saw them cross the ditch to beat the Warriors and defeat a battered Bulldogs squad 25–6.1
My ticket for this game says that I was sitting on level 3, which I’m not so sure about as I think I was down on level 1 and thankfully avoiding the commentary of Nine’s Ray Warren, Peter Sterling and a particularly annoying Phil Gould.2
An intense opening
In the early going this match was all about big defence, with both teams aiming up for the big hit on the ball carrier. There wasn’t much space for attack, with Melbourne especially having to make hard yards with the ball in hand. The 2007 iteration of the Melbourne Storm loved to employ a smothering and scrambling style of defence, and they were able to blunt much of Parramatta’s attacking flair, especially down the middle where Jarryd Hayne looked dangerous.
The most dangerous player for the visitors was the Yawnion-bound Timana Tahu. Lurking on their left edge, Tahu was facing the outside back pairing of Israel Folau and Steve Turner, and it was the focal point of Parramatta’s attack. The first try would come via the right edge though, after a Tim Smith3 cut-out pass saw Anthony Quinn take the wrong player, gifting Eric Grothe Jr4 clear passage to the line.
A worthy Grand Final qualifier
With things getting a little niggly and tense under the roof, trailing 4–0 Melbourne needed to settle into the game, but Cooper Cronk’s radar was askew, his last tackle kicking options often too deep. It would be a Cameron Smith deft kick that would earn Melbourne a repeat set, with Billy Slater’s cut-out pass to Turner putting the winger around the Eels defence to level the scores. It was poor defence from the visitors, beaten in a sweeping play with a lack of effort from a lazy Hayne clear on the replay. Turner had scored a hat-trick against the Broncos, with the winger embracing his chance to stay in Melbourne and play meaningful finals matches instead of switching to the Titans.
Getting on the scoreboard lifted Melbourne, and they would take the lead when Cronk hot-stepped to beat Brett Finch and Josh Cordoba, scoring the try himself near the posts. It was a solid ten minute burst from Melbourne to take it to 10–4, withstanding the Parramatta tempo football tactics.
The back end of the first half saw both teams have chances to score as the turnovers mounted, Quinn going close in the corner before being bundled into touch, while a Finch kick almost caught out Slater and Smith, leaving Folau to save the day. Melbourne had one more chance to end the half, but Matt King was unable to score from a Smith kick on the half time siren.
Melbourne “on tilt”
With the 10–4 half time score nowhere near comfortable for Melbourne, a strong start to the second half was needed, but it would be Parramatta making metres and when Slater juggled a Finch kick, the visitors were on the march. With PJ Marsh at hooker, Parramatta would move the ball to their right flank, away from Tim Smith, for Joel Reddy to score and Krisnan Inu to level the scores at 10–all.
It was all Parramatta in the first ten minutes after half time, with Melbourne just holding on to their composure and scramble in defence. Storm were making bad errors with the ball, and it was another close run thing when Grothe Jr was forced into touch by Quinn. Not helping matters was Slater who was struggling with a right knee injury.
That injury would force Slater off as Melbourne regained their senses, earning a penalty from a high shot by Tahu on Folau. Matt Geyer would come on for Slater with Smith taking the penalty goal to give Melbourne a 12–10 lead after 53 minutes.
Just Melbourne things
From the restart and still inside their own half, Greg Inglis would put Ryan Hoffman into a massive gap down the left edge, breaking through the tackles of Finch and Nathan Cayless. Hoffman would hand the ball off to Matt King and just like that Melbourne were 18–10 up after Smith’s kick hit the post but still went through on the rebound.
With Turner moving to fullback, Melbourne’s structure had to adapt to the different personnel, which did open the door slightly for a potential Parrmatta fightback. Inu would come closest after Tahu beat a couple of defenders with a special pass. Inu would just be stopped by Turner, with the Parramatta winger touching the line before getting the ball down.
Melbourne would muscle up in defence in the final 20 minutes, scrambling enough to blunt any chance of the Eels going around the edges. Michael Crocker was very good in this period, as were the usual suspects as Melbourne willed themselves into a grand final appearance. Both teams would make a few errors, with Turner dropping a monster bomb from Tim Smith, but the Parramatta halfback would end that attacking set with a shank on the last tackle.
This match wasn’t without controversy when Hayne stayed down in a tackle from Jeremy Smith to earn a penalty from the video referee. Hayne would immediately regain his feet and wink at the Melbourne players, which is definitely something the players remembered down the road.5 There was a further interruption a few plays later when Mark Riddell copped a burner in another tackle, with the Parramatta doctor wandering out to the middle to take a closer look.
With enough time left on the clock, Melbourne were still wary of the potential comeback from the visitors. Quinn would diffuse a Finch kick in Melbourne’s in-goal, and then go close to almost scoring himself. Getting the ball back from a scrum, Folau would be held up and a 50-50 call went Melbourne’s way when Jeff Lima was stripped of the ball. The penalty from right in front gave Smith an easy two points to take Melbourne out to a 20–10 lead with less than seven minutes remaining.
Grand Final bound
With time running out for Parramatta, they would regain possession from a restart that bounced over Boofa, and a stripping penalty would provide them with attacking field position. It would be down their left that Parramatta would head again, with Inu again attempting to score in the corner. Again it would be for nothing with the winger touching the sideline before getting the ball down, despite the protests from Gould in the commentary box.
After that, Melbourne shut the game down. Folau would limp off with cramp to send Slater back out to the middle, and with Parramatta playing error-ridden panic football in the final minutes, Melbourne was grand final bound.
In the final minute, an offload from Lima would allow Cameron Smith to put King over the line for his 19th try of the season, with the skipper adding the extras to put the icing on the cake. Melbourne hadn’t been at their best, but had done enough when it mattered to get over the top and through to the Grand Final to take on Manly.
Nine’s player of the match Ryan Hoffman giving the broadcaster a clip in his interview with Matt Johns on the field when he said that he hadn’t seen the other preliminary final the night before as “we’re in Melbourne, and I wasn’t staying up to midnight to watch it.” Ahh typical GTV9.
Bellsa was a tad cliche in his comments on the field, remarking that it was a draining game and that half time came at the wrong time for the Storm, but that they stuck at their task to get the result.
Melbourne – 26 (King 54', 80', Turner 28', Cronk 31' tries; C Smith 5/6 goals)
Parramatta – 10 (Grothe 11', Reddy 43' tries; Inu 1/2 goals )
Stat pack
Melbourne have played two previous matches on 28 July, losing the Warriors across the ditch in 2013, and thrashing thre Raiders at AAMI Park in 2018.
This will be Parramatta’s third visit to the Docklands to play against Melbourne. The rampant Eels thrashed a hapless Storm 54–10 back in 2001, with the other match up featured above from 2007.
That 54-point win stands as the second highest score at Docklands, and the highest score conceded by Melbourne in club history. It remains as one of the four occasions Melbourne has conceded 50 points in the NRL, with two of those occasions coming during that 2001 season.
Melbourne hold a 25–18 record in 43 matches against Parramatta, but have won just two of seven matches played since the pandemic.
Parramatta’s premiership drought stretching from the suburban NSWRL competition in 1986 has seen the club churn through nine coaches, earning three wooden spoons along the way.
Parramatta’s blatant breaches of the NRL’s salary cap discovered in 2016 covered the seasons from 2013 through 2015 when a bloated roster delivered a wooden spoon finish in 2013 and no finals appearances across the period. It was strongly suspected that Parramatta had been in breach of the salary cap from as far back as 2009 after the club had offered a long-term contract extension to convicted criminal Jarryd Hayne which included unregistered inducements.
Team line-up
Nick Meaney
Will Warbick
Marion Seve
Young Tonumaipea
Xavier Coates
Cameron Munster
Jahrome Hughes
Tui Kamikamica
Harry Grant
Christian Welch ©
Trent Loiero
Tom Eisenhuth
Josh King
Bronson Garlick
Alec MacDonald
Eliesa Katoa
Tyran Wishart
Grant Anderson
Chris Lewis
Tepai Moeroa
Aaron Pene
Jayden Nikorima
Referee: Ashley Klein (Bunker: Gerard Sutton)
Preview
Team list Tuesday brought news of changes to the Storm line-up – as predicted Reimis Smith was out with injury, but joining him was Nelson Asofa-Solomona after his finger injury required surgery. Also missing is Tariq Sims through suspension and curiously6 Justin Olam. Coming into the starting team was a new centre pairing of Marion Seve and Young Tonumaipea, with Tom Eisenhuth in the second row. Eliesa Katoa has been named to return via the interchange bench, finally recovering from his nasty eye injury suffered against the Sharks back in round 15.
Parramatta will also be missing a number of their key players, with Dylan Brown, Maika Sivo, and Reagan Campbell-Gillard all suspended; while Shaun Lane and Josh Hodgson are both out for the rest of the season through injury. As a result, Joey Lussick has been rushed into the team, rejoining Parramatta after making 20 appearances for St Helens in 2023, including their Challenge Cup semi-final lost to the Leigh Leopards at the weekend.
On the officials front, Ashley Klein has again got a Storm vs Parramatta game for the fourth time in a row, having had the whistle in five of the past seven matches played between the teams under one referee.
Melbourne were able to overcome #Kleined and Parramatta back in round 1, winning in #GoldenGallop thanks to the wizardry of Harry Grant.
It was interesting hearing Cameron Munster talk7 about the team’s form going into the crucial final weeks of the season, echoing the sentiments of Craig Bellamy’s post match comments.
We’re still in the top four, but we’ve got a hard run home and we need to make sure we find some consistency. We need to play our best footy in the next six or seven weeks just to stay in the top four, so we need to find what the piece is that’s missing.
When teams are beating you in the effort areas, that what Bellamy can’t cop and rightly so. I’ve been at the club a long time and I can’t remember the last time we’ve been beaten in the effort areas so many times this year.
The visitors form has mirrored Melbourne recently, they did have a five game winning streak through May and June, only to stumble in July. Coming into this game, Parramatta will also be desperate to cling on to their spot in the final eight so that they can choke again in the finals.
Friday night looms large for the club. It’s not hyperbole to say that this one is a must win, but with the club putting on a show before the game with the MOB and the 25 year dinner going off on Saturday night,8 it would be a nice time to put in a big effort to win this one.
Bonus content
This was making this post far too long, so here’s a separate niche post that I didn’t send out:
This was the third time Melbourne had played Parramatta in a final. The teams have now met on seven occasions during the important part of the season for seven Melbourne victories. Long may this continue.
There is real “old man yells at cloud” (even while indoors) about his comments during this match.
Not the bloviating drink-driving politician.
Now better known as an absolute cooker.
This whole incident set Phil Gould off on a rant. Mute accordingly.
Or not, depending on your perspective.
Due to the current strike against game day media from the players, it was somewhat weird seeing player “content” again.
Be there or be square.