Melbourne used to market the home match against the Broncos as the Big Battle, leaning into that with three numbered editions held between 2011 and 2013. I say let’s re-embrace that marketing lingo and take it to the nth degree — this week marks the 56th match between the Big Brother Broncos and their former News Limited colleagues Storm.
It’s time for Big Battle LVI.
After looking at matches from the first decade of Melbourne Storm matches so far this season, I’m jumping ahead to the aforementioned third match marketed as a Big Battle between the Storm and the Broncos at AAMI Park.
S16E17 – Melbourne Storm vs Brisbane Broncos
2013, what a time. As defending premiers, Melbourne had started the year off by winning the World Club Challenge against the Leeds Rhinos and continued their winning ways from 2012, winning their first seven matches of the season. That then club record winning streak of 15 matches, often greeted by the refrain we just win eventually snapped in annoying fashion by the Canberra Raiders in round 8.
That defeat saw Melbourne eventually fall to third on the ladder behind Souths and the Roosters ahead of this match against the Broncos, who were languishing in 12th on the ladder, having won only two of their previous eight matches.
Melbourne had defeated Brisbane in round 4 at Lang Park, holding on for a 32–26 win with Billy Slater scoring a hat trick in what was a classic between these teams.
For the third season in a row, Melbourne were wearing an alternate jersey for the home match against the Broncos, with the 2013 design featuring a motif taking inspiration from the roof design of AAMI Park.
Now if you’ve been a chronically online Storm fan, or indeed a rugby league fan in general, you might remember this game and the reason behind this famous tweet from the official Storm account:
Which lead an interesting night online with white knights steaming in to protect the honour of Tim Gilbert, and to some breathless press coverage in the days that followed.1 Of course some reprobates previously celebrated the yearly anniversary of that tweet, but given it’s now over ten years ago, this reference will likely be the last.
In any event, the Storm tweet was 100% right.2 Gilbert had a shocker that night and was rightfully called out for his poor performance.3 Watching this game again this week, I can safely say that NRL commentary hasn’t improved though, especially during those matches called off the screen in The Bad Place.
To the game itself, Melbourne opened the scoring in the third minute after a bullocking run from Jesse Bromwich bust the Broncos open off the back of a perfect run and pass from Cameron Smith at midfield. It was vintage Smith and Bromwich for the perfect start for the home team.
Brisbane steadied over the next few minutes, but couldn’t get points on the board despite a few minutes of good field position to attack the Melbourne line. The Storm capitalising on their defence, converting it into another try on their next visit to the other end of the field, a pinpoint kick from Cooper Cronk across the field to Justin O’Neill to beat one despairing defender to extend Melbourne’s lead to 12–0.
That would be the last of the scoring for the first half, with Melbourne grinding down the visitors, who would lose Jack Reed to injury after the Englishman crashed into the fence foolishly chasing down a ball well over the dead ball line. Brisbane looked decidedly pedestrian, especially in attack, but Melbourne were just a little undisciplined and couldn’t take advantage.
Brisbane’s best opportunity of the half came through an intercept to Justin Hodges, but his winger Lachlan Maranta was collared in a tackle from Sisa Waqa who had sprinted across the field to stop the try. Melbourne’s swarming defensive structure able to withstand a spluttering Broncos attack under Anthony Griffin.
Coming back from the break, Melbourne should have immediately extended their lead to 18 points, Maurice Blair unable grab a loose pass following a line break off a magic offload from Billy Slater. Melbourne were constantly probing with menace down that left edge, with Cronk, Finch and Smith all pulling the right strings. In comparison, Peter Wallace and Scott Prince couldn’t get anything going for Brisbane, especially when Maranta was adjudged to have failed to ground the ball over the line in the 52nd minute despite the cheer-leading from Tim Gilbert.
The way Melbourne were attacking, points never felt far away in the second half. It would be a try to Ryan Hinchcliffe that finally extended Melbourne’s advantage, Hinchcliffe finding the grass over the tryline coming off another Cameron Smith masterclass.4
Down three converted tries, Brisbane should have been trailing by more and it would be in the last 15 minutes that Melbourne flexed their muscles and put the visitors to the sword. Sisa Waqa’s fifth try of the season a clinical finish coming down the right edge on the back of a movement that included passes from Cronk, Slater, Tohu Harris and Will Chambers.
While Waqa’s try confirmed Melbourne’s dominance over Brisbane, it would be a pair of tries to Maurice Blair in the final ten minutes that gave the scoreboard the blowout that Melbourne’s efforts in this one deserved. Blair’s first try was off yet another perfect Cronk kick, while his second try on a simple line break a few minutes later capped off the night for the Storm. There would be no consolation try for the Broncos, as Melbourne held the Broncos scoreless for the second time in club history, with Melbourne doing that again in 2017.5
Melbourne – 32 (Blair 71', 77', J Bromwich 3', O’Neill 12', Hinchcliffe 54', Waqa 64' tries; Smith 4/6 goals)
Brisbane – 0
Stat attack
Melbourne have played five previous matches on 4 April, but haven’t played on this date since beating the Bulldogs at AAMI Park in 2011. Previously the Storm lost at Cronulla (1999) and at Brisbane (2004); while in two matches at Olympic Park, Melbourne won against the Broncos in 2008, but suffered a shock loss to the Titans in 2009.
Brisbane’s drought-breaking win in the qualifying final last season ended a 14-match losing streak against Melbourne.
Brisbane’s last win in Melbourne was in 2016, the Broncos winning only five times in Victoria from 26 visits, including just three wins from 14 appearances at AAMI Park.
Melbourne haven’t cracked the 20,000 crowd barrier against the Broncos since the 2017 preliminary final. Hopefully there’s a big crowd at AAMI Park this Thursday night.
Xavier Coates scored 17 tries from 32 appearances for Brisbane, ending up on the winning side just seven times. Since coming to Melbourne, he’s scored 33 tries from 42 appearances, with Melbourne winning 28 times.
Two former Storm players are named to play for Brisbane this week — Hooker Billy Walters made his NRL debut with Melbourne in 2019 before moving to the Wests Tigers, while Broncos interchange player Tyson Smoothy also made his NRL debut for Melbourne in 2021, making four appearances for the club as MOB #211.
Team line-up
Ryan Papenhuyzen
Will Warbrick
Reimis Smith
Nick Meaney
Xavier Coates
Cameron Munster
Jahrome Hughes
Tui Kamikamica
Harry Grant ©
Josh King
Shawn Blore
Eliesa Katoa
Trent Loiero
Tyran Wishart
Christian Welch
Tepai Moeroa
Alec MacDonald
Chris LewisJack Howarth
Marion SeveJonah Pezet
Aaron Pene
Referee: Ashley Klein (Bunker: Gerard Sutton)
Preview
Melbourne Storm vs Brisbane Broncos
— AAMI Park, 8:00pm Thursday 4 April 2024
A bunch of representative players returning for Melbourne this week after the bye, with Jahrome Hughes back from his nonsensical suspension, Christian Welch back after a concussion suffered against the Warriors, while Cameron Munster has been named for his first action of 2024 subject to a fitness test. With Joe Chan and Sua Fa’alogo unavailable through injury, Shawn Blore maintains his spot on the edge, while Tyran Wishart drops back to the bench.
Looking over at the Broncos, they have a potential debutant in Benjamin Te Kura on the bench, while Tristan Sailor will continue to fill in for the broken and bruised Reece Walsh.
As we’ve seen over the past couple of seasons since his move north, Adam Reynolds holds the key to the Broncos attack. Stopping him and limiting the space afforded to Ezra Mam should be priorities for the Melbourne middle and edge forwards. The edges could be where this game is won and lost, with both teams middle forwards capable of cancelling each other out, especially with the Broncos missing their key big man Payne Haas. That loss for Brisbane offset by the fact that Nelson Asofa-Solomona is still yet to feature in the NRL in 2024.6
Brisbane were able to get their second win for the season against North Queensland in the Brisbane rain last week by jumping to an early lead and holding out the Cowboys in the second half to extend their lead into a bit of a blowout. That the Cowboys conceded tries in the middle third of the field says a lot about the Broncos attack, but how the Cowboys found fertile seams on both Broncos edges shows that there are weaknesses that can be exploited.
I must admit I would be picking Jonah Pezet instead of Tyran Wishart to come off the bench this week, as he might be able to offer something different in attack against tiring defenders especially if there are any lingering doubts about the fitness of Cameron Munster. But I concede that Wishart probably has the better defensive mindset as a utility option to give a breather to either Harry Grant or one of the other Storm playmakers.
It will be interesting to see when Grant picks his moments in attack and defence this week and whether the middle forwards can ease his defensive workload. I’ll be closely looking at both Tepai Moeroa and Alec MacDonald to see what kind of impact they can make off the bench, as they need to be disciplined players that might be required to tackle themselves to a standstill in their stints.
As for a prediction, with Brisbane breaking the spell Melbourne has held over them last year, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them roll into AAMI Park and leave with the two points. Melbourne lost two of the three matches after a bye in 2023 and could struggle for rhythm in the first quarter of the game. That said, if Melbourne get into the groove early it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility to see Melbourne dominant the Broncos yet again.
Around the grounds
Queensland Cup action returns this weekend with the Tigers hosting the Clydesdales on Saturday afternoon, with the Falcons hosting the Pride later that evening. In NSW Cup, the Bears play Wests Magpies on Sunday afternoon, with big NAS named to start.
After a win last week, the Storm (9th place, 2 wins and 2 losses) Jersey Flegg Cup squad have another home match on Saturday afternoon against the Wests Tigers (6th place, 3 wins and 1 loss). Both the HM Cup and SG Ball Cup teams are done for 2024 after each finishing in 13th position on their respective ladders. Some of the SG Ball squad players will move up into the Jersey Flegg Cup squad as the season progresses.
I can’t be arsed finding the rest of the inane commentary about the tweet controversy, suffice to say it was very amusing and in any event Tim Gilbert didn’t last much longer calling matches for Nine. Since being punted from Nine, Gilbert was on some lame podcast with the lesser talented Lee brother, but that seems to be on hiatus. He’s fallen as far as Sky News Australia which says quite a lot about his character. I’m honestly surprised that Steve fucking Crawley hasn’t got him further ruining Fox League’s coverage.
Your correspondent was living north of the Tweed during 2013 and was not one of the 16,828 fortunate souls.
Ray Warren at least had an excuse for his inability to correctly identify players during his senile years on Nine, Gilbert was just completely bad at this. That he also fancied himself as a cricket commentator still gives cricket fans nightmares.
Also, the terrible commentary didn’t end with Tim Gilbert on this night. This was a pure Broncos Night Football broadcast from Nine with Darren Lockyer also particularly grating.
Last year’s qualifying final the first time the Broncos have held Melbourne scoreless.
Not sure it’s worth dwelling on the idiocy that is NRL 360 and the muppets on there who tried to create a story about NAS this week, only to have it firmly shut down at Craig Bellamy’s presser on Wednesday.