S27E18 Preview – Lilyfield Rectangle

Melbourne's 2024 tour of the suburbs hits the inner west of Sydney

Jul 03, 2024

Growing up in Geelong, Kardinia Park was my local big league football ground. Through my childhood we’d get there before the gates opened, lined up in order to get a spot on the wooden benches on the Moorabool Street wing. Just to sit there rain, hail or sunshine through the VFL under-19s, reserves and finally the main game from 2:10pm.

Rare trips to the MCG, or the all day adventure to VFL Park were big occasions. Proper venues, with stands to explore and space to wander about was great as a kid. Trips to the suburban Melbourne grounds weren’t as pleasant. Footscray’s Western Oval was a windswept hellhole,1 visits to Carlton’s Princes Park were okay, until the Blues ruined their own venue in the 1990s. Moorabbin, Windy Hill and Victoria Park were rotten shitholes best left to the 1980s and thankfully during the 1990s all bar Carlton were left behind to be used only as training venues.2

This picture of Kardinia Park is from the 1980s (probably during a reserves match) and is exactly what it was like — gravel terracing with wooden barriers, little to no facilities.

Fast forward 40 years and Geelong has a fantastic stadium that has everything you’d expect from a venue that has had millions of dollars thrown at it.

Meanwhile in Sydney, the NRL is still playing at venues that should have been abandoned long ago. High on that list is the Lilyfield Rectangle, the oft-proclaimed “eighth wonder of the world” Leichhardt Oval. A dump in the purest sense of the word, this venue ought to have been razed rather than have any money spent on it. How any serious sporting organisation would persist with this venue when other better venues exist is insanity. The fact that people will pay $40 plus booking fees to stand on a grass hill in the rain and enjoy overpriced drinks (if they can get them) is astounding to me. The brain worms must be in The Bad Place’s water supply.3 If they think spending $40m to bring the current facilities to what appears to be 1990s standards, then good luck. Surely the NSW government would be better off spending money to put roofs on their larger stadiums to keep the rain away.

Melbourne haven’t had a great history in matches played at Leichhardt Oval. There was a win against Balmain in 1998, followed by a loss early in the 1999 season. Against the merged team Melbourne lost six of the next seven matches at the venue from 2001 through 2010. The streak ending with this match from 2011.

S14E15 – Wests Tigers vs Melbourne Storm

I haven’t looked back at any matches from the 2011 season yet on these pages, so it’s timely that this week’s reminiscence of a past game against this week’s opponent is from that season and matches up interestingly with the present.

This match happened the Sunday afternoon following the second match of the 2011 Origin series, where NSW came from 8–0 down to win 18–8 at Stadium Australia.

Three of Melbourne’s four Queensland representatives would back up for this match, with Dane Neilsen the absentee. Cameron Smith though would start from the bench,4 giving the starting hooker role to Ryan Hinchcliffe. Jesse Bromwich would also miss this match due to the impending birth of his first child.

In the winter sunshine in Lilyfield5 this was a delayed broadcast on Nine,6 with the Storm coming in to this in second place on the ladder and the Tigers lurking in sixth after beating the Warriors across the ditch the weekend before.

This game had an interesting feel to it. Cooper Cronk set a tone for Melbourne early in what was an open start, booting two 40/20 kicks inside the first five minutes. Melbourne though couldn’t capitalise on the field position on both occasions turning over possession. Those turnovers and the Tigers defence was the story of the opening part of this match. The Tigers almost turning that solid defence into points through Bryce Gibbs in the 13th minute when his crash play under the posts saw him come up claiming a try. But he would be denied by the video referee who noticed that Gibbs had lost control of the ball under pressure from Sika Manu and Billy Slater.

That near miss seemed to spark a period of consolidation from Melbourne, the forward pack (especially Adam Woolnough) were working hard for metres in the middle of the field, trying to deflect the immense pressure on Cronk. That pressure on Cronk leading to a moment of brilliance from the halfback in the 17th minute when his inside ball put Gareth Widdop into space, the playmakers combining to put Hinchcliffe over under the posts. It was vintage Melbourne Storm with that play one of the favourites of the club down the seasons under Craig Bellamy. Matt Duffie converted from in front for a 6–0 lead.

Stung on the scoreboard, the Tigers lifted their intensity, throwing plenty at Melbourne. There was shift in the 20th minute after Cameron Smith entered the field, the Tigers starting to move the ball clear of the middle of the field, attacking expansively from sideline to sideline. It was an extremely long pass from Benji Marshall out to the Tigers right wing was the killer blow, the pass finding a flying Beau Ryan in space behind a compressed defensive line, for Ryan to score. Marshall would miss the conversion attempt though, slicing his kick wide.

Following their try, ill-discipline from the Tigers put Melbourne on the front foot to put pressure on the home team. Again it would be the mastery of Cronk with a fantastic pass to put Kevin Proctor through the defensive line in the right channel, with the Kiwi forward spotting up between Marshall and Tim Simona. A nice step from Proctor had him beat Wade McKinnon to get over the line to take the scoreboard out to 12–4. The play to score had one of those little cameos from Slater, with his run out the back of the play off Cronk fooling the defenders, allowing the halfback the space and time to get the ball to Proctor.

Melbourne had looked the brighter of the two teams in attack, with Cameron Smith especially dictating terms for the Storm. Just before the break though, the Tigers did have a chance at the Melbourne line with the ball, but the Storm defence stepped up and kept them at bay. As Andrew Voss described as the teams went to the sheds, it was a “salivating first half.”

The Grind

Except it really wasn’t. This match was a bit of a defensive struggle in the second half. Melbourne’s big three (and Gareth Widdop) were trying things, but were bring blunted by the Tigers defence. On other side of the ball, Gareth Ellis and Robbie Farah were dangerous (to the extent that Farah ever was), but this game was a grind for both teams with the attack looking clunky as a result.

Indeed Melbourne possibly were trying a little too much with the ball, instead of just trying to complete sets. Meanwhile the passes weren’t sticking for Marshall, and Melbourne’s desperate defence blunted any attacking raids by Wests.

Rewatching this game and the two words that jumped out at me were messy and resolute. Melbourne’s attack was messy, but their defence was resolute. Cronk keeping out Mitch Brown in the corner in the 47th minute a fine example of the way the players kept coming at the home team. But Melbourne were unable to keep the ball in the second half, with set completions an issue. The Tigers were trying hard, but lacking the finishing touch thanks to that defensive effort.

A year after scoring a hat trick against the Storm at this venue, Marshall would hobble off after hurting his knee just before the hour mark. His replacement was originally named at halfback, but spent most of this match on the bench. Gibbs would come close again to scoring in the second half, but again Melbourne scrambled in defence and worked hard in cover, with Todd Lowrie stopping Simona on a raid down their left. In the 70th minute, Ryan came close to scoring his second try of the day, going close in the corner after grabbing a kick to his wing. But Melbourne were there in numbers to cover and force an error. A couple of minutes later, a massive bomb from Tim Moltzen had Slater scrambling with Andrew Fifita claiming a try, but the Tigers forward has already in touch in-goal before trying to get the ball down.

That was the story of this day. Melbourne’s defence was better than anything the Tigers could throw at them. The Storm grinding out a win at Leichhardt Oval to end the winless run there. Melbourne’s win put the club back on the top of the NRL ladder for the first time since the salary cap scandal broke in 2010. It would be a spot that the Storm would not relinquish for the rest of the season, this match the fourth win in a 12 match winning streak ended by a famous match at Brookvale Oval in round 25.

Wests Tigers – 4 (Ryan 24' try; Marshall 0/1 goals)

Melbourne – 12 (Hinchcliffe 17', Proctor 31' tries; Smith 1/1, Duffie 1/1 goals)

Stat attack

Melbourne have played three previous matches on 6 July, but none since defeating Canberra 30–14 in 2008 at Olympic Park. Previously the Storm defeated the Wests Tigers at Olympic Park in 2002 and Canberra at Bruce Stadium in 2003.
This is Melbourne’s first visit to Leichhardt Oval since 2017, with the Storm winning their last two matches at the venue.
Since their last visit, the Storm and Tigers have played eight matches, with the Storm winning the past six matches. Wests have hosted Melbourne at Mt Smart Stadium (2018), CommBank Stadium (2022) and Campbelltown Sports Ground (2023).
Referee Peter Gough has held the whistle in 12 previous Storm matches. Melbourne have won nine of these 12 matches, the last the win against the Dragons at WIN Stadium last year.
Shawn Blore made his NRL debut with the Wests Tigers in round 11 of the 2020 season. Blore made 33 appearances for the Tigers, scoring one try and being on the winning side just six times. He’s already sung the team song 10 times for Melbourne after wins.

Team line-up

Ryan Papenhuyzen
Will Warbrick
Grant Anderson
Jack Howarth
Kane Bradley
Tyran Wishart
Tui Kamikamica
Bronson Garlick
Josh King
Shawn Blore
Eliesa Katoa
Trent Loiero
Sualauvi Fa’alogo
Christian Welch
Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Joe Chan
Reimis Smith
Alec MacDonald
Dean Ieremia
Chris Lewis
Lazarus Vaalepu

Referee: Peter Gough (Bunker: Wyatt Raymond)

Preview

Wests Tigers vs Melbourne Storm
— Leichhardt Oval, 5:30pm Saturday 6 July 2024

A confusing team list Tuesday this week. Ryan Papenhuyzen and Jack Howarth have been named despite their injury issues ahead of the club’s final bye of the season after this match. Both had positive news it seemed in the weekly injury report. Kane Bradley has been named on the wing because reasons, while Reimis Smith is again named in the reserves with Dean Ieremia. Meanwhile Sua Fa’alogo grabs the 14 jersey and Harry Grant gets another week in the stands. Alec MacDonald still can’t get his spot on the bench back, putting Melbourne’s forward rotation out of sync again. Strange times. Who knows if Paps will play, and by the time Harry Grant plays his next match in Melbourne colours it could be more than a month since his last match.7

Wests meanwhile have Charlie Staines back on the wing, meaning that Brent Naden heads back to NSW Cup where he belongs. Storm player #187 Justin Olam finds himself named on the reserves list for the Tigers as he battles to return from a knee injury that has kept him out the past fortnight.

For a team running last, the Tigers have some talent at Benji Marshall’s disposal. How a forward pack that includes Stefano Utokamanu, Api Koroisau and John Bateman have won just four matches… oh I think I answered my own question looking at the rest of the forwards. It is nice though to see Adam Doueihi back on the park given the amount of injuries he’s dealt with over the past few seasons.

Like last week what we want to see from Melbourne is effort in defence. Another week of conceding less than 14 points would be great please and thank you. Hopefully Melbourne’s attack won’t be like the 2011 match remembered above, and score close to their season average against one of the more porous defensive teams.

What else is going on?

The Storm Jersey Flegg team are off to one of the other shitty suburban venues in Sydney for a match against the fifth-placed Sea Eagles on Saturday afternoon (kick off 1:30pm). The Bears will also be up against their old rivals at the North Sydney Oval on Sunday afternoon (kick off 3pm). New signing Ativalu Lisati has been named to line up for the Bears after joining the Storm from Penrith.

In Queensland, its Indigenous Round in the Queensland Cup. The Falcons have a home date with the lowly Jets on Sunday afternoon (2:30pm kickoff), while the Tigers need to get back on the winner’s list against the fourth-placed Dolphins also on Sunday at Langlands Park (kick off 3pm).

Staying in Queensland, the Lightning now have a must-win derby match up against the Firebirds at Nissan Arena on Saturday night (first pass 7:00pm). After their loss to the Mavericks, the Lightning need wins in their last two matches to guarantee a finals spot.8