S28E04 Preview – Dragon Pit
Visiting the ruins of an old empire
Singing too-ral-li, oo-ral-li, addity, Melbourne Storm are bound for Botany Bay. The first away trip of the season with the Storm off to suburban shithole number one of three for the year.
Melbourne Storm @ Jubilee Oval
In the alternate universe where St George moved to Melbourne during the Super League war, Jubilee Oval at Kogarah would have been permanently abandoned, probably redeveloped into housing.1 Instead St Merge ditched the venue after the 1999 season and should have committed full time to Wollongong with occasional matches at the SFS. But they didn’t. They returned to Kogarah in 2003.
Melbourne’s first visit there wasn’t until the middle of the 2006 season, winning 34–24 with Matt King scoring a double, celebrating with this iconic image:
The Storm won there again in 2007, then lost 26–12 towards the end of the 2009 season on the back of a double to Wendell Sailor.
It wouldn’t be until Monday night of the opening round for the 2015 season that the Storm ventured back to Jubilee Oval, Melbourne taking a tight 12–4 win in a pretty dull affair.2
Three years later the Dragons handed Melbourne a bit of a thrashing to win 34–14. Josh Addo-Carr scored all three of the Storm tries, while Justin Olam made his NRL debut in jersey number 22.
It wouldn’t be until the 2020 bizarro world that Melbourne had to trek back to the venue when the Sharks were bunkered down at their local rivals home due to the construction at their own shitty venue. Round 2 of the season was the final round of matches played before the world shut down entirely, with the match taking place behind closed doors.
Melbourne won that night 12–10 with Tui Kamikamica scoring the Storm’s only try. When the 2020 season restarted in May and the fixture was recast, Melbourne’s match against the Warriors was hastily rescheduled to take place at Kogarah due to the lockdown conditions in Victoria. This was Todd Payten’s first match in charge of the Warriors after Stephen Kearney was axed after a heavy loss to the Bunnies.
The coaching change didn’t help much, with the Storm running rampant to win 50–6 in front of the fortunate 90 fans allowed to attend. Paul Momirovski made his debut for the Storm on loan from the Wests Tigers, scoring a double.
S23E20 - St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm
Melbourne’s last visit to Kogarah came in the final round of the 2020 pandemic season. Locked into second spot on the ladder, Craig Bellamy swung the changes ahead of the finals. No players who had any niggling injuries were risked, which meant the Storm handed debuts to Aaron Pene, Ricky Leutele and Aaron Booth. Leutele had only joined the squad a few weeks prior to the match, coming to the club after being left in limbo by the Toronto Wolfpack, while 2020 preseason IDQ Iron Bar winner Booth was a late inclusion in jersey 18. It meant that the Storm fielded the second least experienced team in NRL history, second only to the Baby Broncos coached by Craig Bellamy in 2002.
Ryan Papenhuyzen returned from injury and was nominated as the youngest captain in club history, while Cooper Johns made his second Storm appearance. The Dragons entered the match on the back of four straight losses under caretaker coach Dean Young who took the job after Paul McGregor departed in August.3
This was the last match of the season before the finals and the teams were greeted by sunny but cold and windy conditions with the attendees still restricted at the time. In the end the official attendance was posted as 2,738.
The home team had the advantage of a strong wind behind them, but it would be a controlled start from Melbourne negating an early glut of penalties against the Storm. With some possession in attacking territory, Melbourne opened the scoring through loanee Paul Momirovski in the tenth minute. The outside back finding the line despite the presence of two defenders on the back of speed and trickery from Papenhuyzen. From the very next set, the Storm marched 65 metres down the field setting up a high kick from Ryley Jacks which played havoc with the defence. Chris Lewis tapped the ball back to Ricky Leutele who passed to Sandor Earl. The winger had a little bit to do to find the line, but was able to beat Zac Lomax to score in the left corner.
It was a fast start for the Storm to lead 8–0 inside the first 12 minutes, and Melbourne looked dangerous in attack and solid in defence during the first 20 minutes of the match. The third Storm try of the match came through a slick passing movement that saw Chris Lewis cross on the back of a bullet pass from Papenhuyzen for his second try assist. Paps couldn’t buy a goal in the windy conditions though to leave the score at 12–0.
The Dragons would hit back though with a try to Matt Dufty when Lomax got around the Storm on their right edge. Max King then had a bit of a brain explosion, a nasty hip drop tackle saw him put on report which resulted in a three match suspension. That meant that this match was his last in Storm colours after he missed the entire 2021 season through injury.
That try sparked the Storm though and the response came through a Cooper Johns try assist that had his uncle beaming in commentary. Johns showed some heads up footy to kick a neat grubber through for Isaac Lumelume to run on and score in the right corner. But an error from Darryn Schonig from the restart saw the Dragons score on the resulting set inside the Melbourne red zone, Tyson Frizell finding open space inside Leutele on the back of a Dufty pass. Melbourne’s lead at half time was cut to 16–12.
Melbourne looked good coming out from the break with the wind at their backs, but the second half was very grindy for 15 minutes, which led me to put together a power rankings list of the Storm COVID-19 bubble beards on display:
Tom Eisenhuth — full, luscious and well manicured. Perfect form.
Sandor Earl — dare I say it, but metrosexual in an early 2000s kinda way.
Isaac Lumelume — a fine beard.
Brandon Smith — had a little bit of style going on.
Ricky Leutele — trimmed up and full, but unrecognisable from his 2016 NRL GF appearance.
Chris Lewis — some effort, but still just pretty average.
Aaron Pene — looked like he’d cleaned up a little bit for his NRL debut.
Christian Welch — proper pandemic lazy beard. Scratchy, a little unkempt.
Ryan Papenhuyzen — rocking a scruffy mohawk on his bonce, the beard was barely there and might have blown off in the second half.
Paul Momirovski — patchy at best, just have a shave mate.
Of course the best beard of 2020 belongs to Cameron Smith’s isobeard when he showed up to AAMI Park before the season restarted.
Back to the match…4
As the second half progressed Melbourne were making errors with the ball and when they held onto it were finding it hard to crack the Dragons defence. It would be the home team that broke through to hit the front through a penalty try to Lomax. With the help of the Bunker, Matt Cecchin had ruled that Leutele held back Lomax while trying to chase through a kick from dummy half Cameron McInnes.
It was a big few minutes for the Dragons captain, on the next set McInnes scooted from dummy half at midfield to send Dufty away to score untouched. The inexperienced Melbourne players were being let down by their experienced teammates as the Dragons kept gaining metres in the middle.
The Dufty try saw Paps head off for the day, sitting out ahead of the finals. In his place came Nicho Hynes with the utility leading a Melbourne fightback, scoring a solo try to bring the Storm back within two points. That scoreboard pressure was released when Schonig knocked on again from the restart, but Melbourne did get into position to score again when a high ball from Jacks mishandled in the ingoal area by Momirovski. The loanee would limp off though following the no try ruling.
Both teams were looking to end the day on a high, the Dragons almost scored by were denied by a rare double falcon charge down accidental offside. The home team wouldn’t be denied moments later when Frizell scored his second try of the day, getting the bounce from a kick from Jayden Sullivan to push through Earl to score. Melbourne only had 12 men on the field for the try, with Lewis off with a late HIA and Melbourne opting not to replace him.
The defeat was Melbourne’s fourth of the season ending a four match winning streak, but it would be the last of the season on the way to the 2020 premiership.
St George Illawarra – 30 (Dufty 23', 61', Frizell 34', 78', Lomax (penalty) 59' tries; Lomax 5/5 goals)
Melbourne – 22 (Momirovski 10', Earl 12', Lewis 20', Lumelume 30', Hynes 72' tries; Hynes 1/1, Papenhuyzen 0/4 goals)
Stat attack
Melbourne have played three previous matches on 29 March, going down 10–6 against the Roosters at the old SFS in 2008, beating the Broncos 32–26 at Suncorp Stadium in 2013, but losing 40–12 a year later to the Bulldogs in Perth.
In 42 previous matches between the teams, Melbourne have won 29 and average 24 points per game. In all matches at Kogarah, Melbourne are averaging 22.5 points per game.
Josh Addo-Carr (twice) and Will Warbick have scored hat tricks for the Storm against the Dragons.
Shane Flanagan has coached 16 matches against Melbourne, winning seven matches. His teams average 11.3 points per game against Melbourne .
Peter Gough has been in control of 13 previous Storm fixtures, including eight matches since the start of the 2020 season. Melbourne have only lost one of those, the 45–20 loss to the Cowboys in 2023.
Mark Gasnier played eight matches against the Storm during his NRL career, scoring just one try in eight losses for the Dragons from 2001 through 2008.5
Team line-up
Ryan Papenhuyzen
Will Warbrick
Jack Howarth
Grant Anderson
Xavier Coates
Cameron Munster
Tyran Wishart
Stefano Utoikamanu
Harry Grant ©
Josh King
Shawn Blore
Eliesa Katoa
Trent Loeiro
Bronson Garlick
Alec MacDonald (50th match)
Tui Kamikamica
Lazarus Vaalepu
Kane Bradley
Marion Seve
Keagan Russell-Smith
Sualauvi Fa’alogo
Angus Hinchey
Referee: Peter Gough (Bunker: Kasey Badger)
Preview
St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm
— Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, 3:00pm Saturday 29 March 2025
No Rome, no Means, no NAS. Warning bells? In their places Tyran Wishart comes in at halfback, Grant Anderson is fit enough (maybe) to move from the wing to the other centre position, while Bronson Garlick and Lazarus Vaalepu come onto the bench. The man, the myth, the chin Alec MacDonald will run out for his 50th match in Storm colours, having made his debut in S25E01.
There is also talk that Ryan Papenhuyzen is nursing an ankle injury after the Panthers game with Sua Fa’alogo his likely replacement. I’ve also heard whispers of a potential debut, but we won’t know about that until close to kickoff.
For St Merge, David Klemmer is handed a club debut after his recent move from the Wests Tigers, while former Storm utility forward Tom Eisenhuth has been named as a reserve. Surprisingly Damien Cook is still in the NRL at hooker, while Valentine Holmes must have needed a dump truck full of money to sign with the Dragons. There’s a weird mix to the Dragons these days. They look like a team of spare parts that have been cobbled together without much rhyme or reason. There’s a lot a players signed from other clubs which is always curious.
Until the curse of injuries struck Melbourne against Penrith there were ill-informed clickbaiters claiming the Storm could go through the season undefeated. Those fanciful notions aside, Melbourne needs to be on the lookout this week for what looms as an obvious trap game. We know the legendary words that St George can’t play, but that’s not to say that they are hopeless. An ideal scenario for Melbourne without Jahrome Hughes will be to take two competition points this week and hope that the injury curse moves to Manly ahead of that match on Sunday week. To do that it would be interesting to see if Melbourne can grind their way through some of this match, conceding less than 20 points in defence. Even without Hughes you would hope that Melbourne should score more than 20 points. Anything less than that leaves the Storm vulnerable and prone to consider hitting that panic football button.
The Dragons are coming off a bye in round 3 after losing to the Bunnies in round 2. Melbourne won two of the three matches against teams coming off a bye in 2024, and statistically there’s no substantive difference in playing against a team that has enjoyed extended rest.
This week Melbourne just need to do the little things right. Run hard, tackle hard all the usual cliches. I don’t think this one will be pretty to watch in what will likely be very wet conditions in The Bad Place, so hopefully the Storm can adjust to the conditions and play accordingly.
Your correspondent will be at Kogarah this weekend, so hopefully the Storm can get the job done and regain the Emergency Services Cup.
What else is going on?
It wasn’t a great weekend for the Storm affiliates in the Queensland Cup last weekend with the Falcons and Tigers both beaten by teams usually at the wrong end of the ladder. Both teams are in action on Sunday afternoon this week with the Falcons heading south to play the Magpies, while the Tigers head to PNG to face off against the Hunters.
In NSW the Bears will play the Dragons in the curtain raiser before the Storm on Saturday afternoon (kickoff 12:40pm). That match will broadcast on Fox League.
Down in Wollongong on Saturday afternoon (2pm) the undefeated Jersey Flegg Cup squad will be in action against the Dragons. Meanwhile the SG Ball Cup squad have a date with the Knights on Saturday morning (11am) at Seabrook Reserve. Sitting in third on the ladder, a win could well sew up a finals spot for the under-19s ahead of the final round.
An emerging trend.
Cameron Smith had 51 tackles. It was that kind of match.
Shane Flanagan was also in the coaches box for the Dragons.
One other aside — would love to know how much the Victorian Government spent advertising their pandemic response on the sidelines of NRL matches in 2020 and 2021. I can only think that the ROI couldn’t have been that significant.
Gasnier didn’t play against the Storm after coming back to the NRL in 2010 and 2011 before his retirement.