They still don't get it

[thorson1987]

I see it as the Storm won the Grand Finals, but didn't win the premierships.

This.

Nothing can take away the feeling of winning one.

 

[LESStar58]

I actually agree with this. Who the *(&^ cares what Bellamy and the Storm think about whether they are still the rightful premiers or not. The reality is, if they were not knowingly involved in the rorting (that is the coaching staff and players) of course they are still going to regard themselves as having won them.

For everyone else, they will adopt the attitude that they cheated, received an unfair advantage and therefore the results are tainted.

The fact still remains, even with cheating the cap on a fairly large scale they could only win 2 out of 4.

And even without cheating the cap they would still have won two out of four.

The funniest thing I found from last year was all the "what if" threads where Storm did not factor in the finals. I found the whole thing laughable.

While I don't acknowledge the 2007 and 2009 premierships (I'll call them "grand final wins") I have always been of the opinion that we could have an NFL sized salary cap for all 16 teams and Melbourne would still have bought the trophy back down south. Call me arrogant, but it's just how I feel.

If Melbourne win the 2011 NRL premiership, it won't vindicate them and erase the public opinion of "the premierships were bought with News Limited money" but it will certainly say a lot about the systems in place, the coaching staff and the attitude and culture at the Melbourne Storm. But again, it'll probably end up with a bunch of articles toeing the line as I mentioned previously.

To be perfectly honest, it doesn't matter how far the lads get in 2011. No matter what they achieve, I am so, so, so very proud of them.

 

[Evenflow]

We got this..........:sarcasm:

 

[thorson1987]

We got this..........:sarcasm:

f**k man you just jinxed us.

 

[LESStar58]

With the greatest respect, they were simply padding out a quote that Craig Bellamy made on the night. If he doesn't make it, accepts the award gracefully, says thank you and walks off, we have no story.

Don't play the victim card too heavily, the same paper has a story asking whether Billy Slater is the greatest of all-time and simply leads with the 2007/09 stuff because your coach brought it up.

I think the media coverage of the Storm last night was generally very positive, across the board.

No victim card here, Penrose. I think we all know the anti-Storm sentiment will carry on well in to the finals in much the same was as the "us against the world" attitude of the Storm and the Storm supporters will continue. It doesn't take a journalism major to see how the Telegraph will play this out in Sydney and how the Herald Sun will play it out in Melbourne. Just sayin'.

 

[Evenflow]

f**k man you just jinxed us.

lol just taking the piss.


In all seriousness though and at the risk of getting even more sand in even more vagina's around here i'm surprised that ATM the results of the Telecrap in regards to the question "Do the Storm deserve to be recognised as 07 and 09 premiers" 58.23% says yes and 41.77% said no.

I'm sure that'll change eventually but i was actually expecting before i saw the result to see a landslide decision of no but given there's almost 1700 people voted i thought the result would be the other way.

 

[big country]

Just checked the record books - Melb have 1, Manly have a few, St Merge have 1 and yep, souths have the BIG20

 

[Marshall_magic]

whilst they say they still count them as premierships, I would make a bet that the Storm boys have a greater desire to win it this year than they had in any of the previous 5 years. They will really want to win one legit, especially after losing the last 2.

 

[Apey]

I wonder how many people actually witnessed his speech last night or at least read the entire article and not just the headline.

They of course conveniently left out other comments of his.

 

[Billythekid]

W

Yeah it's f**king bullshit.

They might have worked hard but they won all those games because they had better players than everyone else. And they had better players because they cheated.

It's the same story this year - they have better players at key positions which allows the rest of the team still do the job.

It's all about the quality of your squad and especially the quality of your spine; this year they had 3 of the top 5 players for Dally M points. So even though they lost a lot of players since last year they were still able to keep the ones that matter. They should have been forced to keep an overpaid Inglis and lose one of their essential spine players. Then see how good they go.

This is just plain stupid and so is anyone spouting this sh*t. All we had to do was get our team under the cap and we did. You're just pissed that even now that we're playing by the rules we still took a huge steaming dump on your club this year.

 

[mongoose]

Just checked the record books - Melb have 1, Manly have a few, St Merge have 1 and yep, souths have the BIG20

Thanks so much for reassuring me! my eyes were really starting to get sore from all the crying from Bellamy's comments.

 

[POPEYE]

You want serious . . . how about this. The NRL sent a team to Melbourne to give AFL the shits. No-one in the League world really wanted the Storm to succeed above mediocracy.

Except of course the people given the task of trying to convince the Mexicans that there was room for a code that could not possibly threaten AFL.

The Storm succeeded above all expectations and even managed to keep themselves in the upper echelon of the code.

Along comes a coach, not unlike Griffin, who turns juniors into superstars. With stardom comes the worry that these players might be attracted to offers to split them.

We then see the arrival of an AFL ceo who thinks he's smarter than NRL administration and sees nothing wrong with cheating the cap because 'everyone's doing it'.

Everyone might be doing it but not in such a grandiose way as he proposes. How he went about it testifies to his lack of imagination.

If the Storm were performing on a par with the Roosters . . . good players but shit coaches . . . and results were only spasmodic, people would not be as incensed.

However, the NRL is faced with a team that is performing better than the rest from a hostile environment that looks like dominating in the foreseeable future.

Now we have Gallop, whose gameplan is to assure his existence becomes memorable by assuring no team dominates the limelight.

He will always scrutinise consistent winners far more than perrenial losers and finds it easier to restrict than promote.

His dreams come true when Melbourne blatantly cheat the cap with no reasonable excuse. He can now bring a runaway back to the pack and hide his shortcomings at the same time.

No matter that had Bellamy been aware of the cheating he surely would have put it to the players to shape up or ship out. He has proven he can make do with what's available.

Most Melbourne supporters are confident that the players would have stayed and played for less but nevertheless the Storm as a club cheated and were punished appropriately.

Now we come to all the histrionics which I have great satisfaction in winding up people who fail to see that nothing will change what the Storm are about.

They don't need to win 'grand finals'. The club doesn't need to take players from clubs that need them. It doesn't have to pay players exhorbitant amounts of money.

With an ounce of luck players from all teams will be paid what they're worth because of the Storm . . . it wouldn't of happened without them rorting the cap.

Players of all ages are now attracted to Melbourne because they know they will find out what their best is . . . they won't go to their graves guessing what might have been.

No matter what anyone thinks of the Melbourne Storm they are the trendsetters and it will continue that way as long as Bellamy leaves a clone when he leaves.

 

[voltron]

to lose the premierships that they had 'won' in the way they did would be devastating.
but does bellamy need to keep bringing it up?

what theyve done this year is commendable.
though i hate watching the storm play, i cant stand their wrestling.
and so i hope they dont win
(Starting with sunday, lol)

 

[LatK7]

In time their legacy will be that they cheated and were stripped of titles. Who cares what the players think? History will show they've got one Minor Premiership and one Premiership. Potentially a Premiership in a few weeks.

 

[simostorm]

I quote enjoyed hearing Bellamy deliver that speech with gallop standing a few feet behind him..

 

[simostorm]

to lose the premierships that they had 'won' in the way they did would be devastating.
but does bellamy need to keep bringing it up?

what theyve done this year is commendable.
though i hate watching the storm play, i cant stand their wrestling.
and so i hope they dont win
(Starting with sunday, lol)

He didnt bring it up.. he never has.. last night, Smith i think it was.. asked him the question.

 

[manly40gimps0]

40-0 that is all :lol::lol::lol:

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Yeah, I'm sure

jealous much?

Watch this space...they're coming

The day I am jealous of anything coming out of Melbourne is the day I've been reduced to your level of stupidity.

 

[Cloudsurfer]

In time their legacy will be that they cheated and were stripped of titles. Who cares what the players think? History will show they've got one Minor Premiership and one Premiership. Potentially a Premiership in a few weeks.

No, that's what will be in the history books...their 'legacy' has changed the face of the NRL, even though some won't own up to it.

 

[DJShaksta]

No, that's what will be in the history books...their 'legacy' has changed the face of the NRL, even though some won't own up to it.

Exactly!!!

Systematic Cap cheating
Grapple tackles
Chicken Wing yackles
Crusher tackles