'10 | R4 | Fri 2:10 | Storm 17-4 Dragons | Etihad

[Dragon]

Form what i head on grandstand, Hornby played a very good game. If anyone needs to find some form its Sowie. Still got a great long kick but attacking wise has been off the pace

 

[lockyno1]

Boyd is the number 1 , its plain and simple

Then put Hornby on the bench if you want Boyd at fullback. Hornby will not win a premiership for you guys at halfback, he is not creative, he is your solid "fill in" halfback.

 

[Royce Gracie]

Melbourne have one key advantage over us - genuine gamebreakers in key positions, namely Smith, Cronk, and Slater. Boyd and Soward have potential, but don't seem able to realise it when it really matters.

Jason this is not a fair statement. To make these judgements on Darius Boyd and Jamie Soward from this game when our team was making alot of errors. The team was not mentally ready for this game. The game plan was the same but the execution was not. Crucial mistakes.

 

[nqcowboy87]

i dont know why there blowing up about the nightingale incident, he knocked on

 

[kia ora storm]

Wooohooo...great win by Storm.

The Dragons had nothing in attack to beat the likes of Neilsen and Inglis who they targetted at every opportunity. It was almost predictable that they would head down the flank and test Quinn's defensive ability.

Up the middle the likes of Weyman (who needs to get the grubiness out of his game) and Jeremy Smith were controlled through simple 2-3 men defence and wrapping the arms to stop the offloads.

IMO the refs were average...I don't remember the Dragons getting out of their half on pure effort without the ref pinging Storm for a minor infringement.

Slater, Cronk and Neilsen were strong for Storm.

A 25k crowd was proof that Victorians will support the Storm...

 

[kia ora storm]

It annoys me how Melbourne keeps getting these nobody players who stand up and do really well.

Seem to do it every year.

It's called culture and building an environment where failure is not a word...

 

[Noa]

Domination.

Storm rarely troubled, Inglis still another week or 2 away from hitting his straps and pack only at 66% full strength.

 

[kia ora storm]

Domination.

Storm rarely troubled, Inglis still another week or 2 away from hitting his straps and pack only at 66% full strength.

White, Hoffman and Manu to come back..Cronk now has 2 games under his belt.

Hinchcliffe, Tandy, Kostjasyn, Whiddop all first grade standard...add John Kite as well.

A good dilemna for Bellamy...

 

[smacky]

Melb just too good. Difference was they hardly made a mistake and took advantage of our errors and poor defensive reads. Both sides play very similar styles but melb were just better at it today. Congrats to them

 

[Apey]

Full credit to the Storm. Their discipline and mental toughness was what won them that game.

The longer that game stayed a close wrestle, the better it suited the Storm. I think the Dragons knew this and were intimidated by it.

I actually enjoy games like that. High-scoring thrillers with lots of attack on display are great but it's nice to see sides known for their mental toughness and strong defence aim up against each other too.

 

[Mary]

Great game of footy, tough and uncomprimising.

Thought our boys were a bit off the pace, lots of errors, lots of them forced by good defence though so credit to the Storm.

I'd really like to see the Dragons push their 2nd phase play a bit more. We look dangerous when we get offloads going, but we don't look well positioned to take full advantage. We need to find an X factor when teams have our measure out wide.

Anyway, we got the good hit out we needed I feel. Credit to the Storm though, definitely the benchmark.

 

[_Johnsy]

You cannot drop that much ball on the 1st tackle and expect to win, even against Cronulla. Way too many errors.

 

[Shorty]

It annoys me how Melbourne keeps getting these nobody players who stand up and do really well.

Seem to do it every year.

Wtf, you're a Broncos supporter....they do exactly the same thing:?

Dragons have nothing when they're behind, there's no plan B..obviously.
Storm classy as always, breath taking Cronk pass to Slater....that's the kind of team they have built over the years.
They are a fantastic team, I'm sick of seeing the same f**ktard threads about Melbourne every year.They bring a lot more to the comp than some of the Sydney teams.

 

[super_coach]

Dragons are not getting any attacking options out of their no1. Boyd is a winger playing full back. Dont get me wrong he is solid,can catch,tackle and run but he cant ball play and dosnt sniff out the half chances up the middle.

The dragons are a better side than last year and will finish top four, their is still question marks on their ability to beat the real class teams on the back of their defense alone. Although today they were way down on form and still in the frame till the last ten minutes.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

It annoys me how Melbourne keeps getting these nobody players who stand up and do really well.

Seem to do it every year.

Because they have a core of superstars.

With 3 or 4 superstar footballers you just need to surround them with production-line athletes and you'll dominate for a long time.

Ever since the salary cap it's been the only way to build a side. Helps when you can afford one extra superstar (for one reason or another).

In recent years Manly, Brisbane and the Gold Coast have done it the same way.

 

[kia ora storm]

Full credit to the Storm. Their discipline and mental toughness was what won them that game.

The longer that game stayed a close wrestle, the better it suited the Storm. I think the Dragons knew this and were intimidated by it.

I actually enjoy games like that. High-scoring thrillers with lots of attack on display are great but it's nice to see sides known for their mental toughness and strong defence aim up against each other too.

Same...

It was a bit like a boxing match today...both sides were sizing each other up in the first 20 and neither forward packs were pushing passes in the tackle or anything.

The centres on both flanks were looking for the tiniest of gaps...the second half presented opportunities simply through tiredness of some players.

 

[thommo4pm]

The dragons are a better side than last year and will finish top four, their is still question marks on their ability to beat the real class teams on the back of their defense alone. Although today they were way down on form and still in the frame till the last ten minutes.

Exactly, the Dragons were flat today and Melbourne took advantage of it.
The Storm clearly had one eye on this match last week, and were waiting for it.
Saints didn't go the level of intensity Melbourne were at today, but to still be in the match with 8mins left after a horrible display is a good sign in itself.

 

[thommo4pm]

Same...

It was a bit like a boxing match today...both sides were sizing each other up in the first 20 and neither forward packs were pushing passes in the tackle or anything.

The centres on both flanks were looking for the tiniest of gaps...the second half presented opportunities simply through tiredness of some players.

Not sure it was tiredness....Matt Cooper made a bad defensive read for your first try....he didn't trust Ben Creagh enough to get to Slater.

 

[kia ora storm]

Dragons are not getting any attacking options out of their no1. Boyd is a winger playing full back. Dont get me wrong he is solid,can catch,tackle and run but he cant ball play and dosnt sniff out the half chances up the middle.

The dragons are a better side than last year and will finish top four, their is still question marks on their ability to beat the real class teams on the back of their defense alone. Although today they were way down on form and still in the frame till the last ten minutes.

Agree...Boyd is one dimensional and crabs across field without spotting any gaps.

 

[thommo4pm]

Agree...Boyd is one dimensional and crabs across field without spotting any gaps.

He did well enough to give Nightingale a nice cut out pass for our try.
Boyd is still learning how to play fullback, he'll get better with time.