2008 WCC :: 29 Feb :: Leeds 11 Melbourne 4 @ Elland Rd, Leeds UK

[Chriss]

every year the English teams have the best advantage, thats why they they lead 11 to 4

Yeah, its an extreme advantage.
For them to beat a depleted, out of comfort Melbourne Storm team only by 7 is rather poor.

Great to watch none the less.

 

[Pumba]

LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match
3 Points: Kevin Sinfield
2 Points: Brent Webb
1 Point: Jamie Jones-Buchanan

 

[gong_eagle]

Yeah, its an extreme advantage.
For them to beat a depleted, out of comfort Melbourne Storm team only by 7 is rather poor.

Great to watch none the less.

thats for sure that really whet the appetite

 

[Th1rteen]

Leeds were alot better. Sure it was bad conditions but Storm did the same thing over and over again. Slater was fantastic though and deserves Man Of The Match. Surprised he has never played for Aus. Dallas Johnson was also fantastic - 42 tackles. But the rest were a bit...average. Oh and you Aussies can't moan about conditions/season etc. Leeds Rhinos are the best Rugby League team in the world.

PHOTOS

 

[Chriss]

Leeds Rhinos are the best Rugby League team in the world.

Haha, best team in the world? That's debatable.

Your Rhinos.. as stated, beat a depleted, out of comfort, pre-season Melbourne Storm club to take the title of best rugby league club, not team.

The World Cup this year will decide who the best team is.

I believe it was your commentators who said they won the title of "best club" not actually "best team".

I'd be very surprised if the Rhinos would ever score 4 points against the Storm if they were at full-strength, had played 4 rounds of the NRL and were playing in Australia.

 

[Timmah]

Leeds were alot better.

:? 11-4 suggests the "a-lot" section of your statement is a bit off.

Oh and you Aussies can't moan about conditions/season etc.

A nice statement to make, you haven't said why.

The game was played at the end of a British winter, something Australian teams are never used to. If the game was played in Australia, our teams would win and Brits would complain about the heat. It's that simple.

Congratulations to Leeds, WCC for the second time in 4 years, bad luck to Melbourne. I thought if any Aussie team would do it would be them... ah well, always next year.

 

[Chriss]

:? 11-4 suggests the "a-lot" section of your statement is a bit off.



A nice statement to make, you haven't said why.

The game was played at the end of a British winter, something Australian teams are never used to. If the game was played in Australia, our teams would win and Brits would complain about the heat. It's that simple.

Congratulations to Leeds, WCC for the second time in 4 years, bad luck to Melbourne. I thought if any Aussie team would do it would be them... ah well, always next year.

Ahh Timmah, much more calm and modest than I am about the games circumstances and favoring conditions!

Good to see!

 

[Big Pete]

2 points to Webb? Apart from setting up the Donald try I didn't think he stood out that much. Slater easily outplayed him, but that's just my opinion.

For the Storm I feel Gould summarised the performance perfectly and I agree that Diskin (Leeds Rhino's Hooker) was the difference in the end. As good as Geyer was he's no hooker and he never got the Storm moving forward.

I think the Storm player can be proud of their effort out there tonight. Their forward pack stood up during various intervals and grinded well as a unit to make it a contest whilst playing in trying often uncomfortable conditions.

A few Storm players caught my eye during the game. As I alluded to earlier Slater played a superb game at fullback with a stunning aray of sure-fire kick returns which threatened to put Storm on the front foot while proving to be safe as a house during various tense defensive sets for the Storm. I thought Chambers also showed some glimmers of potential especially with two superb runs that were under some intense Rhino's defensive sets.

Israel dissapointed mind you he got minimal quality ball. Cronk played well however wasn't supported by either five eigths in Geyer or Aitkin. His long kicking game proved damaging although his short kicking game was a little dissapointing however considering the weather conditions you couldn't really expect the same sort of performance he seems to deliver week in week out in the NRL.

As for the forwards once again I thought they worked well as a unit however when it became crunch time they failed to gain the ascendency. The only starting forward that really stood out to me was Brett White who made some decent runs despite some questionable ball from dummy half.

As for the bench I didn't think Aitkin nor Blair contributed too much. On the other hand I thought Sika Manu had a good game and was able to bust the line during various passages of the game. However I thought Sam Tagatese had a very average game, coughing up various amounts of ball and never really punishing in attack nor defence.

In the end the Storm fans shouldn't be too upset considering the amount of games some of these players have played over the past couple of months I'd be fairly proud of my team. However I would be mindful of some of the players on show.

 

[Usual Suspect]

I think if the conditions were better leeds would have won by more. The way it was they just did what they needed to do and won the game. The way the WCC is played will always leave room for aussie excuses when they lose but the fact is leeds won but it would mean a lot more if it was played after the respective grand finals.

Any of the british players impress that you have not seen much of before? think ellis looks to have the makings of a good nrl career?

 

[Noa]

Brave effort by the Storm, match sharpness and no Cam Smith got them in the end. Some other Storm observations from the match

- Matt Geyer should of retired last year. SLOW & as powerful as a butterfly
- Russ Aitken was non-existant in the first half looked a bit better in the second. if he wants the 5/8 spot he'll need to take more control.
- Sika Manu is in for a big year. Adam Blair looked fine as well. I thought they over-shadowed Fus and White.
- Cooper Cronk looks like he's gone up another level
- At this stage Issy is not worth $400-500K. Relies to much on the work of his team-mates.
- Fus looks like he's returned fine from his injury. Still runs a bit "soft" for a player of his size and agility hopefully its only a bit of rust.
-Billy Slater might just be the best fullback in the game. In fact by the end of the year he will be.
-Will Chambers defence has improved ten-fold.
- Matt Geyer should of retired last year. SLOW & as powerful as a butterfly

 

[anjado]

But Wigan came here in 1994 and beat Brisbane in the middle of the season. So i don't think it will be as clear cut as many people think. Leeds are a good side you have no proof that Melbourne would beat Leeds if it was played in Australia. I think Melbourne probably would win but Leeds aren't rubbish and would give them a game.

It isn't Leeds fault that Cameron Smith,Greg Inglis and a couple of others don't play, They can only beat what's put infront of them, Perhaps teams from the NRL should take the match more seriously ? Instead of making the same lame excuses every year.

I thought Melbourne put in a good effort and it was a decent game in the conditions. Billy Slater was superb i thought he looked dangerous everytime he had the ball. Also Matt Geyer was very poor and perhaps should of retired which is a shame since he is one of my favourite players. Diskin,Jones Buchanen, Ellis and Peacock all played well for Leeds i thought

 

[Twizzle]

just once I'd like to see the WCC played in Australia

congrats to Leeds, better team on the day

 

[Bulldogs_4_Life]

I can't believe how poorly Melbourne played in the sense that they were so one-dimensional. I remember seeing one offload from Storm the whole match. They continued their barge em up style of play, then kick long on the last for most of the match. I don't remember many second phase plays until the last 3 minutes. Very disappointing from Storm, especially considering that Leeds got quite a few injuries during the match.

Take nothing away from Leeds, though. They were great and they adapted to the conditions much better than Melbourne. For them to remain the better side even with injuries to the likes of Webb and Toupi and McGuire then it shows that they were by far the better side against a disappointing Melbourne.

Although some positives for Melbourne was the outstanding performance of Slater and Chambers. Folau and the others were disappointing as they didn't step up.

 

[Timmah]

Melbourne are definitely a lesser team without CamSmith.

 

[westie]

Say the conditions were better (although, if you blinked, it could have been victoria... or NSW lately for that matter) where would the points have come from? The Storm were rarely good enough to make it into Leeds' 20, so their set plays were basically useless.

Without Inglis they lack a lot of try-scoring potential. Slater was very good, but the kick through the middle was defused about 5 times. Folau - non-existant. Possibly an indication of the year to come. Turner - didn't have much opportunity. No one else is really there to score a try - except Hoffman's regular one-try cameo.

Leeds finished with effectively an empty bench, including two centres and a 5/8 injured.

Leeds also lacked go-forward from dummy half - I'd love to see what they'd do with Farah rolling them forward.

 

[Big Pete]

I tend to agree Usual Suspect. Without Cameron Smith and Greg Inglis around the Storm were very modest in attack and it would've been only a matter of time until the Rhino's would put them away. That being said I don't think a lot of the fans in Aus. see the WCC more than it being the first unofficial game of the season. Mind you I appreciate the concept and I wish there was a way to make it more of a contest - one that rivals Origin in intensity.

As for Leeds players that impressed me...hmmm I found Diskin to be a very dangerous dummy half runner. While Ellis and Jamie Jones Buchanan were both punishing in attack and defence. I must admit though with all the hype surrounding the pair I found Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire to be fairly dissapointing. I'd still rate the St. Helens pairing as better in terms of quality.

 

[JasonE]

I think if the conditions were better leeds would have won by more. The way it was they just did what they needed to do and won the game. The way the WCC is played will always leave room for aussie excuses when they lose but the fact is leeds won but it would mean a lot more if it was played after the respective grand finals.

Any of the british players impress that you have not seen much of before? think ellis looks to have the makings of a good nrl career?

Aha, someone has finally hit the nail on the head.

Leeds are a side that love to offload and are almost unstoppable in dry conditions, the poor weather hindered their natural game.

 

[whippy]

super league has still a long way to go before they can say that they have best team in world. haha

leeds went ok 2nite against a poor, unfit melbourne team.

i was impressed with Jamie Jones Buchanan.. how old is this guy? he dosnt look to old. still a chance to come to nrl to try prove himself?

melbourne really miss Cameron Smith and Greg Inglis big time! as for geyer, never seen him so slow and poor wouldnt be surprised if thats the last time we see him play for melbourne.
also always been a fan of Diskin. i reckon he would cut in the nrl.

webb, has proven himself. but there are many in the leeds team that wouldnt cut it in nrl or havnt cut it.

 

[westie]

Lauititi... benchie for Leeds. Voted best second rower in NRL.

Ellis - belts the Aussies.

Peacock - Belts the Aussies.

Webb - top class in the tri-nations, making aus look silly at times.

Senior - put the fear of god into the Aussies for years. Hopefully recapturing some form leading into the WC.

Toopi - I swear he was voted best centre in the NRL during the Warriors '02 run. Rubbish in England.

Burrow - Ducked straight through the Melbourne defense on a pitch most Storm players except Slater couldn't handle.

Maguire - Scored plenty of tries internationally. Also scored 39 in one season. I'd love to see an aussie do that in either comp.

JJB - Smashed plenty of purple tonight.

Diskin - Man of the match.

Donald - Pretty average player, but always had a knack of scoring in the NRL just as in superleague.

Need I bother going on?

Look at some of the players at Melbourne. Manu, Tagataese, Lima, Blair, Quinn. Not far from reserve graders if it wasn't for Bellamy's skill as a coach.

 

[whippy]

Lauititi... benchie for Leeds. Voted best second rower in NRL.

Ellis - belts the Aussies.

Peacock - Belts the Aussies.

Webb - top class in the tri-nations, making aus look silly at times.

Senior - put the fear of god into the Aussies for years. Hopefully recapturing some form leading into the WC.

Toopi - I swear he was voted best centre in the NRL during the Warriors '02 run. Rubbish in England.

Burrow - Ducked straight through the Melbourne defense on a pitch most Storm players except Slater couldn't handle.

Maguire - Scored plenty of tries internationally. Also scored 39 in one season. I'd love to see an aussie do that in either comp.

JJB - Smashed plenty of purple tonight.

Diskin - Man of the match.

Donald - Pretty average player, but always had a knack of scoring in the NRL just as in superleague.

Need I bother going on?

Look at some of the players at Melbourne. Manu, Tagataese, Lima, Blair, Quinn. Not far from reserve graders if it wasn't for Bellamy's skill as a coach.

im confussed what your trying to say?

i dont have the list of melbourne gf team in front of me, but not sure those 4 players played in the gf. quinn did.

donald avg.

i think Ellis will be a 1st grader in nrl. and be very solid.

Peacock would go abit better then ellis.

webb, is world class.

toopi had a gd season.. but teams worked him out real fast. hince why went to england.

burrow wouldnt make it in nrl.

Maguire, i loved to see how he goes in nrl. im not sure he would handle it well. but would like to see him have a go. im not sure he would make a big impact in nrl.

JJB, has impressed me whenever i watch him... how old is he?