Big 3 my ass

[the Lock8]

It's amazing how many people try to knock Slater and blow wind up Greg Inglis's bum, yet everytime the rabbits play the Storm, Inglis gets dominated and has virtually no impact on the game.

 

[simostorm]

Form right now... Slater is in great form.. Cam is abit flat.. And Cronk has been abit off..

 

[simostorm]

Billy's form the last month is the best its been in a couple years. His knee has started to come good and his pace has returned.

 

[sensesmaybenumbed]

BM may actually be onto something with Slater. It's easier to see a hooker and halfback pushing into their 30s - smarts can make up for the drop in athleticism. At fullback... the athleticism is necessary, especially in today's game where the fullback takes such a prominent role.

On a side note, it feels like we're coming to the end of an era in terms of great fullbacks.

A few years ago we had Mini, Inglis, Slater, cutie, Stewart, and Bowen all in shit hot form. They're all drawing towards the end of their careers (or pissed off to AFL) and I don't think the next big thing has really emerged yet. Boyd can suck it, he's a hack. And it remains to be seen whether Barba can reach the same heights.

Tedesco showed great promise as a junior for Wests Tigers.
He recovered steadily this season after missing all of 2012 when he did his knee in round 1.

We're very hopeful 2014 will show him starting to really fulfill that potential.

 

[Patorick]

That's the first time I've watched a Storm game and realised how no name there forwards were. Over the years Norrie, Ryles, Abraham, Lowe have been no names playing like rep forwards, not last night.

They were well beaten by the South's pack, without the forward dominance any spine will suffer.

:?:

 

[B-Hard]

This is the best 2 months Slater has played since his injury in origin last year. Yea he's lost pace from that and getting older but he's still as good as anyone in the game. Made more of an impact than superstar GI last night.

 

[Usain Bolt]

Slater should do a Lockyer and switch to #6

 

[typicalfan]

Slater was robbed of a try too that would get the Storm back in the game. They won the comp last year ffs and play at all levels of the game. I would put it down to burn out factor more than being in decline.

 

[Canard]

:?:

Daniel Abraham

 

[STORM.99/07]

His strength now is knowing where to position himself to chase chips/grubbers into the in goal. He did that well tonight. But he is no threat running the ball back these days. A couple of years ago if my team kicked the ball to him on the full I was terrified. Now I'm not worried at all.

He isn't as fast or as agile. Based on the respective styles of the big 3 age will affect Slater earliest and hardest. And its already started IMO.

Slater was more serviceable than inglis last night.

 

[STORM.99/07]

Melbourne are the biggest merkins ever.

Is that why the dragqueens went hard after Cooper Cronk and Craig Bellamy?

 

[Noa]

You know what was funny.

The big four interview of Queensland this year, JT, Billy, Cam and...Cooper ???

Talk about riding on coat-tails, he debuted in 2010, has only started for 2 series and apart from a field-goal, has been servicable at rest.

 

[Noa]

This is the best 2 months Slater has played since his injury in origin last year. Yea he's lost pace from that and getting older but he's still as good as anyone in the game. Made more of an impact than superstar GI last night.

Did he.

Souths went away from Inglis last night but he impacted the score greatly on the defensive end.

 

[Sphagnum]

Massive myth of a merkin. The big 4? Lol. They are kidding.

Took him 6 goes from right in front before he finally got one last week to beat the titans. His special move is blatantly cheating when the opposition is about to score so he gets 10 to fix his hair and makeup in the sinbin.

Ordinary player.

 

[typicalfan]

Cronk has been the Storms best player in two Grand finals although one was stripped. How Slater got the CCM in 2009 is beyond me.

 

[Noa]

Nah Coops is a good to very good player, has been blessed though.

 

[Glen]

There's no doubt Billy's kick returns are not what they used to be. He doesn't shy away from them but he frequently gets pummelled. His positional play is still the best in the game. As for attack, the quality of his ball-playing has always been questionable when he chimes into movements but he is still a great finisher and should have had two tries last night

 

[typicalfan]

I thought last night the problem was the lack of polish Widdop had. It is to be expected but he just about bombed a try or two himself and put more pressure on Cooper. Also the play where Slater threw the ball over the sideline was also due to a poor Widdop pass

 

[Noa]

I thought Slater was the best for Melbourne

I reckon Kevin Proctor was easily the Storms best last night.

 

[thorson1987]

There's no doubt Billy's kick returns are not what they used to be. He doesn't shy away from them but he frequently gets pummelled. His positional play is still the best in the game. As for attack, the quality of his ball-playing has always been questionable when he chimes into movements but he is still a great finisher and should have had two tries last night

What are you doing.

You know you can't talk any sense on this board.