Round 11 vs. Melbourne Storm Discussion

[Big Pete]

Melbourne Storm vs. Brisbane Broncos
AAMI Park, Thursday 11 May 2023
Kick Off: 7:50pm

1. Nick Meaney 2. William Warbrick 3. Reimis Smith 4. Justin Olam 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 9. Harry Grant 10. Christian Welch 11. Trent Loiero 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Josh King

14. Bronson Garlick 15. Aaron Pene 16. Tom Eisenhuth 17. Grant Anderson

18. Tyran Wishart 19. Tariq Sims 20. Tepai Moeroa 21. Tui Kamikamica 22. Jayden Nikorima

1. Reece Walsh 2. Jesse Arthars 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

14. Cory Paix 15. Corey Jensen 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Martin Taupau

18. Deine Mariner 19. Keenan Palasia 20. Jock Madden 21. Brendan Piakura 22. Xavier Willison​

 

[Big Pete]

Brisbane has named an unchanged line-up. Herbie Farnworth has an illness but is expected to be fit for the clash.

I was trying to think of the last time the Broncos were ahead of the Storm heading into a clash. It was back in 2015 and while the Broncos lost that fixture, it was a Round 25 game where they rested Ben Hunt ahead of the finals series. They actually won the game before which was something of a famous victory where Brisbane survived an incredible amount of goal-line drop outs. In the end, Matt Parcell made a quality 1-1 tackle with Felise Kaufusi right on the goal line to seal the win.

I thought maybe there would be something to it, but then I dug deeper and apparently the Broncos were ahead of Melbourne on the ladder in 2014 but Melbourne won that game comfortably 30-8 back in Round 20 of that season.

So as always it's going to be a huge test for the Broncos. Melbourne haven't been as consistent this season, but I'd expect them to turn on a performance like they did against Sydney & Souths. It's just a question of whether the Broncos can handle it and flip the game in their favour or will they be sitting ducks for Munster, Grant and the like.

Last time these two teams met it was really ugly. Melbourne racked up 60 points and just destroyed Brisbane around the edges and punished Brisbane for their errors. I don't expect the game to get that ugly, but I can see Melbourne sticking with that blue-print and I especially see Asofa Solomona causing the Broncos all sorts of headaches. I think Brisbane will need to respect the possession and really target him defensively. Carrigan lately has been looking to tip onto Flegler to get at the edge, so I'd expect to see more of that heading into the game.

 

[ALX25]

Just ran out of time unfortunately. Hopefully the injury to Reynolds isn't season ending.

 

[League guru]

Just ran out of time unfortunately. Hopefully the injury to Reynolds isn't season ending.

"Just ran out of time unfortunately" you are kidding. Referring wise, you got a Hugh Giddy Up.

 

[Big Pete]

"Just ran out of time unfortunately" you are kidding. Referring wise, you got a Hugh Giddy Up.

ALX25 was just trying to be nice.

They could have played another 80 minutes and Brisbane were never beating Melbourne.

 

[Big Pete]

Melbourne Storm 24 def. Brisbane Broncos 16 (Herbie Farnworth, Jesse Arthars, Cory Paix tries; Reece Walsh 2/3 goals)

8-3

Considering the Broncos lost Adam Reynolds inside the opening 20 minutes and had three players in the bin, they did well to keep the scorelines close. Melbourne were clearly the better team on the night and had the Broncos measure physically but there were some gutsy efforts typified by Ezra Mam's effort to dislodge the ball from Katoa when Eliesa had all but scored.

The Broncos were their own worst enemy once again. Melbourne dominated field position for the majority of the game, so the Broncos had to make of the most of the opportunities that presented themselves. Unfortunately Brisbane as they tend to do chanced their arm, threw some high risk passes and were punished when the intended receive failed to get the footy. Then they'd give away a soft penalty and put themselves under all sorts of pressure until Melbourne would finally crack them.

Melbourne enjoyed plenty of success by peppering Cobbo & Walsh with high kicks and sending Coates down to chase them. Not every team has an Xavier Coates, but Walsh and Cobbo have been questionable under the high ball and it's an area they'll need to improve.

Haas, Carrigan & Flegler were tireless in the middle, but may have been guilty of being too involved. Walters made the curious decision to replace Adam Reynolds with Martin Taupau which saw Patrick Carrigan shift to 7 for a period. This seemed to mess with the forward rotations and Melbourne were able to regain some ascendency simply by bringing some fresh troops like Aaron Pene and Tom Eisenhuth onto the field.