Storm wary of Marsh-Riddell combo
17:51 AEST Sun Sep 16 2007
Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith says finding a way of combating Parramatta's dummy half tag-team of PJ Marsh and Mark Riddell will play a large role in his side's NRL preliminary final build-up. Marsh and Riddell were brilliant in carving up the Bulldogs through the middle of the ruck on Saturday night, Parramatta's 25-6 victory earning the Eels a crack at the Storm at Telstra Dome on Sunday with the winner to advance to the grand final. The Storm held an intra-club scrimmage on Saturday in which they simulated match conditions, coach Craig Bellamy sticking with the same build-up he used though last year's finals.
But their preparations are set to become more Parramatta-specific, when putting the clamps on Riddell and Marsh is sure to be a focus. "PJ Marsh had an outstanding game last night and `Piggy' Riddell played pretty well as well," Smith told ABC Radio. "We've got to control their ruck area. "It's been in the headlines lately - the grapple tackle and all that sort of stuff but we're certainly not going to get caught up in that stuff again.
"I think we've done a really good job the last couple of weeks of controlling the ruck area and slowing it down." Smith was surprised by the magnitude of Parramatta's semi-final victory, the Test hooker claiming the Bulldogs were always going to do it tough once Sonny Bill Williams left the field with an arm injury after 15 minutes.
The win was the Eels third on the trot and has them full of running ahead of their Telstra Dome tussle with the Storm. Melbourne meanwhile will be hoping to continue where they left off after demolishing Brisbane 40-0 in the opening week of the finals. The easy win and the week off has many questioning whether the Storm will be prepared to take on the finals-hardened Eels, but Smith said the minor premiers were as ready as ever.
"We played a similar Broncos team about a month ago (in round 22) and we only beat them by eight points, but certainly our attitude towards our football and our performances have changed a lot, it's like a totally different team," Smith said. "We're not too concerned with our lead-up to the game. "We had a simulated game session yesterday at Olympic Park and hopefully that can help us for the game on Sunday." The Storm will have a run at Telstra Dome on Monday ahead of a weights session in the afternoon.
link: http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=288903
17:51 AEST Sun Sep 16 2007
Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith says finding a way of combating Parramatta's dummy half tag-team of PJ Marsh and Mark Riddell will play a large role in his side's NRL preliminary final build-up. Marsh and Riddell were brilliant in carving up the Bulldogs through the middle of the ruck on Saturday night, Parramatta's 25-6 victory earning the Eels a crack at the Storm at Telstra Dome on Sunday with the winner to advance to the grand final. The Storm held an intra-club scrimmage on Saturday in which they simulated match conditions, coach Craig Bellamy sticking with the same build-up he used though last year's finals.
But their preparations are set to become more Parramatta-specific, when putting the clamps on Riddell and Marsh is sure to be a focus. "PJ Marsh had an outstanding game last night and `Piggy' Riddell played pretty well as well," Smith told ABC Radio. "We've got to control their ruck area. "It's been in the headlines lately - the grapple tackle and all that sort of stuff but we're certainly not going to get caught up in that stuff again.
"I think we've done a really good job the last couple of weeks of controlling the ruck area and slowing it down." Smith was surprised by the magnitude of Parramatta's semi-final victory, the Test hooker claiming the Bulldogs were always going to do it tough once Sonny Bill Williams left the field with an arm injury after 15 minutes.
The win was the Eels third on the trot and has them full of running ahead of their Telstra Dome tussle with the Storm. Melbourne meanwhile will be hoping to continue where they left off after demolishing Brisbane 40-0 in the opening week of the finals. The easy win and the week off has many questioning whether the Storm will be prepared to take on the finals-hardened Eels, but Smith said the minor premiers were as ready as ever.
"We played a similar Broncos team about a month ago (in round 22) and we only beat them by eight points, but certainly our attitude towards our football and our performances have changed a lot, it's like a totally different team," Smith said. "We're not too concerned with our lead-up to the game. "We had a simulated game session yesterday at Olympic Park and hopefully that can help us for the game on Sunday." The Storm will have a run at Telstra Dome on Monday ahead of a weights session in the afternoon.
link: http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=288903
