Plenty of spice expected as Storm takes on Demons
Stathi Paxinos | July 20, 2008
MELBOURNE Storm backrower Ryan Hoffman believes there is a very good reason why clashes against St George Illawarra carry an extra bit of spice for both teams the players and fans have long memories.
The next instalment will be played out at Olympic Park tomorrow night and the Dragons have never forgotten or forgiven the moment in the 1999 grand final when the Storm was awarded a late penalty try after Craig Smith looked certain to score when he took a cross-field kick only to be knocked senseless by a high swinging arm from Jamie Ainscough. Matt Geyer's subsequent penalty from in front of goal led the Storm to a remarkable come-from-behind 20-18 win.
However, the moment that sticks in the minds of the Storm fraternity according to Hoffman, was in 2000 when the Dragons' resident motormouth Anthony Mundine, still smarting from the grand final loss, declared before the round-five clash that Melbourne was a pretender and not the rightful premier.
The Storm went on to win that game, which was held at the MCG, by 70-10, which was the club's biggest winning margin at the time.
Then throw Melbourne beating the Dragons in the 2006 preliminary final into the mix and that gives some understanding to the feeling.
"Games against the Dragons always have that something extra," Hoffman said. "Footballers have very long memories."
That terse relationship fell another level after over-the-top celebrations of some Dragons players, particularly Jamie Soward, after they beat a severely understrength Storm outfitby 36-12 in round 10. The Storm's NSW origin players, who were watching from the stand that day, were not impressed.
However, one thing Hoffman does not intend on locking away in the memory stores was being named among the most overrated players in the National Rugby League in a poll of 100 players conducted annually by
Rugby League Week.Sydney Roosters, NSW and Australian forward Willie Mason won the crown with 20 votes, with Wests Tigers' Benji Marshall given 13 and Hoffman, who is also an Australia and NSW origin representative, claiming eight votes.
■Winger Michael Gordon helped himself to 20 points as Penrith made the Gold Coast's road to the NRL finals even tougher with a 36-22 win at Skilled Park last night.
Gordon scored two tries and kicked six goals while Panthers teammate Frank Pritchard also crossed for a double.
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