NRL Melbourne Storm vs St George Illawarra Game Notes

WHO: Melbourne Storm v St George Illawarra Dragons
WHAT: Round 19 of the 2008 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Olympic Park, Melbourne
WHEN: Monday, July 21st @ 7.00pm
ON TV: Fox Sports 2 LIVE – 7.00pm
CHECK IT OUT: Melbourne Storm’s website with all the latest stats, profiles, updates, schedule and training times, alerts, news etc…. www.melbournestorm.com.au

IN BRIEF
Melbourne were too strong for Wests Tigers last Monday night, defeating them 30-18 at Campbelltown Sports Stadium with Greg Inglis scoring a memorable hat-trick.

The win elevated the Storm into second place on the NRL ladder.

St George Illawarra suffered their first defeat in eight weeks last week, going down to Canberra in Wollongong 19-12. The loss left them in fifth position on the NRL ladder.

FAST FACTS
• St George Illawarra have lost their past five matches at Olympic Park
• Melbourne has won seven of their eight home games this year
• St George Illawarra has won their past six night games
• Melbourne has conceded less than 11 points per game on average at home this year

DID YOU KNOW?
The players’ annual comedy day will take place on Sunday, August 17th at the Comics Lounge in North Melbourne. Starting at 3.00pm and going on well into the night, the event will feature 10 of Melbourne’s best comedians, and will be hosted by Storm Ambassador and comedian Marty Fields.

Tickets are $30 each and are available before the day at the Melbourne Storm or at the Comics Lounge, or on the door on the day.

KEY MATCH UP
Could Greg Inglis’ duel with Mark Gasnier be the individual duel of the year? Gasnier clearly got the better of Inglis in Game I of the State-of-Origin series while Inglis returned the favour in Game II in one of the most dominant individual displays in Origin history. Showdown III between these two may go along way to deciding who really is the best centre in the world.

Gasnier is the Dragons’ leader, and had he not been heading to France next year, would probably be captain of the New South Wales State-of-Origin team next year if recent comments from Blues coach Craig Bellamy are anything to go by. He is the complete package when it comes to centres – strong, powerful, quick and is equally adept at scoring tries or setting them up for teammates. There isn’t much he can’t do and he’ll be looking to leave the Red V with some fond memories, starting with a five star performance in Melbourne against Inglis.

During the week Inglis became the youngest player ever to be named the game’s best player in the coveted Rugby League Week players’ poll. In his past three club games he has scored eight tries, most of them spectacular, and probably scored nine Dally M votes as well. While Inglis has been accused of playing a good game one week and then going missing for a fortnight, he’s really started to put together best-on-ground performances on a regular basis. There’s no doubt he’s the most talented player in the NRL, but if he can produce what he’s capable of week-in week-out, there’s no doubt he will go down in history as one of the game’s greats. And let’s not forget, he is only 21.

HEAD-TO-HEAD NRL RESULTS
Total: Played: 20, Storm: 14, Dragons: 5, Draw: 1
At Olympic Park: Played: 7, Storm: 5, Dragons: 2

FOR AND AGAINST 2008
Points for: Storm: 364, Dragons: 339
Points against: Storm: 227, Dragons: 271
Tries for: Storm: 64, Dragons: 58
Points differential: Storm: +137, Dragons: 68

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm def. Wests Tigers 30-18 @ Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney
Dragons def. by Raiders 19-12 @ WIN Stadium, Wollongong

LAST EIGHT CLASHES

YEAR	RESULT	VENUE
2008	Dragons def. Storm 36-12 @	ANZ Stadium
2007	Storm def. Dragons 28-6 @	Olympic Park
2007	Storm def. Dragons 26-10 @	Oki Jubilee Stadium
2006	Storm def. Dragons 24-10 @	ANZ Stadium
2006	Storm def. Dragons 34-24 @	Oki Jubilee Stadium
2006	Storm def. Dragons 24-10 @	Olympic Park
2005	Storm def. Dragons 24-16 @	Olympic Park
2005	Storm def. Dragons 46-12 @	WIN Stadium

 

THE STORM STORY SO FAR
WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE: STORM 4 (Try: Hoffman) def. by RHINOS 11 (Try: Donald; Goals: Sinfield 3; Field Goal: Sinfield) at Elland Road, Leeds
ROUND 1: STORM 32 (Tries: Slater 3, Johnson, Tagataese; Goals: C. Smith 5, Turner) def. WARRIORS 18 (Tries: Vatuvei 2, Ropati; Goals: Witt 3) at Telstra Dome, Melbourne
ROUND 2: STORM 16 (Tries: Aitken, White, Falou; Goals: C. Smith 2) def. by SHARKS 17 (Tries: Kearney, Gallen, Simmons; Goals: Covell 2; Field Goals: Kimmorley) at Olympic Park, Melbourne
ROUND 3: Storm (Try: Slater; Goal: C. Smith) def. by ROOSTERS (Try: Kenny-Dowell; Goals: FitzGibbon 3) at Sydney Football Stadium
ROUND 4: STORM 28 (Tries: Quinn 3, Folau, Hoffman; Goals: Smith 4) def. BRONCOS 8 (Tries: Robinson, Stagg) at Olympic Park, Melbourne
ROUND 5: STORM 26 (Tries: Slater 2, Inglis, Quinn, Hoffman; Goals: Smith 3) def. SEA EAGLES 4 (Try: Barney) at Olympic Park
ROUND 6: STORM 23 (Tries: Chambers, Turner, Slater, Folau; Goals: C. Smith 3; Field Goal: Cronk) def. RAIDERS 16 (Tries: Best, Plum, Purtell; Goals: Carney 2) at Canberra Stadium
ROUND 7: STORM 12 (Tries: Inglis, Folau; Goals: C. Smith 2) def. COWBOYS 10 (Tries: Williams 2; Goals: Thurston) at Dairy Farmer’s Stadium
ROUND 8: BYE
ROUND 9: STORM 18 (Tries: Folau 2, Quinn; Goals: C. Smith 3) def. KNIGHTS 4 (Try: Mullen) at Olympic Park, Melbourne
ROUND 10: STORM 12 (Tries: Chambers, Manu; Goals: Smith, Turner) def. by DRAGONS 36 (Tries: Nightingale 2, B. Morris, J Morris, Lett, Soward; Goals: Soward 6) at ANZ Stadium
ROUND 11: STORM 15 (Tries: Chambers, J. Smith; Goals: C. Smith 2, Field Goals: Cronk) def. RABBITOHS 12 (Tries: Vagana 2; Goals: Luke) at Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
ROUND 12: STORM 46 (Tries: Geyer 2, C. Smith, Folau, Turner, J. Smith, Crocker, Cronk; Goals: C. Smith 7) def. BULLDOGS 0 at Olympic Park
ROUND 13: STORM 0 def. by TITANS 18 (Tries: Delaney, Meyers, Jeffrey; Goals: Rogers 3) at Skilled Park
ROUND 14: BYE
ROUND 15: STORM 48 (Tries: Inglis 3, Turner 2, J Smith, Slater, Geyer, Folau; Goals: C Smith 6) def. COWBOYS 20 (Tries: Henry, Williams, Webb, Cashmere; Goals: Thurston 2) at Olympic Park
ROUND 16: STORM 22 (Tries: Manu 2, Tomane, Cronk; Goals: Turner 2, Cronk) def. by EELS 24 (Tries: Tautai, Williams, Reddy, Inu; Goals: Burt 4) at Parramatta Stadium
ROUND 17: STORM 30 (Tries: Inglis 2, Slater, Manu, Quinn, Turner; Goals: Smith 3) def. RAIDERS 14 (Tries: Monaghan, Carney, Chalk; Goals: Carney) at Olympic Park
ROUND 18: STORM 30 (Tries: Inglis 3, Slater, Manu; Goals: C. Smith 5) def. TIGERS 18 (Tries: Tuiaki, Hodgson, Ryan; Goals: Hodgson 3) at Campbelltown Sports Stadium

 

2008 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Slater 10, Inglis 10, Folau 8, Quinn 6, Turner 5, Manu 5, Chambers 3, J. Smith 3, Geyer 3, Hoffman 2, Cronk 2, Johnson, Tagataese, Aitken, White, C. Smith, Crocker, Tomane

 

2008 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 47, Turner 4, J. Smith, Cronk

 

2008 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
Cronk 2

 

2008 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
C Smith 98, Slater 40, Inglis 40, Folau 32, Quinn 24, Turner 20, Manu 20, J. Smith 14, Chambers 12, Geyer 12, Cronk 12, Hoffman 8, Johnson 4, Tagataese 4, Aitken 4, White 4, Crocker 4, Tomane 4

 

MELBOURNE STORM MEDIBANK PRIVATE INJURY UPDATE
Sam Tagataese (shoulder): 1 week
Aidan Guerra (ankle): 2 weeks
Danny Vaughan (knee): season
Ben MacDougall (knee): season
Dane Nielsen (shoulder): season
Will Chambers (knee): season

 

THE STORM AHEAD
Round 20: Sunday, July 27th v Warriors @ Mt Smart Stadium, 2.00pm (AEST)
Round 21: Friday, August 1st v Titans @ Olympic Park, 7.45pm
Round 22: Friday, August 8th v Sea Eagles @ Brookvale Oval, 7.45pm
Round 23: Friday, August 15th v Roosters @ Olympic Park, 7.35pm

 

TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP NRL LADDER

POSITION	CLUB	POINTS
1	Sea Eagles	28
2	Storm	26
3	Roosters	26
4	Sharks	26
5	Dragons	22
6	Titans	22
7	Broncos	21
8	Panthers	19
9	Knights	18
10	Eels	18
11	Raiders	18
12	Wests Tigers	18
13	Warriors	18
14	Rabbitohs	16
15	Bulldogs	14
16	Cowboys	10

 

SQUAD FOR MONDAY'S GAME

Starting team:
1. Billy Slater
2. Steve Turner
3. Matt Geyer
4. Israel Folau
5. Anthony Quinn
6. Greg Inglis
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Jeff Lima
9. Cam Smith
10. Brett White
11. Michael Crocker
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

 

Interchange:
14. Jeremy Smith, 15. Adam Blair, 16. Sika Manu, 17. Antonio Kaufusi.

 

Coach: Craig Bellamy.