Panthers Storm NRL Tips

MATT GEYER - [21 AUGUST, 2008]

 

 

NRL Round 24 v Panthers Game Notes

 

WHO: Melbourne Storm v Penrith Panthers
WHAT: Round 24 of the 2008 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: CUA Stadium, Penrith
WHEN: Monday, August 25^th @ 7.00pm
ON TV: Fox Sports 2 LIVE from 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 won their second top-four clash in as many weeks, this time defeating the Sydney Roosters 30-6 at Olympic Park, moving them to outright leadership on the NRL ladder.

 

Penrith bounced back from a crushing defeat at the hands of Canberra to defeat the Bulldogs last week 52-16 to keep their finals hopes alive.

 

FAST FACTS
• Penrith have been first try-scorers in five of their past six games at CUA Stadium
• Five of Melbourne’s six losses have been away from home
• Penrith have won only two of their seven night games at CUA Stadium in 2008
• Melbourne has won 14 of their 17 night games this season

 

DID YOU KNOW?
Matt Geyer will be playing his last game at the ground where it all began during his playing days as a junior from Mt Druitt, with retirement coming at the end of this season.

 

Having not made the grade with the Panthers, Geyer went on to play six games for the now defunct Western Reds, before moving to Melbourne when the Storm founded in 1998.

 

Geyer has since gone on to play 255 games for the club, scoring 111 tries and 104 goals in the process.

 

Let’s hope he adds to his try-scoring tally on Monday night!

 

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 17, Storm: 11, Panthers: 6
At CUA Stadium: Played: 6, Storm: 2, Panthers: 4

FOR AND AGAINST 2008
Points for: Storm: 486, Panthers: 462
Points against: Storm: 255, Panthers: 495
Tries for: Storm: 87, Panthers: 78
Points differential: Storm: +231, Panthers: -33

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm def. Roosters 30-6 @ Olympic Park, Melbourne
Panthers def. Bulldogs 52-16 @ CUA Stadium, Penrith

 

LAST EIGHT CLASHES

YEAR	RESULT	VENUE
2007	Storm def. Panthers 30-20 @	Olympic Park
2006	Storm def. Panthers 17-16 @	Olympic Park
2006	Storm def. Panthers 40-18 @	Hindmarsh Stadium
2005	Panthers def. Storm 28-14 @	Olympic Park
2005	Panthers def. Storm 36-16 @	CUA Stadium
2004	Storm def. Panthers 66-14@	Olympic Park
2004	Panther def. Storm 30-26 @	CUA Stadium
2003	Storm def. Panthers 32-12 @	CUA 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
ROUND 19: STORM 26 (Tries: J Smith, Lima, Geyer, Turner, Folau; Goals: C Smith 3) def. DRAGONS 0 at Olympic Park
ROUND 20: STORM 6 (Try: Manu; Goal: C Smith) def. by WARRIORS 8 (Try: Fai; Goals: Hohaia 2) at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
ROUND 21: STORM 44 (Tries: Folau 2, Inglis 2, Turner, Quinn, Hoffman, Geyer, J Smith; Goals: Cam Smith 4) def. TITANS 4 (Try: Ropana) at Olympic Park
ROUND 22: STORM 16 (Tries: Geyer, Folau, Cronk; Goals: C Smith 2) def. SEA EAGLES 10 (Tries: Hall, Williams; Goals: Matai) at Brookvale Oval
ROUND 23: STORM 30 (Tries: Quinn 2, C Smith, Cronk, Slater; Goals: Smith 5) def. ROOSTERS 6 (Try: M Aubusson; Goal: Roberts 1) at Olympic Park

 

2008 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Inglis 12, Folau 12, Slater 11, Quinn 9, Turner 7, Manu 6, Geyer 6, J. Smith 5, Cronk 4, Chambers 3, Hoffman 3, C. Smith 2, Johnson, Tagataese, Aitken, White, Crocker, Tomane, Lima

 

2008 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 62, Turner 4, J. Smith, Cronk

 

2008 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
Cronk 2

 

2008 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
C Smith 132, Inglis 48, Folau 48, Slater 44, Quinn 36, Turner 36, Manu 24, Geyer 24, J. Smith 22, Cronk 20, Chambers 12, Hoffman 12, Johnson 4, Tagataese 4, Aitken 4, White 4, Crocker 4, Tomane 4, Lima 4

 

MELBOURNE STORM MEDIBANK PRIVATE INJURY UPDATE
Ryan Hoffman (ankle): 2 weeks
Danny Vaughan (knee): season
Ben MacDougall (knee): season
Dane Nielsen (shoulder): season
Will Chambers (knee): season

 

THE STORM AHEAD
Round 25: Saturday, August 30^th v Knights @ EnergyAustralia Stadium, 5.30pm
Round 26: Sunday, September 8^th v Rabbitohs @ Olympic Park, 7.00pm

 

TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP LADDER

POSITION	CLUB	POINTS
1	Storm	34
2	Sea Eagles	32
3	Sharks	32
4	Roosters	30
5	Broncos	27
6	Raiders	26
7	Dragons	26
8	Warriors	26
9	Panthers	25
10	Knights	24
11	Wests Tigers	24
12	Eels	24
13	Titans	24
14	Rabbitohs	20
15	Bulldogs	14
16	Cowboys	12

 

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. Jeremy Smith
13. Dallas Johnson

 

Interchange:
14. Aiden Tolman, 15. Adam Blair, 16. Sika Manu, 17. Antonio Kaufusi.

 

Coach: Craig Bellamy.

Storm vs Roosters Round 23

NRL Table toppers the Melbourne Storm will be the sounding board for struggling Sydney Roosters this weekend, the Roosters downed by the Parramatta Eels and looking for redemption close to the Top 8 finals series.

Brad Fittler will surely have his team pumped; details below -

NRL and under-20 squads for Roosters clash

 

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has no changes to his squad for Friday night’s Round 23 clash against the Sydney Roosters.

 

The game will be played at Olympic Park in Melbourne from 7.35pm.

 

NRL squad for Friday’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.

 

Under-20’s squad for Friday’s game:

 

Starting team:

 

1. Gareth Widdop

2. Malo Feterika

3. Sam Joe

4. Zeb Tawha ©

5. Josh Jerome

6. Luke Kelly

7. Liam Foran

8. Aiden Tolman

9. James Woolford

10. Louis Fanene

11. Aiden Guerra

12. Aidan Guerra

13. Will Naitoro

 

Interchange:

14. Jay Aston, 15. Pulou Vaituutuu, 16. Vili Faingaa, 17. Matt Croker.

 

Coach: Brad Arthur

 

  ____________________________________________________

    

 Chris Couch

  Media Manager

 

 Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club

  Princes Park, Gate 3, Royal Parade, Carlton North VIC 3054

  PO Box 141 Parkville VIC 3052

  E-mail: ccouch@melbournestorm.com.au

  Website: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne Storm NZ Warriors NRL Round 20

The NRL Table topping Melbourne Storm face the NZ Warriors this week in what should be a great Rugby League contest. The New Zealand Warriors are at home and on a nice hot streak of 3 games, the Storm fresh from their fight night against St George Illawarra last Monday and will be without Billy Slater.

WHO: Melbourne Storm v New Zealand Warriors
WHAT: Round 20 of the 2008 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
WHEN: Sunday, July 26^th @ 2.00pm (NZST)
ON TV: Fox Sports 2 LIVE – 12.00pm (AEST)
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 proved too strong for the Dragons on Monday night, keeping the visitors scoreless on their way to a 26-0 victory. The win kept the Storm in second spot on the NRL ladder.

 

New Zealand won their third game in a row, this time downing the Bulldogs 40-22 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The win leaves the Warriors one point outside the top eight in ninth position.

 

FAST FACTS
• New Zealand has scored the first try in their past four games
• Melbourne has won five of their last six games against New Zealand
• New Zealand hasn’t won four games straight since Rounds 22-25, 2006

 

DID YOU KNOW?
While he may be the king of taking the big grabs in the NRL, centre Israel Folau is actually afraid of heights!

 

KEY MATCH UP
An interesting side-story to the clash will be the fact Stephen Kearney, Storm’s assistant coach and New Zealand head coach, will be able to run the rule over many of his national team players leading into the end-of-year World Cup. There will be a few personal duels between Kiwis from both sides, but none more potentially explosive than in the front-row between Jeff Lima and Wiki.

 

Lima is part the new guard of front-rowers in the Kiwi national set-up, and his performances for Melbourne over the past 18 months have been astounding. Lima arrived at the club two-and-a-half years ago after a stint in French rugby league overweight and far from becoming a regular first-grade Storm player. Fast forward to the current day, and Lima has not only forced his way into the Storm squad, he is now one of the first names on coach Craig Bellamy’s team sheets. His fitness levels are as good as anyone at the club let alone the forwards, and he can be relied upon to do the tough stuff required of a front-rower each and every week.

 

While Wiki could be regarded as part of the old guard of Kiwi front-rower, he is still the benchmark by which all other New Zealand front-rowers measure themselves. He’s an inspiration to all Kiwi players who pull on their national jersey and they look up to him as their leader. He doesn’t seem to be slowing down with age, and his front-row partnership with Price, another aging warhorse who doesn’t seem to be slowing down either, is as fierce and uncompromising as any in the NRL.

 

If Lima can take the points in this head-to-head battle, he may just secure his World Cup spot in the Kiwis line-up come season’s end.

 

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 20, Storm: 11, Warriors: 8, Draw: 1
At Mt Smart Stadium: Played: 10, Storm: 5, Warriors: 5

FOR AND AGAINST 2008
Points for: Storm: 390, Warriors: 368
Points against: Storm: 227, Warriors: 467
Tries for: Storm: 69, Warriors: 65
Points differential: Storm: +163, Warriors: -99

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm def. Dragons 26-0 @ Olympic Park, Melbourne
Warriors def. Bulldogs 40-22 @ ANZ Stadium, Sydney

 

LAST EIGHT CLASHES

YEAR	RESULT	VENUE
2008	Storm def. Warriors 32-18 @	Telstra Dome
2007	Storm def. Warriors 4-2 @	Mt Smart Stadium
2007	Storm def. Warriors 30-12 @	Olympic Park
2006	Warriors def. Storm 24-20 @	Olympic Park
2006	Storm def. Warriors 24-16 @	Mt Smart Stadium
2005	Storm def. Warriors 22-10 @	Olympic Park
2005	Warriors def. Storm 24-16 @	Mt Smart Stadium
2004	Storm def. Warriors 42-6 @	Olympic Park

 

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
ROUND 19: STORM 26 (Tries: J Smith, Lima, Geyer, Turner, Folau; Goals: C Smith 3) def. DRAGONS 0 at Olympic Park

 

2008 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Slater 10, Inglis 10, Folau 9, Quinn 6, Turner 6, Manu 5, J. Smith 4, Geyer 4, Chambers 3, Hoffman 2, Cronk 2, Johnson, Tagataese, Aitken, White, C. Smith, Crocker, Tomane, Lima

 

2008 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 50, Turner 4, J. Smith, Cronk

 

2008 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
Cronk 2

 

2008 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
C Smith 104, Slater 40, Inglis 40, Folau 36, Quinn 24, Turner 24, Manu 20, J. Smith 18, Geyer 16, Chambers 12, Cronk 12, Hoffman 8, Johnson 4, Tagataese 4, Aitken 4, White 4, Crocker 4, Tomane 4, Lima 4

 

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

 

THE STORM AHEAD
Round 21: Friday, August 1^st v Titans @ Olympic Park, 7.45pm
Round 22: Friday, August 8^th v Sea Eagles @ Brookvale Oval, 7.45pm
Round 23: Friday, August 15^th v Roosters @ Olympic Park, 7.35pm

 

TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP LADDER

POSITION	CLUB	POINTS
1	Sea Eagles	30
2	Storm	28
3	Sharks	28
4	Roosters	26
5	Broncos	23
6	Dragons	22
7	Titans	22
8	Panthers	21
9	Raiders	20
10	Tigers	20
11	Warriors	20
12	Knights	18
13	Eels	18
14	Rabbitohs	16
15	Bulldogs	14
16	Cowboys	10

 

SQUAD FOR SUNDAY'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.

Melbourne Storm vs Wests Tigers NRL Round 18 2008

WHO: Melbourne Storm v Wests Tigers
WHAT: Round 18 of the 2008 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney
WHEN: Monday, July 14^th @ 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 welcomed back eight of their nine State-of-Origin stars (Michael Crocker was rested) with a terrific 30-14 win over the Canberra Raiders at Olympic Park. The win left the Storm just two points off the top of the NRL ladder.

 

The Wests Tigers enjoyed a bye in Round 17.

 

FAST FACTS
• Melbourne has won four of their past six clashes with Wests Tigers
• Wests Tigers have lost four of their past five games
• Melbourne average just 13 points away from home
• Wests Tigers have won only two from five at Campbelltown over the past two seasons

 

DID YOU KNOW?
Matt Geyer will celebrate his 250^th Melbourne Storm game on Monday night. Geyer will become the 20^th player to play 250 games for the one club. He will become the 59^th player to play 250 career games.

 

KEY MATCH UP
Injuries have also conspired to deplete the Wests Tigers line-up. Halfback Matthew Head is out with shoulder and thumb injuries while is front-rower Todd Payten is out indefinitely with a hamstring injury. Add Ryan O’Hara (broken jaw) and Danny Galea (ankle) who are out for the season and the casualty ward at Wests Tigers makes for depressing viewing.

 

However, one player they do have fit and firing on the field at the moment is five-eight Benji Marshall. With five line-break assists and six try assists in just nine games, Marshall needs to provide the spark for a side averaging just 1,241 metres of territory a game – the worst in the NRL.

 

His battle with Greg Inglis will be one of the individual clashes of the season. They are arguably the two most exciting players in the competition when on-song, and Monday night could well be where these two light up the night.

 

Since Origin II where he single-handedly destroyed New South Wales and lead Queensland to a 30-0 win at Suncorp Stadium, Inglis has been in career best form. Against Canberra last Sunday coach Craig Bellamy said after the game he believed Inglis had taken his game to another level, not skill-wise, but tough-wise. Inglis has always been the most talented player in the NRL, now he was adding mental toughness to his arsenal as well.

 

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 15, Storm: 15, Wests Tigers: 5
At Campbelltown Stadium: Played: 1, Storm: 1, Wests Tigers: 0

FOR AND AGAINST 2008
Points for: Storm: 334, Wests Tigers: 328
Points against: Storm: 209, Wests Tigers: 348
Tries for: Storm: 59, Wests Tigers: 57
Points differential: Storm: +125, Wests Tigers: -20

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm def. Raiders 30-14 @ Olympic Park, Melbourne
Wests Tigers BYE

 

LAST EIGHT CLASHES

YEAR	RESULT	VENUE
2007	Tigers def. Storm 30-12 @	Bluetongue Stadium
2007	Storm def. Tigers 18-16 @	Olympic Park
2006	Storm Tigers 46-4 @	Olympic Park
2006	Tigers def. Storm 30-28 @	Leichhardt Oval
2005	Storm def. Tigers 34-22 @	Olympic Park
2005	Storm def. Tigers 30-14 @	Leichhardt Oval
2004	Tigers def. Storm 32-18 @	Leichhardt Oval
2004	Storm def. Tigers 30-24 @	Olympic Park

 

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

 

2008 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Slater 9, Folau 8, Inglis 7, Quinn 6, Turner 5, Manu 4, 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 42, Turner 4, J. Smith, Cronk

 

2008 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
Cronk 2

 

2008 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
C Smith 88, Slater 36, Folau 32, Inglis 28, Quinn 24, Turner 20, Manu 16, 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 19: Saturday, July 19th v Dragons @ Olympic Park, 5.30pm
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 LADDER

POSITION	CLUB	POINTS
1	Sea Eagles	26
2	Roosters	26
3	Sharks	26
4	Storm	24
5	Dragons	22
6	Broncos	21
7	Titans	20
8	Eels	18
9	Panthers	19
10	Tigers	18
11	Knights	16
12	Raiders	16
13	Warriors	16
14	Rabbitohs	14
15	Bulldogs	12
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.