NRL Melbourne Storm Minor Premiers

[07 SEPTEMBER, 2008]     NRL Melbourne Storm seal minor premiership 2008   Thousands of Storm fans gathered at Olympic Park tonight to celebrate a 40-4 win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs, a third consecutive minor premiership and to say goodbye to a club legend.   The chase was on at Olympic Park on with the Storm winning by 36 points to snatch top spot from Manly at the end of the home and away season. A margin of 26 points and a win was needed by Melbourne to claim the J.J Giltinan Shield.   Olympic Park also welcomed for the last time n a home-and-away game veteran Matt Geyer, who has been with Melbourne since their induction into the league in 1998.   The script could not have been written any better for Geyer with a great pass from fullback Billy Slater setting him up for the first try of the match to send the loyal home fans into delirium.   The Storm looked like a team on a mission as Smith converted the try and drew the chance of Melbourne’s third consecutive minor premiership six points closer.   The Storm were all about attack in the opening ten minutes of the match with constant pressure being put on the Rabbitohs at both ends of the field.   A spanner was thrown in the works when Slater was sin-binned for 10 minutes for a professional foul only metres from his own try-line. But the Rabbitohs couldn’t capitalise, and in fact it was the Storm who scored next.   Anthony Quinn took on the South Sydney defence and slammed the ball over the line for the team’s second try.   The Rabbitohs were not without spirit, with Nathan Merritt scoring a try with less than ten minutes remaining in the opening term bringing the margin back to ten points.   Just as there seemed to be a momentum shift in favour of South Sydney, the Storm were rewarded for their continual attacking efforts with, a try from Ryan Hoffman moments before half-time swinging the moments back in Melbourne’s favour.   The second half opened up quietly with ten minutes passing without a score. The silence was broken at ‘The Graveyard’ with a classic Slater run sending the ball over the line and setting the crowd alight.   Suddenly, what had seemed to be a formidable challenge at the beginning of the match was only four points away. With 26 minutes remaining, a single try would steal top spot from Manly.   With a play that was a combination of all that makes Melbourne a deserved minor premier, Folau gathered the loose ball and Slater, with speed slammed the ball over the line to seal top spot.   Smith provided Melbourne with a little bit of breathing room, converting the try with 21 minutes remaining, providing the Storm with a 28-point lead.   The Rabbitohs continued to press forward, but Melbourne’s pressure at both ends of the field forced mistakes and led to loss of possession for the visiting team.   Brett Anderson was next on the scoresheet for the Storm, a Cooper Cronk kick sending the winger on his way over the try-line.   In a match that went all Melbourne’s way a late try from Jeremy Smith crowned the Melbourne Storm as minor premiers for the third year in a row.   It was even sweeter for Matt Geyer, taking the opportunity to kick the final goal, putting it through in style to a standing ovation from the Melbourne crowd.   STORM 40 (Tries: Slater 2, Geyer, C Smith, J Smith, Quinn, Hoffman, Anderson; Goals: Smith 3, Geyer) def. RABBITOHS 4 (Try: Merritt) at Olympic Park

____________________________________________________       Chris Couch   Media Manager    Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club

Panthers Frank Pritchard Injury

[25 AUGUST, 2008]

 

 

Monday night NRL saw the Storm crush Panthers with Inglis at it again and Frank Pritchard possibly feigning injury?

The melbourne storm crushed the Penrith Panthers at Penny Park and look set to grab another minor premiership with continued late NRL Results that have been very impressive.

 

The Storm did their for-and-against tally no harm tonight with a commanding 40-6 win against the Penrith Panthers at CUA Stadium, with man-of-the-moment Greg Inglis helping himself to a hat-trick and closing to within two tries of Manly’s Brett Stewart and Brisbane’s Denan Kemp at the top of the league’s try-scorers list.

 

The performance was particular pleasing to Storm coach Craig Bellamy, but he was quick to point out there are still areas they need to work on.

 

“I was really happy with our first-half,” said Bellamy.

 

“We started the second-half a bit slow, but it’s hard to be too critical. I just thought our first-half was really good.

 

“We expected a tough game out there, obviously the Panthers probably needed to win tonight to stay alive and I thought our guys handled that really well in the first-half.

 

“If someone had of told me at the beginning of the game that would be the score I would have been really happy with that. I’m really surprised actually.”

 

Given Manly’s 32-point win over Wests Tigers on the weekend, the big win and subsequent points differential boost was important in Melbourne’s quest for a third straight minor premiership.

 

“The minor premiership, it’s a really good scalp to have on your belt, it’s a little bit under-rated in our game and we’d be proud to hold that again,” said Bellamy.

 

“But we’ve still got two games to go and we can still finish second or third I think so we’re just going to concern ourselves with Newcastle now. We’ll do our revue of this game tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

 

After feeling each other out for the first 10 minutes, Melbourne opened the scoring when halfback Cooper Cronk sent a superb pass across the face of Israel Folau and into the arms of winger Steve Turner who out-sprinted the Panthers defence to the try-line.

 

Four minutes later Cronk was at it again. A perfectly placed kick from the Storm number seven saw Billy Slater challenge Penrith halfback Luke Lewis on the try-line, the clever fullback knocking the ball back into the waiting arms of Inglis who had the simple task of falling over the try-line.

 

A couple of minutes later Cronk was at the centre of the action again.

 

Kicking from his own 30 metre line, Cronk was taken out late by Luke Priddis, gifting the Storm possession from a penalty on the Panthers 20-metre line. From there the ball was spread out to Melbourne’s left with first Inglis then Matt Geyer flicking passes in the tackle, with Anthony Quinn crossing in the corner to make the score 14-nil.

 

Another Storm kick towards the try-line, this time from Cam Smith, saw Quinn challenge Penrith winger Michael Gordon. Both missed with their hands, but the ball ricocheted off Gordon’s head into the in-goal area, and Inglis was on the spot once again. With Cam Smith’s conversion the score had blown out to 20-nil.

 

The second-half started much better for the Panthers. Nathan Smith scored Penrith’s first try for the game when first Gordon made a break down the line, and then the Storm gave away an offside penalty to give the Panthers great field position and momentum.

 

However, their joy was short-lived when a neat set-play from Melbourne saw Slater gather at his toes brilliantly, before passing to Folau. Folau committed a couple of Penrith defenders to the tackle, but the giant centre got his right arm free to offload to Turner who scored his second for the night.

 

A penalty against Rhys Wesser for incorrectly playing the ball saw Melbourne get possession 10 metres from the try-line. Cam Smith tapped and instead of passing to a runner, went himself, catching the Panthers defenders unawares as he surged across the try-line for the Storm’s sixth try of the night.

 

Only minutes later front-rower Brett White crossed under the posts, but was deemed to have been held up by Wesser. However, only two plays later and White’s front-row partner Jeff Lima wasn’t to be denied, crossing to extend Melbourne’s lead out to 30-points.

 

With four minutes remaining, Inglis put the icing on the cake, scoring his third of the night after more terrific lead-up work from Slater.

 

The Storm will now turn its attention to Newcastle, the penultimate home-and-away game at EnergyAustralia Stadium next Saturday night. Knights coach Brian Smith was in the crowd tonight, and it would be interesting to know what he thought of Melbourne’s performance.

 

STORM 40 (Tries: Inglis 3, Turner 2, Quinn, Smith, Lima; Goals: C Smith 4) def. PANTHERS 6 (Try: N Smith; Goal: Gordon) at CUA Stadium, Penrith

 

  ____________________________________________________

    

 Chris Couch

  Media Manager

 

 Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club

Storm NRL Training Session

Latest NRL Information from the Melbourne Storm; the championship Storm Rugby League side is set to enter the NRL Top 8 finals for 2008, with possibly another minor premiership under their belt.

Heres their latest training and fitness information:

Storm training and travel schedule: 18.08.08 – 25.08.08

 

See below for Melbourne Storm's planned training schedule for the week beginning Monday, August 18^th.

 

Please note these details are subject to change. Any changes to the training schedule will be made to the "Storm Schedule" on the Melbourne Storm website, www.melbournestorm.com.au, as soon as possible.

 

All sessions will take place at MC Labour Park unless otherwise stated.

 

Monday, August 18^th:
10.30am - 12.45pm: Weights

 

Tuesday, August 19^th:
1.00pm: Skills and Conditioning Session

 

Wednesday, August 20^th:
9.45am - 12.00pm: Weights
2.00pm: Skills Session (Xavier College, Barkers Road)

 

Thursday, August 21^st:
DAY OFF

 

Friday, August 22^nd:
10.15am: Speed and Ballwork Session
1.00pm - 3.15pm: Weights

 

Saturday, August 23^rd:
DAY OFF

 

Sunday, August 24^th:
2.00pm: Flight from Melbourne to Sydney

 

Monday, August 25^th:
7.00pm: STORM v PANTHERS (CUA Stadium, Penrith)

 

  ____________________________________________________

    

 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

The NRL and Rugby League is losing out to other Sports

By John
(HateQLD)
www.nrlnews.com

NRL Season 2008 was starting to take shape for the race to the finals , with a lot of good quality games over the week end . Canberra , Penrith and Newcastle gathering good momentum.St George Illawarra although the score board showed a big losing margin , it did not reflect how they performed against a very tough Melbourne side , with the Dragons one man down for most of the game.

Canberra in particular have been very impressive with their win in recent weeks , they  put the sword to one of the competition favourites the Sydney Roosters , and at one stage leading 24 - 0.

Canberra is a side, with  no big name stars in their line up.Alan Tongue and Todd Carney being the most two recognised players in the ranks , a few more names are starting to emerge as future household names .
Todd Carney is the one who is recognised the most down in the ACT .

The controversy of Monday's nights game , with the all in brawl , and the unwarranted sending off Jason Ryles was a talking point of the weekends clashes.

All the league talk of the weekends games was quickly forgotten when all the off field dramas raised its ugly head again .The incidents which allegedly took place involved the same players and players from the same club who have had trouble in the past . All these troubles are alcohol related . The players involved are young men who want to have a good time which they are entitled to do, but end up losing focus and cause problems.Players will be in the public eye and the media scrutiny and any bad behaviour will be pounced on by the media .Players are an easy prey for the public to target as some members of the public will try and prove their toughness against footballers .They will target the players who have a bad reputation .

The likes of Brett Hodgson , Steve Menzies, Hazem El Masri , Darren Lockyer , and many others are heroes amongst fans and they are always in the headlines for the right reasons.

Canberra is on the verge of a semi final berth for quite some years, has had their club name tarnished by Todd Carney and Bronx Goodwin. Both of these players have not respect for themselves , for they fans and their team mates . All of their team mates are putting the hard yards with Captain Alan Tongue playing with a painful rib injury .

Canterbury Bankstown have being in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.First the salary cap scandal in 2002, followed by the incident on a pre season trip to Coffs Harbour, and not to mention the loud fire cracker which was lit at the ANZ stadium , many believing it was a Bulldogs supporter.With all the internal trouble and club executive leaving , the club had a very bad name amongst many other club supporters .Going to a bulldogs game became very uncomfortable , many people wanted the club kick out of the competition.This year alone the Bulldogs have had bad publicity .Outspoken player Willie Mason who  brought unwanted attention to the club , left the club on bad terms . This year the Sonny Bill Williams dramas unfolded , and Reni Maitua stood down for disciplinary reasons and now Ben Roberts and Lee Ta Mari has again given the club a bad name.Ben Roberts has already being in trouble this year , it could not came at a worst time for the bulldogs , one of their worst season record for a while,with the wooden spoon in sight.
Hazem El Masri is on the verge of breaking the top point scoring record but it could go unnoticed due to stupid actions of his team mates.

All these actions has made the Bulldogs the most hated side in the competition , many will not attend a bulldogs match .With a club with so much history it is a shame all these disruptions are bring the club to its knees

These two clubs have had many great heroes come through the clubs and all their action was on the field.Both club stood by Ben Roberts of the Bulldogs and Todd Carney of the Raiders .Both Carney and Roberts have had second chances given to them, only to have those two players disrespect their club and their team mates.most of these incidents have been alcohol related.

How would the great players of the past from both clubs feel today with all the issues surrounding the club they all once proudly represented . The current good players from both clubs who will be on the receiving end of a constant abuse from rival fans .

Our great game is drowning in a bowl .Both the NRL and the clubs have to take a tougher stand and suspend the offending players for long periods , send them out to the work force to make them realise that they are not bigger then the game.The actions taken by the players of the past week may turn kids away from the league to play other sports.Other sports do have issues as well,but not as much as the league has suffered since the salary cap scandal.

It is unfortunate the good players of the game will not be recognised as the bad will out weight the good .

Hate Qld
John