Round 18: Melbourne Storm vs Newcastle Knights

[Queenslander]

Melbourne Storm vs Newcastle Knights
Olympic Park, Monday 16th July, 7:00PM


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Referee: Gavin Badger

Team Notes:

Storm

- Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has named a 19-man squad for this Monday’s Round 18 clash against the Newcastle Knights. The game will be played at Olympic Park in Melbourne from 7:00pm.

- After last Saturday evening’s hard fought 12-8 win over the Rabbitohs in Gosford, Bellamy has made several changes to the team.

- Israel Folau returns to the starting line-up after his heroics gave Melbourne the two points against South Sydney. He will take his place on a wing.

- Matt Geyer will continue to deputise for Greg Inglis at five-eighth. Inglis is still feeling the effects of the knee injury he sustained in State-of-Origin III.

- Cooper Cronk has been handed back his No. 7 jersey after recovering from the ankle injury he picked up against the Cowboys in Round 14. James Aubusson, who had been filling in for Cronk, will take his place on the bench.

- Jeremy Smith has been rewarded for his outstanding performances in recent weeks with a starting place in the backrow, with Clint Newton coming off the bench.

- Dallas Johnson, after missing the Rabbitohs game with concussion from the third State-of-Origin game, will start at lock, while Ben Cross has also returned to the starting line-up and will partner Brett White in the front-row.

- Sam Tagataese and Garret Crossman have been named as 18th and 19th men respectively.


Knights

-The Knights are largely unchanged from the one that beat Parramatta 34-10 in their last outing.

- Cooper Vuna retains his position on the wing, Daniel Abraham remains at 5/8, and Zeb Taia continues to impress since transferring mid-season, maintaining a starting position in the second row, forcing teenage giant Cory Paterson back to the bench.

- The extra players named are Brad Tighe, Jarrod Mullen and Josh Perry who all would require medical clearance to play in this upcoming Monday night blockbuster.


Teams:

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1. Billy Slater
2. Steve Turner
3. Matt King
4. Anthony Quinn
5. Israel Folau
6. Matt Geyer
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Ben Cross
9. Cameron Smith
10. Brett White
11. Jeremy Smith
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:

14. Jeff Lima
15. Adam Blair
16. Clint Newton
17. James Aubusson
18. Sam Tagataese
19. Garret Crossman (two to be omitted)


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1. Kurt Gidley
2. James McManus
3. George Carmont
4. Adam MacDougall
5. Cooper Vuna
6. Daniel Abraham
7. Luke Walsh
8. Mitchell Sargent
9. Danny Buderus (C)
10. Adam Woolnough
11. Steve Simpson
12. Zeb Taia
13. Reegan Tanner

Interchange:

14. Michael Young
15. Cory Paterson
16. Jesse Royal
17. Kade Snowden
18. Brad Tighe
19. Jarrod Mullen
20. Josh Perry (three to be omitted)

[Queenslander]

Knights preparing to shock Storm

Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 7:24 PM

After upstaging the high-flying Eels at Parramatta Stadium this week, Newcastle have set themselves the mission of riding into Melbourne and "pulling the pants down" of the NRL front-runners.

Despite having impressive rookie back-rower Cory Patterson ruled out for the Monday night clash through injury, Knights coach Brian Smith was confident his side could topple the league leaders at Olympic Park - a venue the Storm have won 24 of their 25 games.

"We're just on a hit and run mission, we're going into Melbourne, we want to pull their pants down and run out as quick as we can," Smith told reporters.

"It's just a one off, we don't have to do it three or four times, we just have to do it once.

"Anything can happen in a game of footy, so we feel like we're at least a chance of doing that."

The Knights went in as rank outsiders against the Eels at Parramatta Stadium last Monday, yet stunned the home side by racing to a 20-0 first-half lead before running out 34-10 victors.

Even Smith admitted he probably would not have tipped his own side against his former club the Eels.

"I don't know how many of you people tipped us but I don't know if I would have tipped us myself," Smith said.

"It was one of those sort of wins where you come away with confidence. But the job we've got to do this week is a huge one."

Rising star Patterson, one of the leading rookies in the NRL this season, has suffered a shoulder injury that may sideline him for several weeks.

"Cory Patterson's shoulder hasn't responded, we had him scanned on Wednesday and the results of that are not good news for Cory," Smith said.

"He's going to miss at least this weekend and maybe a couple.

"He's got a shoulder problem and he's got some bleeding in that joint, and he's way too valuable for us to mess around with at this stage of his career.

"He needs to get that right before he plays again. There's no suggestion at the moment of him needing an operation, but he's not available for selection for this week."

Smith, though, remains hopeful five-eighth Jarrod Mullen can return from a quad injury which ruled him out of Monday's win.

Meanwhile, Newcastle signed rookie St George Illawarra utility Keith Lulia to a two-year deal while retaining promising front-rower Tim Natusch for another two NRL seasons.

"Keith caught our eye this year when he scored a 60-plus metre try against us at Kogarah and we've been tracking him ever since," Smith said of 20-year-old centre or back-rower Lulia.
Source: AAP

[Queenslander]

Cronk return to focus Storm

July 13, 2007

MELBOURNE coach Craig Bellamy will look to returning halfback Cooper Cronk to address the Storm's perceived weaknesses ahead of its Monday night clash with Newcastle.

While the runaway ladder leader doesn't appear to have too many faults, it was forced to scramble to snatch a 12-8 win over South Sydney in its last outing.

Playmaker Cronk has been out for the past three weeks since suffering an ankle injury and in his absence the Storm has lacked direction in attack.

After its come-from-behind win over the Rabbitohs, Bellamy pinpointed areas in which his side needed to improve - and Cronk is just the man for the job.

"The underlying theme coming out of the Souths game was that there was plenty of effort, our execution just failed at times," Cronk said today.

"He's (Bellamy) brought up areas this week - definitely our communication, relaying of calls and obviously the kicking game too.

"They'll be the areas of focus for us at training and hopefully on Monday night we'll put those into practice on the field."

Five-eighth Greg Inglis, who damaged his knee during Origin III, has been given a leave pass to refresh mentally, but is expected to be available for the Storm's next match against Canberra.

"He was just a bit tired and run-down so we've let him get away for a few days," Storm physio Mary Toomey said.

"His knee was still a little bit inflamed and generally sore but it's not too bad.

"We wouldn't have let him go if there was any problem with it, he would have stayed for treatment."

Apart from a few long-term injuries Melbourne is at full strength but Cronk said his team was wary of Newcastle, who shocked top-four side Parramatta last Monday night by racing away to a 20-0 lead before winning 34-10.

Confident Knights coach Brian Smith says his players are on a "hit-and-run mission" as it endeavours to topple Melbourne at Olympic Park, where the home side has won 24 of its last 25 games.

"They've got guys in key positions who've got plenty of enthusiasm and a lot of old guys in key positions as well, like (Danny) Buderus and (Steve) Simpson," Cronk said.

"They've been playing real good footy recently. They touched up Parramatta by a fair margin and took South Sydney to the last minute of the game too."

Veteran Matt Geyer will play five-eighth in the absence of Inglis and, after filling just about every backline position, has formed a sound combination with Cronk.

"Him playing there doesn't add any pressure to me," Geyer said.

"It's not as if he's been thrown in the deep end and never played the position.

"He doesn't play a traditional five-eighth role but he knows how a game unfolds and has been doing it for 10 years."

AAP