Round 10: St George-Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm

[DIEHARD]

St George-Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm

ANZ Stadium Saturday 7.30pm

St.George-Illawarra Dragons
1. Brett Morris
2. Jason Nightingale
3. Josh Morris
4. Chase Stanley
5. Michael Lett
6. Jamie Soward
7. Rangi Chase
8. Justin Poore
9. Dean Young
10. Jason Ryles
11. Beau Scott
12. Lagi Setu
13. Ben Creagh

14. Kirk Reynoldson
15. Dan Hunt
16. Simon Woolford
17. Stuart Webb
18. Jon Green
19. Matt Prior
20. Frank Samia (three to be omitted).

Melbourne Storm

1. Steve Turner
2. Brett Anderson
3. Will Chambers
4. Sam Tagataese
5. Dane Nielsen
6. Russ Aitken
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Clifford Manua
9. Matt Geyer
10. Antonio Kaufusi
11. Jeremy Smith
12. Sika Manu
13. Aiden Tolman

14. Liam Foran
15. Kevin Proctor
16. Scott Anderson
17. Sinbad Kali
18. Lucas Miller (one to be omitted).

[DIEHARD]

St.George-Illawarra Dragons: 1. Brett Morris, 2. Jason Nightingale, 3. Josh Morris, 4. Chase Stanley, 5. Michael Lett, 6. Jamie Soward, 7. Rangi Chase, 8. Justin Poore, 9. Dean Young, 10. Jason Ryles, 11. Beau Scott, 12. Lagi Setu, 13. Ben Creagh. Subs: 14. Kirk Reynoldson, 15. Dan Hunt, 16. Simon Woolford, 17. Stuart Webb, 18. Jon Green, 19. Matt Prior, 20. Frank Samia (three to be omitted).

Melbourne Storm: 1. Steve Turner, 2. Brett Anderson, 3. Will Chambers, 4. Sam Tagataese, 5. Dane Nielsen, 6. Russ Aitken, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Clifford Manua, 9. Matt Geyer, 10. Antonio Kaufusi, 11. Jeremy Smith, 12. Sika Manu, 13. Aiden Tolman. Subs: 14. Liam Foran, 15. Kevin Proctor, 16. Scott Anderson, 17. Sinbad Kali, 18. Lucas Miller (one to be omitted).

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

If their ever was a chance for the dragons to topple the storm(which we haven't for many years) this wee kwould be it, a lot of replacments in that team.

Still depends on what dragons team shows up.

[DIEHARD]

I still think the Storm can beat the Dragons with a solid line up.

Not surrending Cronk to rep footy will really help the Storm as well as the Titans. Getting a few extra points during the rep season can really make a difference in a tight comp.

But it's also the Dragons golden chance to knock over a premiership heavyweight that is grossly under strength.

I'm interested to see Geyer play at 9, he is one of my favourite players.

[TITAN PETE]

The Storm still puts a very solid team on the park but the Dragons will have their best chance in years to knock off the Premiers this week but i couldn't put any Money on them to do it.

[DIEHARD]

Dragons V Storm Preview

ANZ Stadium Saturday 7.30pm

NATHAN Brown has an absolutely woeful head-to-head coaching record against Craig Bellamy, with the Dragons losing their last seven games against the Storm.

Luckily for Brown Bellamy is missing this week ? along with nine (count ?em, nine!) of his stars to State of Origin duty. Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Israel Folau, captain Cameron Smith, Dallas Johnson and Michael Crocker join the Queensland camp while Anthony Quinn, Brett White and Ryan Hoffman link with the Blues.

That leaves current Kiwi coach and Bellamy?s assistant Stephen Kearney to take over the reins of the depleted squad ? but that doesn?t mean it?s a given two points to the Dragons.

They have three players on call themselves and will enter this game minus their attacking centre pairing of Mark Gasnier and Ben Hornby, plus valuable utility Ben Hornby.

After a patchy start to the year the Storm are again flying at the head of the ladder. They enter this on a five-game winning streak, having weathered a determined Newcastle side last Monday.

Origin sees a massive reshuffle: Steve Turner reverts to fullback, Brett Anderson and Dane Nielsen make their NRL debuts on the wing, Sam Tagataese slots into Folau?s centre spot, Russ Aitken takes over from Inglis at five-eighth, Clifford Manua substitutes for White, Matt Geyer gets Smith?s hooker?s jersey, Jeremy Smith and Sika Manu cover Hoffman and Crocker, and one-gamer Aiden Tolman locks the scrum in place of Johnson.

Meanwhile, Josh Morris gets a call up to start in the centres for the Dragons, with Chase Stanley shifting from the wing to join him. Michael Lett covers for Stanley?s move, while Lagi Setu forces his way into the pack, with Stuart Webb relegated to an extended seven-man bench.

Significantly, Rangi Chase has been recalled to start in the no.7 in place of Hornby ? it?s a reverse of their early season halves combination which saw Jamie Soward in the no.7 and Chase at no.6.

Watch out Dragons: Storm halfback Cooper Cronk is one Storm star who won?t be in a Maroons? jersey ? but he?s considered the second best halfback in Australia after Johnathan Thurston, having played against New Zealand last October and having been called into the Kangaroos? camp as back-up for JT in the lead up to last week?s Centenary Test.

Cronk is a tough no.7 who can bust the line and he knows how to set up tries ? his 10 try assists ranks him second in the NRL. Also, his 6 line-break assists ranks him second in that category.

His kicking game is varied and dependable; he kicks often (113 times in 2008, most in the comp) and mostly to space to set up good kick-chases.

Given all the change in the Storm unit, he?s the constant this week; if the Dragons? forwards can pester him and keep him quiet, they?ll go a long way to picking up the two points.

Watch out Storm: Beyond the names it?s obvious the things the missing stars contribute on a week-to-week basis will hurt the Storm. Like the tackling efforts of Cam Smith and Dallas Johnson, whose 310 and 308 tackles respectively rank no.1 and no.2 in the comp. Or the NRL-high 11 line-breaks Billy Slater has made.

Then there?s Israel Folau?s NRL-high 58 tackle breaks, and his third-highest 26 one-on-one tackles out wide. The replacements have their work cut out.

Among their opponents Jason Ryles presents massive danger. He?s been much-maligned this season but a look at his stats suggests he?s in the best form of his career ? his 135-metre average gain per game is the most made by a prop this year.

Plus he?s backed that up with 19 offloads ? third in the comp. Ryles wasn?t so much as mentioned in Origin despatches and is feeding off that snub each week.

Where it will be won: Targeting the inexperienced players. With so many positional shifts it?s likely the Dragons will look to play an upbeat and varied style, hoping their opponents never get into a groove.

If they can generate confusion, they?ll gain the upper hand. Meanwhile the Storm will try to play their usual ?game of chess? ? but this week plenty of their pieces will be made of a different material.

The History: Played 19; Storm 14, Dragons 4, Drawn 1. The premiers have had the Dragons? measure for the past seven games. In fact, the Dragons have won just two of the past 17 games! And Melbourne holds a 2-0 record over the red-and-whites at ANZ Stadium.

Conclusion: There?s no question the Storm are the Dragons? bogey team. There is a question, however, as to whether or not the absence of so much Storm strike-power shifts the balance in favour of the home side.

In defence of the Dragons, they might be sitting on just six points (with two coming from a bye) but they haven?t played all that badly to date. Consider this: Just six teams in the comp currently have positive points differences ? the teams coming 1-5 and the Dragons, languishing in 14th place four points out of the eight.

And that old chestnut about the Dragons being the least-disciplined side has been blown out of the water this season ? they?ve conceded the fewest penalties of any side (43).

The Storm have conceded the fourth most (60). The red and whites may never get a better chance to ?kill the witch? than here.

Match officials: Referee ? Phil Haines; Sideline Officials ? Daniel Eastwood & Russell Turner; Video ref ? Paul Simpkins.

Televised: FoxSports 2 ? Delayed 9.20pm

Source: http://www.nrl.com