Grand Final 08: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles vs Melbourne Storm

[DIEHARD]

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles vs Melbourne Storm

STORM

1. Billy Slater 2. Steve Turner 3. Matt Geyer 4. Israel Folau 5. Anthony Quinn 6. Greg Inglis 7. Cooper Cronk (c) 8. Jeff Lima 9. Russ Aitken 10. Brett White 11. Michael Crocker 12. Jeremy Smith 13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange: 14. Scott Anderson 15. Adam Blair 16. Sika Manu 17. Antonio Kaufusi; Reserves: 18. Aiden Tolman 19. Brett Anderson

SEA EAGLES

1. Brett Stewart 2. Michael Robertson 3. Steve Bell 4. Steve Matai 5. David Williams 6. Jamie Lyon 7. Matt Orford (c) 8. Brent Kite 9. Matt Ballin 10. Josh Perry 11. Anthony Watmough 12. Glenn Hall 13. Glenn Stewart

Interchange: 14. Heath L'Estrange 15. Mark Bryant 16. Jason King 17. Steve Menzies; Reserves: 18. Adam Cuthbertson 19. Luke Williamson

[DIEHARD]

I can't believe we have a Grand Final rematch here!

With Cam Smith out and Manly's superior form, Manly would have to be the favourite and most likely to...unfortunately win.

I'll be supporting the Storm though.

But they must be two of the most hated rugby league clubs going head to head for the Premiership.

[titanstattman]

Im going with manly for this one..... But if storm wins they will be the frist team to go back to back.......

And white has been cleared by the nrl

[DIEHARD]

STORM

1. Billy Slater 2. Steve Turner 3. Matt Geyer 4. Israel Folau 5. Anthony Quinn 6. Greg Inglis 7. Cooper Cronk (c) 8. Jeff Lima 9. Russ Aitken 10. Brett White 11. Michael Crocker 12. Jeremy Smith 13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange: 14. Scott Anderson 15. Adam Blair 16. Sika Manu 17. Antonio Kaufusi; Reserves: 18. Aiden Tolman 19. Brett Anderson

SEA EAGLES

1. Brett Stewart 2. Michael Robertson 3. Steve Bell 4. Steve Matai 5. David Williams 6. Jamie Lyon 7. Matt Orford (c) 8. Brent Kite 9. Matt Ballin 10. Josh Perry 11. Anthony Watmough 12. Glenn Hall 13. Glenn Stewart

Interchange: 14. Heath L'Estrange 15. Mark Bryant 16. Jason King 17. Steve Menzies; Reserves: 18. Adam Cuthbertson 19. Luke Williamson

[DIEHARD]

There are around 10,000 tickets still available for the NRL Grand Final.

So if you are in Sydney, consider getting some tickets!

It is 100 Years of Rugby League in Australia!

[DIEHARD]

Sea Eagles V Storm Preview

ANZ Stadium Sunday 5.15pm

HERE we go!

The last 80 minutes of the season (a little more if we are super lucky) where we find out just who is the best side of the year.

Will it be the reigning premiers Melbourne, in their third straight grand final, who take the trophy or will it be Manly Warringah, last year?s runners up, who extract revenge and send legend Steve Menzies off a winner in his final game for the club?

Both sides have plenty of motivation and emotion bubbling through their campaigns. Manly have the Menzies factor ? the try-scoring forward makes history by equalling Terry Lamb for the most first grade games in history (349), but is due to play the remainder of his career for Bradford in the UK, meaning the desire to send the champion out with a fairytale finish is uppermost in the Sea Eagles? minds.

They also have the foul taste of defeat still rank in their mouths.

Last year they weren?t just beaten by the Storm, they were hammered and humiliated ? and revenge can be a powerful motivator.

They plan to go into this clash unchanged from their pummelling of Cronulla although Matt Orford (ankle), Steve Matai (shoulder) and Glenn Stewart (leg) may be hampered by their niggling injuries.

The Storm, meanwhile, have flourished under their ?us against the world? siege mentality.

After losing captain Cam Smith to suspension and abusing the NRL for the result (which brought a $50,000 fine) they are without doubt the league?s new ?bad boys? ? ironic, given they?ve shifted the tag ?the team everyone loves to hate? away from Manly!

But if you take last week?s result as a guide, they love it. It?s been a long time since they were underdogs in a match and they will revel in it.

They too are farewelling some stars: Matt Geyer is retiring and is in legend status at the Storm; Michael Crocker is off to England, Jeremy Smith to the Dragons, Israel Folau to Brisbane and Antonio Kaufusi to North Queensland.

They welcome back Jeremy Smith from suspension, with Aiden Tolman and Brett Anderson looking like being the extra men on the bench.

Watch out Sea Eagles: Emotion can sometimes get in the way of football.

While the Storm have their own farewells, the Steve Menzies circus has he potential to overshadow Manly?s focus.

Of course the side is professional and have learned from last year but they have to be careful the occasion does not beat them.

There is such a thing as trying too hard in football, so coach Des Hasler needs to beat the game plan into his players over and over and over.

Watch out Storm: Manly are the most prolific team at scoring tries from turnovers and also from dummy-half, meaning the Melbourne boys concentrate at all times in defence or face the consequences.

NRL defences are usually strong enough to deny tries from dummy-half (in fact the Storm are the only team in the NRL to not allow one) but it only takes one lapse to change this.

Manly have the players who can exploit these chances so the Storm need to be ready.

As for turnovers, sometimes the initial response to an error can be a distracted one. Players are annoyed at the error and forget to kill the ball.

Melbourne can?t afford to forget.

Where it will be won: In the key match-ups. Fullback, five-eighth, halfback and hooker. Let?s go to the stats, shall we:

Fullback: Brett Stewart v Billy Slater
Slater is ahead of Stewart on all the major attacking stats except scoring tries.

The Storm custodian averages 134 metres a game compared to Stewart?s 123 metres.

He has more line breaks (22-16), line-break assists (14-12), tackle busts (127-91) and try assists (14-12) than his counterpart but Stewart has sniffed out eight more tries this year (22-14).

Defensively Stewart has made 71.6 per cent of tackles this year including 13 try savers.

Slater has also made 13 try savers ? but has made 76.6 per cent of his tackles.

Five ?Eighth: Jamie Lyon v Greg Inglis

Here we have two differing styles. Inglis is more dangerous as a ball runner; Lyon is more dangerous as a ball player.

Lyon averages just 58 metres running a game compared to Inglis? 94 metres and has just seven line breaks to the reigning Clive Churchill Medal winner?s 15, 38 tackle busts to 90 and five tries to Inglis? 17.

However he trumps the Storm star in kick metres (119-40), line-break assists (11-3), try assists (14-4) and offloads (24-17). Lyon also has fewer errors than Inglis (22-11) and makes a higher percentage of his tackles (88-83).

Halfback: Matt Orford v Cooper Cronk

The money men.

These two captains hold their teams? fortunes in their hands and there is a huge chance the Clive Churchill Medal winner will be one of these men.

Orford?s critical stats are as follows: 36 running metres a game, 350 kick metres a game, three line breaks, 17 line-break assists, three tries, 31 try assists, 49 tackle breaks, 19 offloads and 38 errors.

Cronk?s are: 39 running metres a game, 417 kick metres a game, five line breaks, 19 line-break assists, four tries, 37 try assists, 29 tackle breaks, 8 offloads and 25 errors. Defensively Cronk is the man: he has made 89.4 per cent of his tackles compared to Orford?s 76 per cent.

Hooker: Matt Ballin v Russell Aitken

If Cam Smith was in Aitken?s place he?d be a knockout choice but that?s not the reality.

Ballin has experience over Aitken in this position and as such has an edge. But Aitken proved last weekend that he is more than competent.

Whoever can get their forwards rolling and provide crisp service to their halves will help their side to victory.

The History: Played 13; Sea Eagles 5, Storm 8.

The Storm have won four of the past five between the two clubs, including both encounters this year ? and of course last season?s grand final. Earlier this season the Storm won 26-4 in round 5 in Melbourne and 16-10 at Brookvale in round 22.

Conclusion: With Cam Smith sidelined the Storm are underdogs but counting them out would be a grave mistake.

This match is still a toss-of-the-coin job and should go down to the wire.

Matt Orford can, once and for all, bury his critics with a big game but one thing in the lead- up is eerily similar to last year ? the quiet form of Greg Inglis.

Last year Inglis wasn?t playing great in the lead-up yet absolutely killed the Sea Eagles in the big one.

This year his finals form has been down too? will he explode again?

If you are looking for a Clive Churchill tip you could go for a favourite like the Storm?s Slater or Orford for the Sea Eagles, but if you want some smokies look at Michael Crocker ? he always lifts in big games ? or Glenn Stewart ? his form this year has been red hot.

We won?t pick a winner here but it would be an extreme surprise to see a margin greater than eight points either way.

Match officials: Referee ? Tony Archer; Sideline Officials ? Steve Chiddy & Jeff Younis; Video ref ? Bill Harrigan & Steve Clark.
Televised: Channel Nine ? Live 5pm.

* Statistics: NRL Stats.

Source: http://www.nrl.com

[PROMETHEUS]

My interest in this game is zero,wont be watching and dont care for the result.

[DIEHARD]

My interest in this game is zero,wont be watching and dont care for the result.

Unfortunately I think a lot of people agree, even in Sydney, Manly is a team with little love.

I'll be watching it and supporting the Melbourne Storm.

Melbourne lost in 06 and came back to win in 07. Manly lost in 07, can they come back and win in 08?

[PROMETHEUS]

A lot of teams have done that,lost a G.F and then win the next one..it must burn in your guts to lose one and keep you motivated through the next season.

[Capital_Shark]

The two best teams of the past two seasons going head-to-head in a fiery battle for the flag of the Centenary Rugby League season. If your not interested your either lacking a pulse, the cognitive ability to comprehend the occasion or your a closet round ball fan crossing your legs to stem the flow of nervous urine in anticipation of A-League V4.0

I'll be hitting the highway early tomorrow morning to go and swill beer in the Sydney sun while I watch 3 games of live grand final footy, and I can hardly wait!

[~lee~]

Does anyone know the UK time kick off begins?

[DIEHARD]

Does anyone know the UK time kick off begins?

No idea mate, maybe you could try the Sky Sports website. Surely it'll be live.

Rain, even storms (no pun intended) are forecast for the Grand Final today.

Another reason why it's great to be a Queenslander! It'll be sunny and 31 in the sunshine state and we will be watching it down on the Gold Coast.

Keep dry Syl! LOL

Go Storm!!!

[~lee~]

No idea mate, maybe you could try the Sky Sports website. Surely it'll be live.
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Unfortunately Setanta still have the rights so i imagine the viewing figures are going to be pretty small. Thank god for the internet. Go Storm!!

[DIEHARD]

Unfortunately Setanta still have the rights so i imagine the viewing figures are going to be pretty small. Thank god for the internet. Go Storm!!

Oh that's right, probably not good for rugby league in the UK, with them having the NRL rights.

[~lee~]

Oh that's right, probably not good for rugby league in the UK, with them having the NRL rights.

Setanta have the rights to England away football matches and at a recent one the crowd at the game in Andorra were chanting 'We hate Setanta', they had to cut the crowd mic to try to hide the chants.