Rd 24: Storm vs Warriors

[Super Cronk]

Melbourne Storm V NZ Warriors
Saturday 19th August @Olympic Park, 7.30pm

Referee: Tony Archer

Team notes:

Storm:

The Storm are undefeated at Olympic Park this year.

Mick Crocker will miss this match after pleading guilty to a dangerous tackle. Jeff Lima who signed on for the rest of the year has been named on the bench as 19th man.

Warriors:


Melbourne Storm

1. Greg Inglis
2. Matt Geyer
3. Matt King
4. Jake Webster
5. Steve Turner
6. Scott Hill
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Antonio Kaufusi
9. Cameron Smith
10. Brett White
11. David Kidwell
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Garret Crossman
15. Jeremy Smith
16. Adam Blair
17. Nathan Friend
18. Jamie Feeney
19. Jeff Lima
(two to be omitted)


NZ Warriors

Brent Webb,
Patrick Ah Van,
Lance Hohaia,
Simon Mannering,
Manu Vatuvei,
Jerome Ropati,
Grant Rovelli,
Ruben Wiki,
George Gatis,
Steve Price (capt),
Awen Guttenbeil,
Micheal Luck,
Louis Anderson.

Interchange:

Cooper Vuna,
Evarn Tuimavave,
Epalahame Lauaki,
Sam Rapira.

**PLEASE USE THIS THREAD FOR SPOILERS***

[Steve Dangerous]

Well nothing to lose for the warriors, so they could be dangerous (as we saw last week). Funny thing is they'd be in contention for the 8 had they not been docked at the start of the season.

[Just Another Member]

and no one can catch the Storm although that won't change the way they play. It could be close and Melbourne could win by 50. Depends on which Warriors team turns up.

[Queenslander]

Warriors team added.

This game should be another win for the Melbourne Storm. They had a sloppy win last week against a much improved Broncos side, and I predict that the Storm will learn from last weeks mistakes and easily take out the Warriors at the home.

[Super Cronk]

Will be tough with Crocker out...we need his aggression up against the bigger kiwi blokes.

thats not a bad Warriors side but i expect to the Storm to play how the front runners should play and win this by about 14 points.

[Poida]

i say storm to win 36-0

[Meh]

to be honest i cant see the warriors breaking the graveyard...for them to do that while virtually out of finals contention would impress me alot but a 6 point difference either way sounds about right to me.

[J-Storm]

Never say 'Never' Meh. Matt King said on 'NRL On FOX' that the Broncos game made him quite sore (especially after Tonie Carroll barrelling him in a tackle with about 3 mins to go he said) so that could have taken a bit out of the Storm boys. Like SC said above, Crocker would have been good upfront against the Kiwi guys for a bit of toughness and aggression (no disrespect to the guys taking the field this w'end)...

If the Good Worriers team shows up... Worriers by 8
If the Bad Worriers team shows up... Storm by 10

[Meh]

Kearney asks Wiki to go easy on Storm
Thursday, August 17, 2006 - 2:00 PM

Ruben Wiki received a text message from former Kiwis rugby league teammate Stephen Kearney this week.

It wasn't about the Test skipper's impending feat of equalling Kearney's record of 264 National Rugby League matches, the most by a New Zealander.

"It was about taking it easy on his boys," Wiki said.

"But I told him I couldn't do that."

Wiki will draw level with Kearney on Saturday night when he runs out for the New Zealand Warriors against the club where Kearney is assistant coach, competition leaders Melbourne.

"Stephen's a good friend of mine and it will be good to catch up with him," he said.

"But this record thing, it didn't even come into the picture really."

Wiki didn't raise the matter in his reply, because the front rower wasn't aware of what he was about to achieve until Warriors' media manager Richard Becht told him.

As someone who took one match at a time, the 33-year-old Wiki found his tally of first-grade appearances had crept up on him, and there were a couple of ironies that were "weird, man".

The first that he would match Kearney's total while playing against the club Kearney was helping to coach.

The second was that his mother, Tessa, who now lived in Melbourne, would be among the crowd at Olympic Park.

"That's going to be even weirder," he said.

"Mum's cooking a bit of an island feed for me after the match, so I'm looking forward to catching up with her as well."

Barring injury - or another dreaded brush with the judiciary - Wiki will break the record in front of the Warriors' own fans the following weekend, when the Sydney Roosters come visiting.

Without the suspensions he has received in a 14-season career that began as a centre with the Canberra Raiders, he would be nudging the 300 mark.

"It's really funny," he said.

"With my fabulous record at the judiciary, I don't know how I've still got to this number."

His last ban was only a fortnight ago, when he had to sit out the win over Cronulla because of a high tackle against Penrith in the previous round.

When he returned to action against North Queensland last Saturday night, he and fellow prop Steve Price did what they have been doing with regularity and laid the platform for a 26-0 victory.

Wiki arrived at the Warriors at the beginning of last season, after 12 years and one premiership with the Raiders.

In April, he signed a one-year extension to his contract to the end of 2008, when he will be 35.

He quipped that his judiciary enforced stints on the sidelines might have prolonged his career by saving him from a few injuries.

"I'm still enjoying it. This is what I love doing. Hopefully I can keep on doing it until I can't do it any more," he said.

NRL.com

Go easy on the storm? is he kidding.....

[BRONCOS FAN]

I would like to see the warriors win this one..

[jenny]

STORM by 12

[travop]

the storm are in excellent condition. but im gunna put my upset of the week on the worriors to beat the storm

[SuperCliffy#01]

the storm are in excellent condition. but im gunna put my upset of the week on the worriors to beat the storm

Keep dreaming Travtop.cya. :curse:

[Queenslander]

Warriors Look to Topple Storm
Friday, August 18, 2006 - 12:14 PM

The New Zealand Warriors are looking to give the Melbourne Storm a run for their money this Saturday night and if they do, they will continue to hold on to some very slim finals hopes.

Two unlikely wins, firstly against the Sharks and then a 26-0 victory over the Cowboys, have put the Warriors in a position to take it up to the competition leaders this weekend, but coach Ivan Cleary is under no illusions about the Storm.

?Melbourne is a tough side and they are strong all over the park. We have been playing well but we are still down a few experienced troops, and this game requires us to take another step up?.

The Warriors will be ready for the Storm, though., and you can expect their big hard-hitting forward pack to try and dominate the younger Storm forwards, and it will be the likes of Ruben Wiki, Steve Price and Awen Guttenbiel leading the way

This pack has the ability to dominate any in the competition and to get their quick, snappy backline over the advantage line, which is something that Grant Rovelli and Brent Webb revel in taking advantage of.

With a strong showing expected from the forwards, the backline is causing Cleary the most headaches.

?I am very confident in our forward pack, we just have to get the rest of our game together, be confident and focus?.

The Warriors will be missing the experienced Nathan Fien and Tony Martin. Martin is a huge loss as his solid defence would have been a key factor in stopping the rampant force that is Matt King.

Instead that job will go to one time wonder kid Lance Hohaia who will be playing in the centres for only the second time in his career. The first was last week.

Cleary though was quick to defend Hohaia. ?Lance did a pretty good job last week, and he will be marking Matt King, but I am confident he can handle him?

The Warriors are no slouches in attack themselves, especially with the likes of Webb being able to link up with boom youngster Manu Vatuvei, for whom Cleary has nothing but praise.

?It is his first real season and it has been a long season, but he has sheer size and blinding speed that many players can only dream of. While he has been good for us this year, I think he will be even better next year?.

The Storm have won 11 in a row now and have not lost since going down to Manly at Brookvale in round 11

Melbourne will not be underestimating the Warriors and are wary of the damage that the New Zealand franchise could do not only physically but mentally to them.

?They are a lot better than their standing on the ladder and if they had not been stripped of those four points early on in the season then they would be right in with a chance for the finals?, said football manger Dean Lance.

?Ruben Wiki and Steve Price are still playing really good footy, and we will be ready for a real hard game up the middle. That?s the way the Warriors like to play and we will be ready. Kaufusi and White have been doing a great job all season for us and we expect that to continue?.

While Lance did not concede that the Storm will look to target Hohaia out wide he did say, ?Craig Bellamy spends a lot of time dissecting the opposition and I am sure he will have some tactics in store?.

?Parramatta are not the only team enjoying their footy. Our boys are on a phenomenal streak and enjoying playing for each other. We will look to continue that this weekend?.

Source: NRL

[Meh]

the storm are in excellent condition. but im gunna put my upset of the week on the worriors to beat the storm

im gonna agree there, if theres one upset this week, it'll be this game bar a south sydney win.