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Terrific win. Team depletion similar for both sides.

Outstanding defence and did enough with the ball.

Munster, NAS, Grant, Cheese and Olam led the way but everyone was 8/10 or better. Munster is captaincy material surely? Such a great effort leading the way tonight.

Cooper Johns did a great job on Kikau.

I honestly think Munster needs to be at fullback if we want to really have a real shot at winning it this year. The more he gets his hands on the ball, the more time he has and being able to roam more makes him so dangerous.

I think

1. Munster
6. Meaney
7. Hughes
9. Grant

Is the way to go, we just look so much more dangerous with Munster at fullback.

Hopefully Tepai is back this week, will give us much needed punch off the bench.

I agree with your spine but Johns is unlucky there

An incredible effort to watch. Strong defensive games I find more enjoyable than offensive ones!

I love how we are constantly reminded about who the panthers are missing on the broadcast. Our list of missing players is as good as theirs and we have missed key players all season!

With that said, we did struggle to get metres. Hughes should open that up again as we lose a lot structurally without him that condenses the attacking line, as should the kicking game improve which was ok at best. We were gassed though after the constant defensive efforts.

NAS was an inspired move on an edge. Brilliant move - not that he ran off the chart numbers but the emphasis that is needed defensively on him seemed to shake Kikau and co.

If we can play that well defensively the rest of the way, I wouldn’t want to play the Storm.

Re the lack of meters, the 10 meters was as skinny as any game this season... yeah the panthers have good line speed, but half the time they were on top of us by the time the dummy half had touched the ball.
Also, 6-1 penalty count.... sure Sutton, the panthers were nearly perfect from a discipline stand point... and pigs fly and storm had no major outs.

All that aside, that defensive resolve was fantastic. I cheered louder for the almost certain tries we denied than the ones we scored. Seeing to'o nullified was great, ditto kikau. The defence numbered up, slid and jammed like clockwork.

The other thing that really stood out to me last night was how fit the team seemed to be. 4 weeks ago, they looked sluggish, slow, tired and off the pace. Last night, a completely opposite look. Makes me wonder if that 4 week slump wasn't in part down to some intense training load to build up fitness for a run at the finals. Could explain why Bellamy never seemed overly emotional about how ordinarily the team was performing.

At the end of the day, if the side can keep that defensive resolve over the next few weeks and take it into the finals, we can make a real impact, even with our outs and even if our attack isn't as on point as it could be. Defence wins titles, and that was as good a defensive effort as I've seen from any side all year.

Feel like Bellamy has to stick with Munster at fullback unless Meaney can't handle the defensive workload and/or gets found out. He's clearly the best option there and still has great instincts/knows where to be positionally.

So are we ready to re-admit Munster back to the leadership group next season and would it make a difference to whether he stays or leaves?

This is probably a weird observation but did anyone feel like that was the first time in a very long time that we saw the Storm actually play like the Storm?

Had very little ball, seemed to be behind physically but tackled well, made excellent decisions defensively and made the most of very limited opportunities in attack.

It felt like a lot of the games the guys played back when Cameron Smith was playing.

Very much felt like it

Itzbek the Purple wrote: ↑Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:41 am So are we ready to re-admit Munster back to the leadership group next season and would it make a difference to whether he stays or leaves?

I sincerely hope that Cam avoids any captaincy and leadership positions, purely as captains should never be a flight risk. He is in such high demand, if we continue to lose captains (Cam, Dale, JB) in quick succession it makes us look like a joke of a club.

What a birthday present!!

Amazing to shut them out regardless of who they were missing. Is their team last night any different to the stars who are out for us? No, didn’t think so.

I think at this point we really should recognise the bit part players who have generally been amazing for us.

It matters not if we make Munster captain or not (though he should be, if he wants it), given the absolute joke appointments of the captain position. But if it tips the scales in our favour, go for it cos we could not afford to lose him at any cost. He is one of those that thinks 3 plays ahead. A champion.

Tui Kamikamica has been charged with a grade one Dangerous Contact charge for an incident with Spencer Leniu in the 57th minute.

Kamikamica will receive a $1,000 fine for an early guilty plea. Or a $1,500 fine if he fights and loses the charge.

Anyone got any updates on Tepai? Was meant to be back a few weeks ago. And is Loiero out till next season? Still says indefinite return from back injury.

big_m wrote: ↑Fri Aug 12, 2022 6:28 pm Anyone got any updates on Tepai? Was meant to be back a few weeks ago. And is Loiero out till next season? Still says indefinite return from back injury.

Big m, in this week's injury report on Storm website Frank said that he hoped both Tepai and Trent will be back for the Falcons next week.

Excellent news - thankyou. I can never seem to get the videos on the storm site working on my phone - it says due to adblocker.