Storm vs Sharks

[storm_rhinos]

I thought we actually played ok - yes we can improve - but Aitken will improve and have a bit more confidence - did look a bit lost at times so misread plays having this week under his belt will help.

Now we need to make sure we dont get stretched out wide, i think that is our main weakness. Our attack was ok , nothing too stand out - but kicking in the first few minutes and running a play like Coops takes some balls

Bottom line is we are still alive, arguably now back as favourites, with everything we have been through we have smashed to sharks.

Lets hope we dont have too many injuries - they were saying GI was looking didgy just now on 9 - and Quinns eye looks like it will swell / close up (thanks for nothing Noddy)

[Bullets]

Im going to say it get ready!

Aitken was fairly good tonight....made a couple of mistakes but that is understandable considering he has just come into the team, now he has got a full week. His defence was great, we don't lose anything in that department without Cam.

Off the bench i thought Anderson was pretty good aswell considering i was bagging him earlier in the week. Come on and had some big runs.

Cronk was great, really led the team tonight he deserved that MOTM. What about when talking to the ref and Quinn was yelling out Cronk was like "Zip It, Zip It!" 

Archer had the line of the night though....Sharks knock on and kick the ball out...all the Storm players jump up and Archer is like "Give it a rest, its 28-0" 

I think GI is building for something, remember he was being bagged out before last years grand final and he stepped up.

[storm_rhinos]

i like Archer as a ref becasue he doesnt take no BS but is normally very fair - catches things well and makes critical judgements well - a lot of refs miss things that he does not. Any he also doesnt get over emotianal and play to the crowd

[Bullets]

He come up with some great calls tonight, them real tough ones when players get a sneaky hand to knock the ball down

[storm_rhinos]

And also remember most refs may have sent crocker off last GF but Archert saw what it was - a fair, well times if agressive hit

[nacho]

very good game all round for us

im nervous about the boys who were feeling cramps and got up gingerly

blair was fantastic, aswell as manu and fus. anderson won me over with a few runs, in the last 15 or 10 mins he dropped everything given to him but i can forgive him.

MoM = turner with out a doubt

[MENACING*STORM]

Obligatory Photo dedicated to the Sharks


41 years and the cabinet is still bare!

[storm_rhinos]

Thats brilliant, love it

[Buzz]

Firstly, the stat about 1 win from 6 games for Aitken is the same statistical malarky as was quoted on the NRL Footy Show last night. Storm has a 70%+ winning rate with C.Smith, and only 50% without him. Pretty much the games Aitken plays are the ones where C.Smith doesn't - and neither does Billy, Ginglis, Falou, Quinn, White and on and on. When we're without Smithy, we're generally without 9 other Origin players.

They talked about Storm's percentage as almost akin to Newcastle without Joey. But Newcastle was generally only without Joey (through injury) and they'd lose. Very different story. So Aitken win/loss ratio is unfair as until tonight, it's generally without the other Origin players.

Now that smacking hit on Quinn from Tellyourpapa - how did that not get any action? Not on report, no sin bin, not even a penalty? How many times have we seen a swinging shot CONNECT, and action taken? Quinn to his credit stayed on his feet, shook it off and kept going. I'm gobsmacked no action taken. I reckon he won't even go to the judiciary.

And how f'ing good was the win! We made it through hard fighting wins, backs to the wall kind of desparation. Now bring on the Warriors!

[Bullets]

Well done to Quinn i mean not long ago he would have taken that bait and thrown a punch back and probably end up in the sin bin. It was a pussy shot, Quinn was like wtf? and just walks off...lol

[Surandy]

Well done to Quinn i mean not long ago he would have taken that bait and thrown a punch back and probably end up in the sin bin. It was a pussy shot, Quinn was like wtf? and just walks off...lol

I'm not much of a lip reader but I reckon Quinn said "mate, your not worth it" after he got punched. 

You could see Storm were fired up for that game from the first try! How awesome it was to see Ricky so sad, but very few shots of Bellamy. The siege mentality worked a wonder for the Storm players and Bellamy & Waldron have set the tone to ensure this continues into the grand final with the post-match conference.

Great to see Turner get a double plus his 80% kicking ratio, I swear for that second try he was running along out wide and said to himself "oh shit, I've gotta kick the conversion!" so headed back infield to score under the posts. 

On Brett White being placed on report, if he gets cited for that then it will be clear as day that the NRL has it in for us!

With all the shit this week, as well as missing Cameron, Hoffy and Jezza, that win was just as sweet and even more enjoyable than last week's win!


Edit: Oh, and I forgot to mention, great to see Geyer getting a try and I bet Blairy is happy that he has dodged a nudie run this year.

[MENACING*STORM]

Cronk was great, really led the team tonight he deserved that MOTM. What about when talking to the ref and Quinn was yelling out Cronk was like "Zip It, Zip It!" 

The Cronkster must've been watching Austen Powers during the week 

[MENACING*STORM]

The high light of the game for me was our defensive effort during the 3 repeat sets in the 2nd half.
I was convince the combination of repeated sets and fatigue would see Chokenulla cross the line.   

[steaming stormer]

15-20 mins into the second half, we looked tired, and out on our feet.  But, we showed the heart and pride in the jumper that makes it so great to be a Storm fan!  That win was awesome, given the lead-up, two tough games, and up against a side that have been solid all year.
Come on boys, back to back!!!

Oh yeah, I thought Zap was outstanding, but can't knock Cronk getting MOM either.  Great captains knock!

[Buzz]

Commentary last night was laughable. Particularly when the game was out of reach and all gone for the gummys, the excuses from Gus came rolling out. Including that Cronulla has a "easy" run into the finals, and probably beat some poor teams by large margins blah blah blah. The big stat leading into the finals is that Cronulla was the only team to have scored a win against EVERY other top 8 team. And for this they were to be feared.