Round 20 - Storm vs Raiders

Discussion on anything to do with Melbourne Storm - games, players, rumours - anything!
Cameron
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Here is a secret..


Cameron Munster is a superstar.
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yourhero
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The scoops keep on coming!
Ice
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1999 wrote:We can go back to back. I really believe it now.
Have top agree with that, not saying we will but we definitely can. We haven't had a settled halves combo all season which we now have and with 5 weeks leading up to to the finals we'll only improve in that department. We also survived the origin period better than we ever have so barring injury we're right up to our eyeballs in it I think
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Danger D
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Suli also had a great game. Can't recall him making an error (except maybe letting the ball bounce when he was back at FB) in some pretty greasy conditions. I hope this means his head is back in the game.
Cameron
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Suli has had a good time since his daughter was born. 5 tries in 6 games.
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sallymay
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Cameron wrote:Suli has had a good time since his daughter was born. 5 tries in 6 games.

Son.....Max Vunivalu
Cameron
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Well done Maxy.
Cameron
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End of rules crackdown is only part of our success.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/end-of ... 4zugp.html

The theory doing the rounds in rugby league circles at the moment is that Melbourne and the Roosters can directly thank the backlash to the early-season rules crackdown for their run of success.

It's all over social media and its proponents are garnering a great many retweets, therefore it must hold some water. Right? Right.

This NRL season has been split into two defined eras. To critics, it was like the Ice Age and the great thaw that came afterwards. A flood of penalties cracking down on the game's basics was met with derision from a rowdy bunch of players, coaches, fans and pundits, who feared for the spectacle of it all.

As a result, ahead of round 15, Todd Greenberg issued a wind-back or sorts, urging referees to continue to police the key areas but not go out of their way to look for penalties. The sin-bin was also back on the table for foul play.

The good news is the numbers show that it worked, to a degree. Figures compiled by Champion Data show that from rounds 1-14, there were an average of 8.8 penalties conceded per game. Since then, the past six rounds have seen the average drop by 1.5 penalties conceded per game. Voila!

It means referees have been getting the message, although for some teams the change has been more beneficial than others. Melbourne, as per the suggestion that the relaxed interpretations have helped their cause, are a good example.

For the first 14 rounds, they were the fifth most-penalised team in the NRL, conceding 9.1 penalties on average each game. For the past six rounds, they were the fifth least-penalised team, being stung for an average 6.7 infringements.

That all sits nicely with an eight-game winning streak that has them on top of the NRL ladder and looking every bit the premiership hope. But that is only part of the story for Melbourne, whose fortunes in another key penalty stat didn't change much at all.

During the penalty blitz, the Storm were experts at drawing penalties, being given an equal league-leading average of 9.1 over the opening 14 rounds of competition. For the past six rounds, with the foot off the officiating pedal to a degree, guess what? The Storm were still the best side at drawing penalties with an 8.8 average.

For all their skill at helping to control the speed of the other team's ruck, the Storm are masters of their own destiny with the ball in hand. They know how to contain the pace of rivals but also know how to combat those very same tactics when they are moving up the field.



The Roosters have been another team suggested to have been given a boost by the change in tack from referees, although the numbers are hardly compelling. The difference between penalties conceded pre and post round 14 was just 1 (8.6 to 7.6) and for penalties awarded, only 0.3 (8.1 to 7.8).

For others, the figures don't explain any seismic shift in performance. Over the opening 14 rounds, the impressive Dragons were the least-penalised team in the NRL, giving away just 7.6 in the midst of the crackdown.

Afterwards? They were still the best, now giving away just 5.5 per game over the past six rounds. For them, even better discipline hasn't resulted in even better form as top-eight rivals gather substantial amounts of steam.

For some teams in the top eight, the difference in refereeing has had no statistical impact whatsoever. For both Brisbane (8.0) and the Warriors (8.8), there wasn't any difference in the average amount of penalties they conceded when the first 14 rounds were compared to the past six.

But that change did see the Warriors go from being the ninth most-penalised team to the second most-penalised team in the latter stages of the year, with the Raiders (9.0 per game) now the worst offenders.

The team to benefit most out of the end of the penalty blitz? That would be the Gold Coast Titans, who have dropped three penalties per game from the stat sheet when the two parts of the season are compared.

In terms of teams earning penalties, the Raiders have suffered greatly, which would probably just add some fuel to Ricky Stuart's fire. His team was given 3.6 fewer penalties per game over the past six rounds when compared to their round 1-14 average of 9.6, which was the most in the game.

Like most things in rugby league, the perceptions only loosely match up to the reality. Yes, Melbourne have been helped by the officiating shake-up but it's their ability to take an iron-grip on the tempo of a contest that has been their biggest asset.
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yourhero
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The article is fundamentally flawed. It assumes that a team’s discipline is static throughout the entire year. That a team concedes or is awarded penalties based on the same discipline each week. As if teams do not make genuine attempts to avoid penalties by working on certain things at training.

The simple fact is that those with an axe to grind are looking to justify internally why Melbourne are performing well again in 2018... It can’t be because they are consistent and professional. No, it has to be because they are cheating/getting looked after by the NRL/officials.

Unfortunately this is just symptomatic of the nature of NRL fans in general.
Cameron
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Yes, the Sydney based fans are relatively simpletons. Feed inaccurate loud mouth information in a Tony Abbott style by their media and for some reason your average Joe on the street and at your RSL and in your pubs and clubs and on your beaches of Sydney believes every word.

Sydney is a city of simple numpties who can't even work out if they love the game of rugby league or not. And simply believe everything the Murdoch press tell them. And it is retweeted and retweeted until there is an outrage obsession.

What about the fact the Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters' attacks have prospered more in the second half of the season than any other team. How do they come up with a reason for that, if all we do is flaunt the rules in the tackle with our chicken wings etc.

As Megan Barnard said last night on the NRL Tonight program:-

"I can't wait to see Cooper Cronk beat his old team in the Grand Final and see Melbourne sook."

That is the depth of analysis you get up there and on Murdoch owned press in general.
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It's typical rugby league dumb logic that of course it must be penalties and nothing else that has helped two premiership contenders improve throughout the season.
Cameron
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Not much thinking involved and even Mick Ennis was peddling it as fact on his Foxtel program...
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Cameron wrote:Not much thinking involved and even Mick Ennis was peddling it as fact on his Foxtel program...
Words that don't go together.
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