Round 20 - Melbourne Storm v Parramatta Eels

[Cherry_Poppins]

Okay, watched the game at my local club so had no sound. Left me with lots and lots of questions.

Why was Hoffy called as held up over the line on the last tackle in the first half when replay showed that he had grounded the ball? Should've been a try.

Why was Storm not given a penalty when Widdop lost the ball backwards on the last tackle near our line and was tackled without the ball thus denying any opportunity to try and get up to regather the ball? Shortly after Eels got a try.

Why was the ball handed over after the last to Parramatta when they let the ball bounce on our kick on the last near their line and after it bounced they then knocked it on?

Aside from the refs, why did the Storm frequently have no support players when our forwards were actually making metres? I lost count of the number of times Hoffy took the ball up to the line and was looking to flick pass the ball to a waiting Storm player but there was noone within cooee of him? I know Slater normally would be there but surely SOMEONE should have been there!

We really had very little in attack even though we were making good metres all night.

Without trying to sound awful I thought your first try was a double movement....I was shocked the ref didn't send it upstairs,I thought they'd have a look,I was watching while on the computer so yeah I didn't look to closely

Other than that Slater and cronk are your regular support runners I know Slater was out but Wtf cronk? What is it with halves this year, you give them huge coin and they have a form slump

[ Post made via Android ]

[Insomniac]

The reason our attack is disjointed is because we miss Widdop at 6. The reason our defence is disjointed is because we miss slater at 1.
I really do think that Craig's experiment of covering the fullback position at the expense of the 5/8 position has been a mistake.
Hopefully next week Bill will be back, but if he is missing from our side again I think Widdop should remain at 6. As good as Widdop is at fullback, he is no Billy Slater. We have a couple of backs who can do an average job at fullback, we only have one who can do a sterling job at 5/8.
Great to see Chambers back. He was awesome before his medical condition was detected, and he was solid tonight. Great for him personally and for the team.
Next week we will see a completely different Storm with the return of our 1 & 6.

+1 x100%! Been saying this for weeks... although after the Eels game I get the feeling most of the boys are just sitting back waiting for Billy to return as well, which is just making the situation worse...

[Insomniac]

The season is starting to fall off the rails. Four straight losses is just inexcusable. Billy being injured has nothing to do with the fact the attacking display over the last few weeks has been dreadful.

Cronk's kicking game is absolutely woeful lately, I know he is a star player but once the team starts to struggle he really doesn't have a clue what to do. Cam tries his hardest to direct the team from dummy half but can't take a trick. I thought Rory stepped up tonight, scored a great try at the end of the first half and was the only real highlight for the Storm. Nielsen, just go to the Warriors now, you were terrible yet again and I can't bear to watch his stuttering runs and misreads in defence anymore. Quinn needs to go back into the forwards, Waqa did better this week but wasn't to flash. Widdop tried hard again but can't seem to be able to threaten to bust the line at fullback.

The forwards were terrible tonight. Fa'aoso was average, Bromwich just keeps dropping the ball, Manu is a shadow of the player he once was, Lowrie is back to his old self and not performing, Proctor looks unfit, Hoffy scored the final try but was quiet all night, Hinchy was quiet. The only forward to make any impact tonight was Ryles and he is 33 years old.

The only real good thing to come out of tonight was the return of Will Chambers. I hope after a few more games he finally finds some attacking rhythm in the backline once again.

Utter crap.

+1 to that as well!!! I thought Hoffy was one of our best tonight.

...and FINALLY, someone comes out of the line with a good defensive read and actually shuts down the play - congratulations to Sisa for achieving this feat on numerous occasions, he really kept Tonga in check all game. The 'hit & stick' tackles from our boys have been missing for a while now, so that was one positive from tonight.

I do agree though that Cronk's kicking game has been VERY disappointing for some time now... that used to be one of his biggest assets, but it's become one of his weaknesses for some reason.

There's a lot of work to do with less than a week to do it... I'll be completely devastated if we don't get up over the Dragqueens...

Without trying to sound awful I thought your first try was a double movement....I was shocked the ref didn't send it upstairs,I thought they'd have a look,I was watching while on the computer so yeah I didn't look to closely

Check the replay CP - it definitely wasn't a double movement, although I feared the same thing when I saw it live.

[Scooter]

Cherry Rory's arm that was holding the ball did not hit the ground at any stage until he grounded the ball so therefore fair try.

As I said earlier I think Hoffy, Waqa and Rylesy were our best three players and mattstormy if you thought Hoffy was awful you must have been watching a different game to me. Hoffy made 23 runs for 177 metres, made 7 tackle breaks, 3 offloads, 1 try, 1 linebreak and 16 tackles. So I am not sure what else you wanted him to do.

[Go Storm]

Hoffy's first attempt I think was held up, but no way in hell could the ref have made a definitive decision on it. It should've been referred upstairs.
Parra's first was off the back of 3 penalty's. No excuse for poor defence but clearly a 'refs try'. And their 2nd was clearly a knock on.

We were robbed against the Tigers, outclassed under strength by Dogs, smashed by raiders, outclassed under strength by cowboys and lacked spirit last night against a fired-up team.
I can see a return to our best footy with Billy back at 1, Widdop at 6, Willy with some match fitness and O'Neil & Duff-man back. A chance to train together as a team will go a long way to achieving this too

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[stormsally]

Bellamy has rested players from training and not games around origin - figuring that they get their rest, then slot into the team to play. This has worked until this year. The theory being that any team with origin players in is better than one without.

I think this has caused the origin 'hangover' period to be longer. Maybe it's time for a re-think. Broncos just sit them out of a game during origin and take the possible loss at this time rather than extending the effect with missing training weeks.

[absentee]

How can you have a "benefit of the doubt" try when the video referee only looked at it twice? If that's all it takes to make a decision, make it an actual decision. In that situation, it's either a try or it isn't.

[Scooter]

How can you have a "benefit of the doubt" try when the video referee only looked at it twice? If that's all it takes to make a decision, make it an actual decision. In that situation, it's either a try or it isn't.

I agree absentee I said this in an earlier post. Usually they look at BOD tries about 8 or 9 times.

[sallymay]

the boys need to forget footy for bit maybe the comedy day will help...they can have a laugh

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[glennb]

There will not be a lot of laughing if they loose to the Dragons.

[stormfan2010]

Yep another dissapointing loss , my 3 best were Hoffman , rory and Sisa . Cam said before the game Billy will be back next week and it will be a big lift .
I look at it like , theres plenty of time to hit form , no point being in form like the dogs and dropping off in the finals like i think they will. We will take prob 3-4 weeks to find real form and then bang ! Bring on finals footy ...

Joel

[Rose Madder]

Slater out..Duffie out...O,Neil out...Chambers still a bit off form and understandably so...The Eels doing a job on Steve Kearney ( what arseholes ) so not surprised at the result,but if I was Steve Kearney I would be telling that club and its players exactly what I thought of them,what has he got to lose apart from 2 years of absolute frustration!!!

[Ice]

Hoffy quiet all night? Geez you've gotta wonder if we all watch the same game sometimes He was easily up there with our best, if not the best. Once again we were dudded by a few shit calls, not only was their first try not a try it wasn't even a penalty that led up to it. You've gotta wonder if calls like that and the ones in the Dogs game went our way how differently things might've turned out but that's the way it goes.

That's not to say i'm blaming the refs for our form of late because that's nobody's fault but our own. I've no doubt whatsoever we'll turn our form around by finals time but the only thing i am worried about is how long it'll take and where we end up on the ladder. Would obviously love to finish in the top 2 with the advantages it gives with home finals and while i think that's still achievable we're really gonna have to get our arse in gear starting with a win against the Merge.

Bill will make the world of difference and give the side much more continuity in not only attack but all over the park and once Will gets a few games under his belt that'll also help our attack no end, lso O'Neill back in will be a big boost in that respect. There's no way in hell i've written off this season and won't until we're bundled out, if we're bundled out.

[Michael :P]

Interesting time coming up if we fall short.

The 3 arent getting any younger and if the forwards dont aim up in this years finals I dont see how we can go around with the same pack again and expect different results. But the catch is to play younger players means probably a rebuilding year to some degree, something I dont think "the 3" or bellamy really want.

Hopefully Harris, Garbutt and K-Bro will get a run before the year is out. Apart from them theres no forwards really pushing through, especailly props. Slade Griffin would have been a nice impact player to have this year, could have really been a spark off the bench.

[stormy]

I think we are having this slump because our CHAMPION TEAM must be tired. They have been playing in top form for the last 4-5 yrs every week even during THAT year. Emotionally that would have knocked their socks off but they kept playing to raise money for their various charities.Us supporters are knocking our team cos we have lost a few games.BIG DEAL. The team NEED OUR SUPPORT while they are going through this.It is not like we are at the bottom of the ladder.
STICK WITH THEM THROUGH THICK AND THIN.
PROUD OF MY CHAMPION TEAM.