MELBOURNE STORM v PARRAMATTA EELS - ROUND 23 @ OP

[Brisbane_Storm]

Wow we dropped the ball so many times and still won.  Sign of a great team.  We're gonna walk into the GF this year.

[Mike_The_Undertaker]

The Bankstown SCUM will rip us to shreds next week if we play like we have the last few weeks. Another pathetic second half effort even though the Eels put a lot of pressure on us. The wet conditions did'nt help us either.

Really ... The bankstown scum beat the Broncos by 7 less points than the Storm.

I don't understand all the negativity.

[Mini Chick]

Feel a little so-so after last night's effort. First half was good, felt really confident of a big win. Then the second half was not so flash. Would love to see us play a good 80 mins - not just 20 here, and flashes of brilliance occasionally.

Though I was very pleased with the crowd firing up with about 7 mins to go. Was it Lima that came out of the line and smashed an eel? oh well, whoever it was certainly got the crowd up again.

Question though. DO you reckon we've turned the corner? Obviously there's still work to be done, but are we on the way? I really want that Grand Final victory.........

[Thunderstruck]

I got the feeling we're just cruising lately. nearly assured of a minor premiership with little to lose except out of player injuries.

[Thunderstruck]

oh and hi everybody.  *waves*

[TC]

hi everybody. 

hi Dr Nick. 

[nacho]

i liked last  nights game
it didnt show on the scoreboard but i thought it was one of our better games.

ref was alittle inconsistant with the grapples and high shots also with the reports. did anyone see the replay either on fox or at the game about that high shot on Cross? i recon it should be looked at by the match commity, i didnt see it close up thou but i could hear it

i think for storm to be a big threat in the finals like we were last year then we need to up our game and keep the players in top condition, wouldnt expect crocker to miss any matches well maybe 1 for that shot he did

[bula]

Was it Lima that came out of the line and smashed an eel?

Na it was Jeremy Smith, got me out of my couch He really lifted in the last 15,  Quinn came up with some great shots too.
I thought White was great, more of it though, feel for Chambers sitting on the bench the entire game.

Was it just me or did anyone else think the ruck speed was alot quicker?
This cant be good we didnt wrestle at all, thats our biggest strength.

[nacho]

Was it Lima that came out of the line and smashed an eel?

Na it was Jeremy Smith, got me out of my couch He really lifted in the last 15,  Quinn came up with some great shots too.
I thought White was great, more of it though, feel for Chambers sitting on the bench the entire game.

Was it just me or did anyone else think the ruck speed was alot quicker?
This cant be good we didnt wrestle at all, thats our biggest strength.

white and quinn played awesome, my members best on ground vote has to go to Jezza smith thou, continous pressure on the kicker all the time

i think we didnt wrestle much because bellemy wants to let things cool down with the media and this whole grappleing thing , then when there not suspecting it BAM! we start again 

[coupy73]

Thought last nights game was one for the rugby league purist, very physical. two teams working to the sixth tackle and kick or making a mistake through pressure. no real clean breaks made by either team......great game. especially for the neutral.

agree with the comments,white was probably my tip for man-of-match. Quinn probably had his best game for is, looked thretening from dummy half and tackled well. Don't know if it was a tatic from bellamy but through the second half both Hoffman ans Jez smith were on the left wing and Quinn was in the middle?? Seemed as though Ingliss was playing as a centre also last night and we played without a 5/8, with and extra running forward (Jez Smith /Crocker).

last night we were playing the 3rd place team on the ladder and won, this should be a great posative to take into next week.

[Blitzkrieg]

Read in this morning's Age that there were no penalties at OP last night for unnecessary contact with the head/neck - WTF??

A bit of a rant - a bunch of Who-doesn't-matta supporters came & sat near us, and they were the most obnoxious, loud-mouthed, smart-arse pond-life I have ever had the misfortune to encounter! Every time the Storm did something bad, or the Eels did something good (even if it was really minor) they started yelling & screaming & jumping up & down & dancing around like a bunch of dead-set wankers, carrying on as though they had won the grand-final...and yes, they were pissed out of their tiny brains, and security didn't seem too interested

Obviously they were trying to bait the Storm fans, but largely without success...a couple of them tried to start an argument (over what I don't know) with another Storm fan a few seats up from me, but he kept his cool, he didn't lose his temper like they were desperately hoping he would... 

And as I was leaving the game, walking along Swan Street near Vodafone Arena, I noticed on the other side of the street (near the OP eastern entrance) a bit of going on...couldn't see much of what was happening as they were in a dark spot, but I could see it was a punch-on. Anyone else see it? Pretty f_cked up

Is it just me, or is this kind of lowest-common-denominator behaviour becoming more noticeable amongst sports spectators? It certainly was from my point of view last night. It detracts from what was otherwise a good spectacle - but I'm not letting it put me off coming to OP to support my team! GO STORM!!!!

[sliat_1981]

Close games are exciting to watch. Gave me a few heart attacks.
I called out "Go back to Sydney". Some moron told me Paramatta isn't even from Sydney. Oh, so Paramatta were the first non-Sydney team to win the premiership? I think not.