Round 1
Melbourne Storm 18 d. Wests Tigers 16

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Storm edge out Tigers in thriller
Sat March 17, 2007
Melbourne Storm were the first side to record a victory in 2007 edging out a gallant Wests Tigers side 18-16 at Olympic Park last night.

A disappointing crowd of 13,535 turned up to watch last years Minor Premiers, although the real battle was how many viewers tuned into AFL Eddie's TV channel in Bleak City last night.

Jason Moodie scored the first try of the season when he was on the end of a good scrum move as Dean Collis got on the outside of Matt King and Moodie went over outwide. Benji Marshall converted from the sideline for the Tigers to lead 6-0.

The Storm struck back with Cooper Cronk slicing through the Wests defence passing onto Greg Inglis who threw a gem of a pass for Jeremy Smith to score. Cameron Smith added the extras to level up the scores.

Ryan Hoffman broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when Moodie dropped a cross field kick from Cronk with the ball landing in the laps of Hoffman to score. Cameron Smith converted for the Storm to lead 12-6.

Bronson Harrison crashed over the top of Billy Slater on the eve of the break to get Wests back into the match. Marshall was unable to level up the scores with the Storm going into half-time leading 12-10.

The only two tries in the second half came from kicks with the first going to 17-year-old Israel Folau when he plucked a bomb from Cameron Smith out of the air and crashed through three defenders to cap off a fine debut for the youngsters. Cameron Smith added his 3rd conversion of the night for the Storm to lead 18-10.

A grubber kick from Robbie Farah was missed by both Slater and Cronk for Paul Whatuira to pounce on the loose ball. Marshall converted to bring the Tigers back within two points.

The final ten minutes was tense with the Tigers unable to regain the lead and the Storm holding on only just for a tough victory.

The most interesting battle before the match was the clash of the superstar five-eighth's. Inglis was a bold experiment by the Storm in that position and was relatively quiet where he wasn't at his explosive best. It will take Inglis time to adjust to the position, but remains to be seen if he'll be successful in the position. Marshall was very quiet for the Tigers where he tended to catch and pass a lot more than back his natural ability. When Marshall plays his own game than Wests will win more often than not. It was clear Marshall just wanted to get through the game unscathed after massive injury problems last year.

Cronk was awarded the Channel Nine Man of the Match award, but I personally though the two hookers were the outstanding performers. Smith confirmed his status as the best No.9 in the game today and Farah is not much behind and one of the better dummy halves in the game today.

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy said: "I thought our defence was pretty good most of the time.

"The last 10 minutes before halftime I certainly wasn't pleased with.

"It was no-one else's fault but our own."

Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens said: "I'm not satisfied with just getting beat at all to be quite honest.

"There's a couple of issues that as a coach I was not happy we did. We turned over a bit of football at critical times at set pieces. The Storm are going to hurt you when that happens.

"We never got past the third tackle on repeat sets.

"I'm expecting mistakes early in the season but not too many mistakes from mix ups and simple errors.

"But in saying that there was plenty of courage shown. It's a long season and something for us to build on."


Storm Round 1 v Wests Tigers Game Notes
Fri March 16, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

The Storm will begin the season with confidence after some impressive trial game form and the recruitment of Anthony Quinn in the centres.

Greg Inglis' move into the five-eighth position will be interesting to watch with experts divided as to whether it will work or not.

WHO: Melbourne Storm v Wests Tigers
WHAT: Round 1 of the 2007 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Olympic Park, Melbourne
WHEN: Friday, March 16th @ 7:30pm
ON TV: Channel Nine LIVE into Melbourne
CHECK IT OUT: Melbourne Storm's website with all the latest stats, profiles, updates, schedule and training times, alerts, news etc - www.melbournestorm.com.au

INS AND OUTS
Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has named a 20-man squad for Friday night's clash.

Israel Folau makes his first-grade debut on the wing in place of the injured Steve Turner who will miss the first three rounds of the season with a medial tear of the left ankle ligament.

Jeremy Smith will take his place in the backrow alongside Ryan Hoffman with Michael Crocker being named to start on the bench after recovering from a hamstring injury.

After impressive performances in the pre-season trial games Jeff Lima is named to start on the bench while James Aubusson has been rewarded for a stellar pre-season with a place on the bench also.

FAST FACTS
* The "Graveyard" at Olympic Park was a fortress for the Storm in 2006 winning 12 of 13 games
* Melbourne's ability to find the try line last season was second to none with the team crossing the stripe 109 times
* Wests Tigers' away form in 2006 was nothing to write home about winning only three times in 12 attempts
* Billy Slater loves playing the Tigers having scored nine tries in six games against them

DID YOU KNOW?
Storm backrower Michael Crocker is studying to be a pilot and is a massive Harry Potter fan.

KEY MATCH UP
Greg Inglis against Benji Marshall in the pivotal five-eighth position shapes as an intriguing encounter with both players having a point to prove.

Inglis has been moved into the playmaking role by Craig Bellamy in order to get the star ball runner closer to the action. However, being closer to the ball also means a greater need to defend. His tackle count will be far more than he is accustomed to and he will need to combine this with his natural attacking instincts.

Marshall on the other hand doesn't have to prove anything as a five-eighth, he's already shown he is one of the best in the business. It is the doubt surrounding his injured shoulders he will be looking to put to rest. After two shoulder reconstructions, Marshall has added 5kg of muscle over the off-season in an attempt to strengthen the area. There's no doubt he can expect some extra defensive traffic to be coming his way on Friday night.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 13, Storm: 9, Wests Tigers: 4
At Olympic Park: Played: 6, Storm: 6, Wests Tigers: 0

FOR AND AGAINST 2007
Points for: Storm: 0, Wests Tigers: 0
Points against: Storm: 0, Wests Tigers: 0
Tries for: Storm: 0, Wests Tigers: 0
Points differential: Storm: 0, Wests Tigers: 0

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm: N/A
Wests Tigers: N/A

LAST EIGHT CLASHES
2006 Storm def. Tigers 46-4 @ Olympic Park
2006 Tigers def. Storm 30-28 @ Leichhardt Oval
2005 Storm def. Tigers 34-22 @ Olympic Park
2005 Storm def. Tigers 30-14 @ Leichhardt Oval
2004 Tigers def. Storm 32-18 @ Leichhardt Oval
2004 Storm def. Tigers 30-24 @ Olympic Park
2003 Storm def. Tigers 16-8 @ Olympic Park
2002 Tigers def. Storm 26-16 @ Leichhardt Oval

THE STORM STORY SO FAR
TRIAL GAME 1: STORM 32 (Tries: Chambers 2, Johnson, Quinn, Tagataese, Manu; Goals: C. Smith 4) def. TITANS 6 (Tries: Walker; Goals: Walker) at BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour
TRIAL GAME 2: STORM 20 (Tries: Kaufusi, Samoa, White, Guerra; Goals: Foran, Samoa) def. by SEA EAGLES 30 (Tries: Robertson 2, Stewart, Watmough, Bani; Goals: Orford 3, Ryan) at Quad Park, Sunshine Coast
TRIAL GAME 3: STORM 46 (Tries: Cronk 2, Hoffman, King, Geyer, Lima, Slater, Inglis; Goals: C. Smith 6, J. Smith) def. BRONCOS 0 at Princes Park, Melbourne

2007 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
N/A

2007 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
N/A

2007 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
N/A

2007 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
N/A

MELBOURNE STORM MEDIBANK PRIVATE INJURY UPDATE
Steve Turner: 3 weeks (ankle)
Adam Blair: 4 weeks (ankle)
Matthew Bartlett: 4 weeks (ankle)

THE STORM AHEAD
Round 2: Saturday, March 24th v Raiders @ Canberra Stadium, 7:30pm
Round 3: Sunday, April 1st v Warriors @ Olympic Park, 12:00pm
Round 4: Saturday, April 7th v Knights @ Energy Australia Stadium, 5:30pm
Round 5: Saturday, April 14th v Dragons @ OKI Jubilee Stadium, 5:30pm

TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP LADDER
1. Broncos
2. Bulldogs
3. Cowboys
4. Dragons
5. Eels
6. Knights
7. Panthers
8. Raiders
9. Roosters
10. Sea Eagles
11. Sharks
12. South Sydney
13. Storm
14. Titans
15. Warriors
16. Wests Tigers

SQUAD FOR FRIDAY'S GAME
Starting team:
1. Billy Slater
2. Matt Geyer
3. Matt King
4. Anthony Quinn
5. Israel Folau
6. Greg Inglis
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Antonio Kaufusi
9. Cameron Smith
10. Brett White
11. Jeremy Smith
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Michael Crocker
15. Garret Crossman
16. Jeff Lima
17. James Aubusson
18. Sam Tagataese
19. Ryan Shortland
20. Ben Cross
(three to be omitted)

Coach
Craig Bellamy

News sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Thu March 1, 2007
• Storming into Ticketek
  
Tue November 14, 2006
• 2007 NRL Premiership Fixture List (Full)
  

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