Round 5
St.George-Illawarra Dragons 10 l. Melbourne Storm 24

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

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

Storm's dominance over Dragons continues
Sat April 14, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne Storm scored their 5th straight win of the season against an under-manned St George Illawarra Dragons at Oki Jubilee Stadium, winning 24-10 in a contest where the visitors rarely got out of second gear.

With Greg Inglis missing, Matt Geyer played in the number six jersey while Steve Turner made his first start for the season on the wing.

The Storm had only lost one of their previous 12 clashes against the Dragons, and it looked like that dominance may not continue after the opening exchanges.

A slick move down the Dragons right saw embattled winger Wes Naiqama give his team the early lead, crossing in the corner to open his personal try-scoring tally for the season.

It took a long time for Melbourne to get themselves in the game, with drop ball and penalties the norm.

However, Cooper Cronk and Geyer combined with quick hands to create space for Turner to score in the corner, with Cam Smith's conversion giving the Storm the lead.

Turner was at it again a few minutes later. A cut-out pass by Billy Slater found the speedy winger to get his second for the game.

Melbourne extended their lead ten minutes after the break.

Slater played the part of playmaker again, this time kicking superbly behind the Dragons defence finding a flying Israel Folau, who gathered brilliantly to score his eighth try of the season, giving the Storm a 14-4 lead.

The Dragons weren't done yet though, and when Josh Morris burst through the Storm line and out-sprinted the retreating Storm defence, the Dragons were only four points down and back in the game.

Nonetheless, on Melbourne's next set of six, order was restored with Matt King showing great strength to shrug off Richie Williams, crashing over in the corner to give the Storm some much needed breathing space.

In the 71st minute, on the back of a 60-metre kick return by Slater, Anthony Quinn sealed victory for the Storm. A couple of quick play-the-balls saw Folau in possession. Instead of panicking in the tackle, the big winger unloaded to Quinn who made it 24-10 with Turner's conversion.

Despite the scratchy performance, Storm coach Craig Bellamy could see plenty of positives from the win.

"If someone said at the start of the season we'd go to Newcastle in Round 4 and Kogarah in Round 5 and come away with two wins we would have taken it with both hands, wouldn't have mattered how we'd played," said Bellamy.

"Perhaps I've been a bit too hard on the players, and perhaps they've been a bit too hard on themselves because we're still winning.

"Our defence, while maybe not as quick moving as the last couple of weeks, still held them out so perhaps we just need to relax a little bit and things might come a little more easily for us."

STORM 24 (Tries: Turner 2, Folau, King, Quinn; Goals: C. Smith, Turner) def. DRAGONS 10 (Tries: Naiqama, J. Morris; Goals: Naiqama)

Report sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au


Storm Round 5 Game Notes v Dragons
Fri April 13, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne Storm scored a hard fought 22-12 win over the Newcastle Knights at Energy Australia Stadium.

The win continued the Storm's unbeaten start to the 2007 season.

With the Kangaroos team being selected this week, Cam Smith did his chances no harm with a wonderful performance against the Knights. Smith was voted the players-player-of-the-week.

St George Illawarra were on the end of a 40-4 thumping at the hands of Cronulla on Monday night in the local derby.

WHO: Melbourne Storm v St George Illawarra Dragons
WHAT: Round 5 of the 2007 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Oki Jubilee Stadium, Sydney
WHEN: Saturday, April 14th @ 5:30pm
ON TV: Fox Sports 3 LIVE
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 an 18-man squad for this Saturday evening's Round 5 clash against the St George Illawarra Dragons.

The game will be played at OKI Jubilee Stadium in Sydney from 5:30pm.

Bellamy has made one change to the starting line-up that took the field against the Newcastle Knights on Saturday.

Michael Crocker has been named, taking the place of Antonio Kaufusi in the backrow. Kaufusi will resume in his customary front row position which was filled by Garret Crossman last Saturday. Crossman has been named as 18th man.

Sam Tagataese and Steve Turner both retain their places on the interchange bench after they both played their first games of the 2007 season last weekend.

FAST FACTS
* Melbourne has lost only one of its past 12 clashes against the Dragons
* Melbourne has not lost away from home in the regular home and away season since Round 11, 2006
* In 2007, teams have a 1-5 win-loss record when backing up from Monday night football

DID YOU KNOW?
* Matt Geyer needs two more tries to become the first player in the Storm's history to score 100 tries

KEY MATCH-UP
The battle of the centres will be decisive.

The Dragons have a couple of centres in Wes Naiqama and Matt Cooper that, on their day, can cause severe damage to any team. However, their opportunities to score this season have been limited with neither crossing the stripe. Both will be looking to open their account this Saturday.

Matt King and Anthony Quinn are two of the best in the business.

King is a NSW and Australian representative who has the ability to break the line when there doesn't seem to be a gap to find.

Quinn, who has moved to the centres after playing on a wing for the Knights, has been in superb form. Defensively he has been as solid as a rock, helping young gun Israel Folau keep a tight line on the right hand side. Offensively, Quinn scored his first try of 2007 against the Knights last Saturday night and as he gets more comfortable in his new role, expect the tries to start coming on a more regular basis.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 17, Storm: 12, Dragons: 4, Drawn: 1
At Oki Jubilee Stadium: Played: 1, Storm: 1, Dragons: 0

FOR AND AGAINST 2007
Points for: Storm: 102, Dragons: 54
Points against: Storm: 56, Dragons: 96
Tries for: Storm: 19, Dragons: 9
Points differential: Storm: +46, Dragons: -42

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm: def. Knights 22-12 @ Energy Australia Stadium
Dragons: def. by Sharks 40-4 @ Toyota Park, Sydney

LAST EIGHT CLASHES
2006 Storm def. Dragons 24-10 @ Telstra Stadium
2006 Storm def. Dragons 34-24 @ Oki Jubilee Stadium
2006 Storm def. Dragons 24-10 @ Olympic Park
2005 Storm def. Dragons 24-16 @ Olympic Park
2005 Storm def. Dragons 46-12 @ WIN Stadium
2004 Dragons def. Storm 34-14 @ WIN Stadium
2004 Storm def. Dragons 34-6 @ Olympic Park
2003 Storm def. Dragons 22-14 @ WIN Stadium

THE STORM STORY SO FAR
ROUND 1: Storm 18 (Tries: J. Smith, Hoffman, Folau; Goals: C. Smith 3) def. Wests Tigers 16 (Tries: Moodie, Harrison, Whatuira; Goals: Marshall 2) @ Olympic Park
ROUND 2: Storm 32 (Tries: White 2, Folau 2, Slater, Geyer; Goals: C. Smith 4) def. Raiders 16 (Tries: Carney, Graham, Best; Goals: Dobson 2) @ Canberra Stadium
ROUND 3: Storm 30 (Tries: Slater 2, Folau 2, Hoffman, King; Goals: C. Smith 3) def. Warriors 12 (Tries: Vatuvei, Rapira; Goals: Martin 2) @ Olympic Park
ROUND 4: Storm 22 (Tries: Folau 2, King, Quinn; Goals: C. Smith 3) def. Knights 12 (Tries: Simpson, Abraham; Goals: Gidley 2) @ Energy Australia Stadium

2007 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Folau 7, Slater 3, White 2, Hoffman 2, King 2, J. Smith, Geyer, Quinn

2007 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 13

2007 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
N/A

2007 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
Folau 28, C. Smith 26, Slater 12, White 8, Hoffman 8, King 8, J. Smith 4, Geyer 4, Quinn 4

MELBOURNE STORM MEDIBANK PRIVATE INJURY UPDATE
Danny Vaughan: Season (ACL)
Adam Blair: 3 weeks (Ankle)
Jeremy Smith: 3 weeks (Fibula)

THE STORM AHEAD
Round 6: Saturday, April 21st v Panthers @ Olympic Park, 7:30pm
Round 7: Friday, April 27th v Broncos @ Suncorp Stadium, 7:30pm
Round 8: Saturday, May 5th v Wests Tigers @ Blue Tongue Stadium, 7:30pm
Round 9: Monday, May 14th v Bulldogs @ Olympic Park, 7:00pm
Round 10: Saturday, May 19th v Roosters @ Olympic Park, 7:30pm
Round 11: Saturday, May 26th v Sea Eagles @ Brookvale Oval, 5:30pm
Round 12: Saturday, June 2nd v Rabbitohs @ Olympic Park, 7:30pm
Round 13: Sunday, June 10th v Warriors @ Mt Smart Stadium, 2:00pm (AEST)

2007 TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP LADDER
1. Sea Eagles 8
2. Cowboys 8
3. Storm 8
4. Rabbitohs 6
5. Sharks 4
6. Panthers 4
7. Bulldogs 4
8. Warriors 4
9. Eels 4
10. Titans 4
11. Knights 4
12. Broncos 2
13. Dragons 2
14. Raiders 2
15. Tigers 0
16. Roosters 0

SQUAD FOR SATURDAY'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. Michael Crocker
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Sam Tagataese
15. Jeff Lima
16. Ben Cross
17. Steve Turner
18. Garret Crossman
(one to be omitted)

Coach:
Craig Bellamy

News sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Tue April 10, 2007
• Crocker returns for Storm
  

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