Round 9
Melbourne Storm 38 d. Bulldogs 14

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

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

Storm prove to be Monday's experts
Mon May 14, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

The Melbourne Storm welcomed Monday night rugby league action with open arms by orchestrating a dominant 38-14 win against the Bulldogs. Cooper Cronk starred in front of over 14,000 fans, ensuring the Storm remain on top of the NRL ladder.

After being without its coach and a number of key players in recent weeks due to representative commitments, a Monday night game was just the tonic to refocus the Storm for this important encounter.

"We had a really good week of preparation," said coach Craig Bellamy.

"The players, to their credit, were switched on from the first session and they trained great all week.

"The loss to the Tigers stung us a bit last week and we thought we knew where we went wrong and we went out to correct that. Our preparation was great and it showed out there tonight.

"There were just a couple of things that we had to improve on and the players' attitude was great all week. I think it was our best performance of the year tonight."

The Storm looked jumpy early in the encounter, almost too eager to right the wrongs from last week's loss. A penalty conceded by Ryan Hoffman delivered the Bulldogs good field position and with less than four minutes elapsed on the clock, Daryl Millard scored close to the Western touchline.

The Bulldogs' perfect start soon turned sour when Daniel Holdsworth dropped the ball from the restart. In a flash, Cronk squeezed between Sonny Bill Williams and Corey Hughes and the Storm hit the lead.

It was a messy start to the game with both teams looking like they'd rather be packing scrums and not making tackles or hit-ups. The Bulldogs turned Storm errors into points when Willie Tonga showed great acceleration to evade Anthony Quinn and score again for the visitors.

The only consolation for the Storm was that the usually sniper-like Hazem El Masri missed both his conversion attempts.

Melbourne found the spark they were missing during the early stages of the match in Greg Inglis. The five-eighth was so casual in his approach to the Bulldogs defensive line that the Bulldogs players were probably thinking he was planning something. Four defenders aimed in on the number six, leaving the wing bare. Inglis then slipped the ball to Matt King and the Storm regained the lead.

From there, Melbourne changed gears and built what became an unassailable lead. Cronk again evaded a Williams tackle, before offloading to a rioting Hoffman, who made amends from some earlier errors by getting the ball over the line.

Cronk followed the assist up with a try of his own, burrowing over from a metre out with only a minute left before the half-time break.

The Bulldogs looked out of the match when they went into the sheds, but started off the second half with a brilliant try that saw more than half the team involved as the ball went from the Eastern to Western side and then halfway back again, before Reni Maitua finally scored.

It was almost enough to take attention way from the Storm halfback, but the spotlight again shone on Cronk when he kicked for Matt King's wing and found the 2006 Kangaroo tourist leaping above two Bulldogs' defenders and making a clean touchdown.

The final try of the match was almost identical, but if King leapt, then Israel Folau must have been flying. The youngster, who came off the bench in this game, made it to double figures on the try-scoring tally and capped off Cronk's night by adding a third try assist to the halfback's already impressive effort.

With the State of Origin series about to begin, the Storm team that takes the field against the Roosters on Saturday will bare little resemblance to tonight's.

Bellamy, though, seems pleased that a number of fringe players will now get an opportunity.

"It's a challenging time for us, but it's also an exciting time because we're going to give a lot of young guys a chance. There'll be a few debutants next week, I'd imagine," said Bellamy.

STORM 38 (Tries: Cronk 2, King 2, Hoffman, Folau; Goals: C. Smith 7) def. BULLDOGS 14 (Tries: Millard, Cutler, Maitua; Goals: El Masri)

News sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au


Storm Round 9 v Bulldogs Game Notes
Sun May 13, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne Storm suffered its first defeat of the season, going down 30-12 against Wests Tigers at Gosford Stadium.

The loss meant the Manly Sea Eagles regained top spot on the NRL ladder on points difference.

One shining light from the loss was Ryan Hoffman who backed up his man-of-the-match performance for City Origin with a players'-player-of-the-week effort against the Tigers.

The Bulldogs enjoyed a confidence boosting 30-16 win over the Newcastle Knights at Telstra Stadium, lifting them from 10th to eighth on the ladder.

WHO: Melbourne Storm v Bulldogs
WHAT: Round 9 of the 2007 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Olympic Park, Melbourne
WHEN: Monday, May 14th @ 7:00pm
ON TV: Fox Sports 3 LIVE
ON RADIO: Triple M LIVE (including 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 19-man squad for this Monday night's Round 9 clash against the Bulldogs. The game will be played at Olympic Park in Melbourne from 7:00pm.

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

Michael Crocker has been named to make his return from a shoulder injury, taking his place in the back-row. This will allow Antonio Kaufusi to return to his customary front-row position.

Sam Tagataese returns to the bench while Ian Donnelly has been named as 18th man.

FAST FACTS
* Melbourne has won 20 of their past 21 matches at Olympic Park
* The Bulldogs have been beaten twice this season after leading at half-time
* The Bulldogs have a great record at Olympic Park winning four of their past six games there

DID YOU KNOW?
* Billy Slater's girlfriend, Nicole Rose, is holding an exhibition of her work at the BMW Edge Theatre at Federation Square on July 24th. Her work can be seen at www.nicoleroseart.com.au.

KEY MATCH-UP
The battle for supremacy will be in the backrow.

The Bulldogs have a fierce backrow in Kiwi international Sonny Bill Williams and NSW and Kangaroo representative Andrew Ryan. Both are unrelenting in their attack on the man in possession, and when they have the ball in their hands, they are incredibly hard to stop. Sonny Bill is the prototype for the modern footballer; tall, strong and fast, while Ryan is the consummate professional, a captain players are more than willing to follow onto the field of battle.

In Hoffman and Crocker, the Storm has two players who can go up against them one-on-one with the confidence they will come out on top.

Like Sonny Bill, Hoffman has the physical capabilities to play in almost any position. His ball running is second to none and when he gets up a head of steam and hits the holes in opposition defences, he is extremely difficult to stop.

There is a reason why Melbourne has never lost with Michael Crocker in the line-up. Like Ryan, players stand taller when he is around, and his courage and toughness set him apart from the rest. But Crocker's game is not only about brute strength. He has one of the smartest football brains in the business and his positional sense means he often finds himself in situations where he can either break the line himself, or put teammates in holes.

The Crocker/Hoffman v Williams/Ryan clash will decide more than just the game. It will also decide whether players represent their states, and who really has the best backrow in the business.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 19, Storm: 7, Bulldogs: 12
At Olympic Park: Played: 7, Storm: 3, Bulldogs: 4

FOR AND AGAINST 2007
Points for: Storm: 196, Bulldogs: 173
Points against: Storm: 134, Bulldogs: 165
Tries for: Storm: 36, Bulldogs: 27
Points differential: Storm: +62, Bulldogs: +8

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm: def. by Wests Tigers 30-12 @ Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Bulldogs: def. Knights 30-16 @ Telstra Stadium, Sydney

LAST EIGHT CLASHES
2006 Storm def. Bulldogs 16-12 @ Olympic Park
2005 Storm def. Bulldogs 33-6 @ Sydney Showground
2005 Bulldogs def. Storm 26-16 @ Olympic Park
2004 Bulldogs def. Storm 43-18 @ Aussie Stadium
2004 Storm def. Bulldogs 22-12 @ Olympic Park
2004 Bulldogs def. Storm 25-18 @ Sydney Showground
2003 Bulldogs def. Storm 30-0 @ Aussie Stadium
2003 Bulldogs def. Storm 50-4 @ Sydney Showground

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
ROUND 5: Storm 24 (Tries: Turner 2, Quinn, Folau, King; Goals: C. Smith, Turner) def. Dragons 10 (Tries: Morris, Naiqama; Goal: Naiqama) @ Oki Jubilee Stadium
ROUND 6: Storm 30 (Tries: Cronk 2, C. Smith 2, Hoffman; Goals: C. Smith 5) def. Panthers 20 (Tries: Lewis, Pritchard, Jennings; Goals: Gordon 4) @ Olympic Park
ROUND 7: Storm 28 (Tries: Slater 2, Turner, Hoffman, Folau; Goals: C. Smith 4) def. Broncos 18 (Tries: Hannant, Stagg, Eastwood; Goals: Lockyer: 3) @ Suncorp Stadium
ROUND 8: Storm 12 (Tries: King, Johnson; Goals: C. Smith 2) def. by Tigers (Tries: Lawrence 2, Galea, Farah; Goals: Collis 7) @ Bluetongue Stadium

2007 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Folau 9, Slater 5, Hoffman 4, King 4, Turner 3, White 2, Quinn 2, C. Smith 2, Cronk 2, J. Smith, Geyer, Johnson

2007 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 25, Turner

2007 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
N/A

2007 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 58, Folau 36, Slater 20, Hoffman 16, King 16, Turner 14, White 8, Quinn 8, Cronk 8, J. Smith 4, Geyer 4, Johnson 4

MELBOURNE STORM MEDIBANK PRIVATE INJURY UPDATE
Danny Vaughan: Season (ACL)
Garret Crossman: 3 weeks (Knee)
Jeremy Smith: 1 week (Fibula)
Russell Aitken: 1 week (Hamstring)

THE STORM AHEAD
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)
Round 14: Saturday, June 16th v Cowboys @ Dairy Farmers Stadium, 7:30pm
Round 15: Sunday, June 24th v Dragons @ Olympic Park, 3:00pm
Round 16: Bye
Round 17: Saturday, July 7th v Rabbitohs @ Bluetongue Stadium, 5:30pm
Round 18: Monday, July 16th v Knights @ Olympic Park, 7:00pm

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

SQUAD FOR MONDAY'S GAME
Starting team:
1. Billy Slater
2. Steve Turner
3. Matt King
4. Matt Geyer
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. Anthony Quinn
18. Ian Donnelly
19. Will Chambers
(two to be omitted)

Coach: Craig Bellamy

News sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Fri May 11, 2007
• AFL stars join Triple M's Storm v Bulldogs call
  
Tue May 8, 2007
• Cutler replaces injured Utai
  
Tue May 8, 2007
• Storm names 19-man squad for Bulldogs clash
  

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