Round 14
North Queensland Cowboys 12 l. Melbourne Storm 58

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

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

Cowboys hung, drawn and quartered
Sat June 16, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

The Melbourne Storm tore apart the North Queensland Cowboys at Dairy Farmer's Stadium tonight, the near faultless display of ruthless attacking football resulting in a 58-12 victory.

The first half performance by the Storm was simply stunning as it amassed 40 points, scoring tries at will and looking very much the competition front-runner.

After traveling directly to Townsville from Auckland on Monday, the Storm had plenty of time to focus on the game, and they didn't disappoint. It was back in 2002 they last defeated the Cowboys at home, but for players, officials and fans alike, it has definitely been worth the wait.

"It was a bit hard to believe," said Storm coach Craig Bellamy of his team's first-half display.

"We played some really good footy in that first half, and some of our attack was great. We've been struggling with that at times throughout the year but we certainly put it together tonight.

"In the circumstances it was a great win for us tonight. We flew straight here from New Zealand, and our Origin guys had a long flight up after a tough game on Wednesday night.

"We really planned hard for these two games, we knew it was going to be tough. To come away with two wins, and two really good, gutsy wins was probably a little bit unexpected, but we're really happy with what they've done."

It took eight minutes for the Storm's first try to come. Cooper Cronk split two defenders before offloading to Greg Inglis who in turn sent Matt King into open space. A further pass to Matt Geyer provided the winger-cum-fullback-cum-centre-cum-five-eighth with his 100th try in Storm colours. Players flocked to congratulate the ultimate clubman on this well-deserved milestone.

The restart from the Cowboys went high and wide. Clint Newton caught the ball with one foot over the sideline and a Storm penalty resulted. Once again on the Cowboys line, Steve Turner delivered the ball to Jeremy Smith who busted through Shane Tronc and Steve Southern for the Melbourne's second try in five minutes.

North Queensland got on the board shortly after. It was no surprise to see their best player, Johnathan Thurston involved. In this case he spread the ball wide to Brenton Bowen who dived over the line.

The Cowboys looked to be back in the contest, but it didn't last long.

Minutes later, Ryan Hoffman put Cronk and Thurston to shame. From 40 metres out, the second-rower chipped over North Queensland's defensive line. The ball's bounce was not a favourable one, but the quick-thinking former junior soccer star showed skills to rival Harry Kewell as he jumped and delivered a perfectly-weighted volley-style pass to King, who made good ground to dive on the ball and score.

Before anyone had a chance to reflect on Hoffman's effort, his second-row partner Newton was adding his name to the try-scoring list. The former Knight barged over close to the line and showed all his determination to put the ball down amongst three Cowboys who had other ideas.

The fun continued for the Storm as they began to add a point for each minute played. After Geyer broke free from a Thurston tackle, Melbourne was again within striking distance. Cronk took the ball to the corner and the defence shuffled across to cover a pass to Israel Folau or Anthony Quinn. This left the door open for Cronk to go himself and another try was the result.

King got his second as the Cowboys could do nothing to stop the Storm's relentless attack. On this occasion, Inglis flirted on the fringe of the ruck, almost daring to be tackled. The Cowboys backed off and Inglis slipped into space, before getting the ball to King who couldn't be caught.

A perfect half of Melbourne Storm football ended with a length of the field effort. Turner started the movement after taking a decent enough Jason Smith kick and accelerating through a North Queensland tackler. He linked with Geyer, who in turn got the ball to Inglis. His blistering speed netting him his second try of the season.

In the hectic aftermath of the first half, it was almost forgotten that Craig Bellamy had chosen to rest Dallas Johnson and Brett White after Wednesday night's titanic State of Origin encounter.

The second 40 minutes opened with Cronk providing a canny kick for Folau, who had inexplicably not scored in the opening half's onslaught. Izzy couldn't get to the ball, but Matty Bowen was under pressure, fumbling the ball and giving the Storm another set of tackles. They didn't need many. Cameron Smith slipped the ball to Sam Tagataese who crossed untouched under the black dot.

Three minutes later, after finally surviving a Storm attacking raid, the Cowboys shot themselves in the foot. Brenton Bowen passed to Thurston, but the Queensland number seven fumbled and in a flash, Inglis picked up the crumbs and ran 20 minutes to score his second of the night.

Cronk sustained a sprained ankle soon after, which put a monetary halt to the Storm's charge. The early prognosis for Cronk's ankle doesn't look good for the immediate future.

"Six or eight the way they're talking," said Bellamy.

"Hopefully it won't be that bad but who knows."

During this period North Queensland were able to give their fans something to cheer about when Thurston produced a fine stab kick for Ty Williams to latch onto and score out wide.

Matty Bowen then scooted though for another try with ten minutes to go.

It was almost as if the Storm had stopped reading their script for the evening that read something along the lines of "Get ball. Score. Repeat". Thankfully, Turner found it again, the fullback scoring after some brilliant work by Hoffman and Jeremy Smith who combined to break the defensive line.

Cameron Smith's ninth goal of the evening brought to a close a memorable game for Melbourne, who will travel back home tomorrow satisfied with a two week long roadtrip that more than showcased both their defensive and attacking abilities.

Bellamy admitted in the post-match interview he had planned on attacking the Cowboys on their right edge, and Storm captain Matt King was only too happy to finish off some good work by his teammates.

"It's the most room we've had all year as a left hand edge," said King.

"It's nice when you see Greggy (Inglis) get the ball with a bit of space, he's always going to do something. With Hoffy running those lines inside him it's a pretty lethal combination when they get together. I'm just blessed to be sitting on the outside of some pretty special players there.

"It's pretty silky sitting out in the centres watching it all unfold."

Although delighted with the result, Bellamy knows there are still plenty of rounds left and a lot of work still to be done.

"In the position that we're in we don't want to be finishing eighth," said Bellamy.

"We were in this position last year and everyone was asking the same thing, and everyone knows what happened at the end of the year."

Next Sunday's game against St. George Illawarra will be the culmination of a three day celebration of the Storm's ten year history and if tonight is anything to go by, the Olympic Park faithful will be in for a treat on and off the field.

STORM 58 (Tries: King 2, Inglis 2, Geyer, J. Smith, C. Newton, Cronk, Tagataese, Turner; Goals: C. Smith 9) def. COWBOYS 12 (Tries: B. Bowen, Williams, M. Bowen)

Report sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au


Storm names 17-man squad for Cowboys clash
Tue June 12, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has named a 17-man squad for this Saturday's Round 14 clash against the North Queensland Cowboys. The game will be played at Dairy Farmer's Stadium in Townsville from 7:30pm.

After Sunday's gutsy 4-2 win over the Warriors, Bellamy will welcome back six players from State-of-Origin duty.

Matt King will return to the centres in place of Sika Manu, while Greg Inglis takes Matt Geyer's place at five-eighth. Geyer will play on the wing in place of Will Chambers.

James Aubusson will take his place on the bench with Cam Smith taking on the hooker's role.

Brett White will line-up in the front-row in place of Garret Crossman who will take his place on the bench alongside Jeremy Smith, with Dallas Johnson taking his place at lock.

Ryan Hoffman replaces Sam Tagataese in the backrow.

Squad for Saturday's game:

Starting team:
1. Steve Turner
2. Matt Geyer
3. Matt King
4. Anthony Quinn
5. Israel Folau
6. Greg Inglis
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Ben Cross
9. Cameron Smith
10. Brett White
11. Clint Newton
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Jeff Lima
15. Garret Crossman
16. Jeremy Smith
17. James Aubusson

Coach: Craig Bellamy

News sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au

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