Round 24
Bulldogs 6 l. Melbourne Storm 38

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

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

Folau hat-trick seals minor premiership
Sat August 25, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

An Israel Folau hat-trick in the space of nine second-half minutes sealed back-to-back minor premierships for the Melbourne Storm, thrashing the Bulldogs 38-6 at Telstra Stadium.

After struggling to put big scores on opposition teams in the past month, Storm coach Craig Bellamy is breathing a little easier after tonight's performance.

"I thought the last couple of weeks our defence has been really good, and I thought it was really good again there tonight," said Bellamy.

"(But) I'm feeling a little better now than I was two weeks ago without a doubt.

"One thing we probably wanted to really press this week was to enjoy our footy a little bit more and put a bit of a smile on our face.

"(We wanted to) enjoy going out there and playing with each other, playing against a really good footy team, and playing at a big stadium."

Folau's effort took his season tally to 20, going past Billy Slater's rookie try-scoring record of 19 set in 2003, and equalling the all-time tries-in-a-season record held jointly by Slater, Matt Geyer and Robbie Ross.

With at least three games to go for the Storm, it's hard to see him not holding the record in his own right by the time his season is over.

The win, Melbourne's fourth in a row over the Bulldogs, looked anything but assured after the Storm went in at the half-time break only two-point leaders over the Bulldogs.

Cam Smith got the scoreboard ticking over in the fourth minute with a penalty, before Slater scored a trademark try, getting on the end of a Cam Smith grubber kick with only millimetres to spare before the ball went dead.

Bulldogs forward Jarred Hickey ensured the Bulldogs were within touching distance at the break, crossing under the posts in the 25th minute.

The first 18 minutes of the second-half was a real arm wrestle, before Geyer gave the Storm the momentum with a simple try under the posts.

Two minutes later Folau unleashed hell on the Bulldogs. Within nine minutes the score was 32-6 to the Storm and Folau had stamped his name into the club's history books.

With a minute left on the clock, Jeff Lima put the icing on the cake to give Melbourne an injection of confidence at just the right time with the finals campaign set to begin in a fortnight.

"We struggled a little bit in the first-half with the footy, but I thought they responded great in the second-half," said Bellamy.

"We really took some steps forward in the second-half with the ball, and we maintained our good defence."

STORM 38 (Tries: Folau 3, Slater, Geyer, Lima; Goals: C. Smith 6, Folau) def. BULLDOGS 6 (Try: Hickey; Goal: El Masri)

Report sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au

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Storm Round 24 v Bulldogs Game Notes
Thu August 23, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne Storm cemented their spot at the top of the NRL ladder with a hard fought 14-10 win over the Parramatta Eels at Olympic Park.

With Manly losing to South Sydney on Monday night, the Storm is now four points clear at the top of the ladder.

Backrower Jeremy Smith was outstanding in defence for the Storm, particularly in the dying moments of the game, and was voted by his teammates as the players'-player-of-the-week.

The Bulldogs had a tight win over the Broncos in their last game, finally winning 25-24 at Suncorp Stadium.

WHO: Melbourne Storm v Bulldogs
WHAT: Round 24 of the 2007 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Telstra Stadium, Sydney
WHEN: Friday, August 24th
ON TV: Fox Sports 3 - 11:30pm, Channel 9 - Midnight (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 an 18-man squad for this Friday's clash against the Bulldogs.

After last Friday's 14-10 win over Parramatta, Storm coach Craig Bellamy has made a couple of changes to the line-up.

Will Chambers, who spent the entire game against the Eels on the bench, has been named in the starting line-up on a wing, while Jeremy Smith will take his place on the interchange bench.

Hoffman, who played in the centres against the Eels, has been named to start in his customary backrow position.

FAST FACTS
* Melbourne has beaten the Bulldogs in their past three meetings
* The Bulldogs have won seven of their past nine games
* Melbourne has won 10 of their past 11 games
* The Bulldogs have won eight of their 12 wins by 13+ points

DID YOU KNOW?
Israel Folau needs two more tries to equal Billy Slater's rookie try-scoring record. Slater scored 19 tries in his rookie year of 2003.

KEY MATCH-UP
The big jobs keep coming for Ryan Hoffman. In recent weeks he's had to contend with Paul Gallen (Sharks), Brad Thorn (Broncos) and Nathan Hindmarsh (Eels). But this week will be his biggest test so far.

The Bulldogs' Sonny Bill Williams has all the tools to be the complete footballer ? he's as strong as an ox, has great skills, and has a surprising turn of speed for such a big man. He's as good as anyone in the competition at breaking the line, and scores his fair share of tries.

Hoffman is very similar to Williams in that he has every trick in the box to be one of the world's best backrowers. Every week Hoffman proves just how good he is, and it's this consistency that makes him so vital to the plans of head coach Craig Bellamy. His combination on the left hand edge with Greg Inglis, Matt King and Steve Turner is a big reason why the Storm are on track for back-to-back minor premierships.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 20, Storm: 8, Bulldogs: 12
At Telstra Stadium: Played: 2, Storm: 2, Bulldogs: 0

FOR AND AGAINST 2007
Points for: Storm: 539, Bulldogs: 537
Points against: Storm: 265, Bulldogs: 452
Tries for: Storm: 98, Bulldogs: 93
Points differential: Storm: +274, Bulldogs: +85

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm: def. Eels 14-10 @ Olympic Park, Melbourne
Bulldogs: def. Broncos 25-24 @ Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

LAST EIGHT CLASHES
2007 Storm def. Bulldogs 38-14 @ Olympic Park
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

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
ROUND 9: Storm 38 (Tries: Cronk 2, King 2, Hoffman, Folau; Goals: C. Smith 7) def. Bulldogs 14 (Tries: El Masri, Maitua, Millard; Goals: 1) @ Olympic Park
ROUND 10: Storm 26 (Tries: Hoffman, Folau, Slater, Lima, Chambers; Goals: Turner 3) def. Roosters 2 (Goal: Fitzgibbon) @ Olympic Park
ROUND 11: Storm 12 (Tries: Folau, King; Goals: C. Smith 2) def. by Sea Eagles 13 (Tries: Watmough, Hicks; Goals: Lyon 2; Field Goal: Orford) @ Brookvale Oval
ROUND 12: Storm 26 (Tries: Turner, King, Geyer, Inglis; Goals: C. Smith 5) def. Rabbitohs 10 (Tries: Widders, Hegarty; Goal; Merritt) @ Olympic Park
ROUND 13: Storm 4 (Try: J. Smith) def Warriors 2 (Goal: Martin) @ Mt Smart Stadium
ROUND 14: Storm 58 (Tries: King 2, Inglis 2, Geyer, J. Smith, Newton, Cronk, Tagataese, Turner; Goals: C. Smith 9) def. Cowboys 12 (Tries: Bowen 2, Williams) @ Dairy Farmers' Stadium
ROUND 15: Storm 24 (Tries: King, Newton, Turner, Hoffman, Geyer; Goals: C. Smith 2) def. Dragons 6 (Try: Scott; Goal: Soward) @ Olympic Park
ROUND 16: BYE
ROUND 17: Storm 12 (Tries: King, Folau; Goals: C. Smith 2) def. Rabbitohs 8 (Tries: Gordon, Merrit) @ Bluetongue Stadium
ROUND 18: Storm 44 (Tries: Slater 2, Quinn 2, Turner 2, Hoffman, King, Newton; Goals: C. Smith 3, Turner) def. Knights 0 @ Olympic Park
ROUND 19: Storm 34 (Tries: Inglis 2, Geyer, Folau, King, S. Turner; Goals: C. Smith 5) def. Raiders 6 (Try: G. Turner; Goals: Dobson) @ Olympic Park
ROUND 20: Storm 16 (Tries: Folau, Cronk, Aubusson; Goals: C. Smith 2) def. by Roosters 26 (Tries: Williams 2, Tupou, Harrison; Goals: FitzGibbon 4, Roberts) @ Aussie Stadium
ROUND 21: Storm 17 (Tries: King, Hoffman, Folau; Goals: Folau 2, Field Goal: Cronk) def. Sharks (Tries: Perenara, Pomeroy; Goals: Covell 4) @ Toyota Park
ROUND 22: Storm 14 (Tries: Inglis, Folau, Geyer; Goals: C. Smith) def. Broncos 6 (Try: Emmett; Goals: Parker) @ Olympic Park
ROUND 23: Storm 14 (Tries: C. Smith, Slater; Goals: C. Smith 3) def. Eels 10 (Tries: Grothe, Inu; Goals: Inu) @ Olympic Park

2007 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Folau 17, King 15, Turner 9, Hoffman 9, Slater 9, Cronk 6, Geyer 6, Inglis 6, Newton 4 (Newcastle 1), Quinn 4, J. Smith 3, C. Smith 3, White 2, Johnson, Chambers, Lima, Tagataese, Aubusson

2007 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 66, Turner 5, Folau 2

2007 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
Cronk

2007 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 144, Folau 72, King 60, Turner 46, Hoffman 36, Slater 36, Cronk 25, Geyer 24, Inglis 24, Newton 16 (Newcastle 4), Quinn 16, J. Smith 12, White 8, Johnson 4, Chambers 4, Lima 4, Tagataese 4, Aubusson 4

MELBOURNE STORM MEDIBANK PRIVATE INJURY UPDATE
Antonio Kaufusi: Season (Patella Tendon)
Danny Vaughan: Season (ACL)
Pale Ale: Season (Back)
Steve Turner: 2 weeks (Knee)
Matt King: 2 weeks (Wrist)

THE STORM AHEAD
Round 25: Sunday, September 2nd v Titans @ Olympic Park, 7:00pm

2007 TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP LADDER
1. Storm 40
2. Sea Eagles 36
3. Cowboys 28
4. Bulldogs 26
5. Eels 26
6. Warriors 25
7. Wests Tigers 24
8. Rabbitohs 24
9. Broncos 22
10. Titans 22
11. Roosters 21
12. Raiders 20
13. Sharks 18
14. Dragons 18
15. Knights 18
16. Panthers 16

SQUAD FOR FRIDAY'S GAME
Starting team:
1. Billy Slater
2. Matt Geyer
3. Anthony Quinn
4. Israel Folau
5. Will Chambers
6. Greg Inglis
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Ben Cross
9. Cam Smith (c)
10. Brett White
11. Clint Newton
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Jeremy Smith
15. Michael Crocker
16. Garret Crossman
17. Jeff Lima
18. James Aubusson
(one to be omitted)

Coach: Craig Bellamy

News sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Also, please fill out the 2007 rleague.com Fan Say survey and have your say on Rugby League in 2007! Click HERE for more information.

Tue August 21, 2007
• Hughes takes early guilty plea and free to play Storm
  
Tue August 21, 2007
• Storm names 18-man squad for Bulldogs clash
  

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