Round 21
Melbourne Storm 44 d. Gold Coast Titans 4

2008 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Storm back on track in dominant display
Sat August 2, 2008
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

On a great day for the Storm when Australian coach Ricky Stuart named no fewer than10 Melbourne players in his preliminary 46-man World Cup squad, one of those players, Greg Inglis, led his teammates to an emphatic 44-4 victory over the Gold Coast Titans at Olympic Park.

Inglis' performance underlined why he was voted the game's best by his peers with two tries that will no doubt be added to an enormous highlights reel when his career is complete.

Not to be outdone, his centre partner Israel Folau almost stole Inglis' thunder with a two-try first-half performance of his own that had to be seen to be believed.

The nine-tries-to-one win closed the gap on Manly's superior points difference with the two sides to meet next Friday night in a top-of-the-table clash that will go a long way to deciding the minor premiership.

Folau's first-half tries were almost identical with the towering 20-year-old picking up the ball 10 metres from the try-line before barging over the line with would-be defenders trying desperately to halt his momentum. They needn't have bothered.

After Steve Turner had opened the scoring in the eighth minute, Inglis produced a piece of magic that sent the crowd into raptures. Picking up the ball 20 metres out in the middle of the ground, Inglis drifted left across the field before exploding towards the try-line, pushing defenders off with that unbelievable right-hand fend, and planting the ball over the line.

Jordan Ropana scored the Titans' only try with three minutes to go in the half before Anthony Quinn scored the Storm's fifth of the half in the last minute.

The scoreline could have looked a lot worse for the Gold Coast team had Cam Smith kicked straight. Unfortunately the wind played havoc with Smith's radar, missing all five conversion attempts.

Two minuets into the second half Inglis produced his second piece of genius for the night. Halfback Cooper Cronk put up a towering bomb that Titans fullback Preston Campbell seemed to have covered. Inglis had other ideas. Running with the flight of the ball, Inglis challenged Campbell in the air, took the grab, landed and made the 10-metre dash to the try line.

Ryan Hoffman, Matt Geyer and Jeremy Smith rounded of the second half scoring for the Storm.

Smith must have changed his boots at half-time as he converted all four second-half attempts.

STORM 44 (Tries: Folau 2, Inglis 2, Turner, Quinn, Hoffman, Geyer, J Smith; Goals: Cam Smith 4) def. TITANS 4 (Try: Ropana) at Olympic Park.

News Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au


Storm Round 21 v Titans Game Notes
Thu July 31, 2008
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne was dealt a blow to their minor premiership aspirations as they were beaten 8-6 by a committed warriors outfit last Sunday in Auckland. The loss left the Storm in second spot on the NRL ladder.

The Gold Coast Titans also lost last weekend, heavily beaten by the Canberra Raiders 46-4 at Canberra Stadium. The loss leaves them just outside the top eight in ninth position.

WHO: Melbourne Storm v Gold Coast Titans
WHAT: Round 21 of the 2008 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Olympic Park, Melbourne
WHEN: Friday, August 1st @ 7.35pm (NZST)
ON TV: Channel Nine (Melbourne) @ midnight, Fox Sports 2 @ 1.30am (Saturday)
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

FAST FACTS
* Gold Coast has scored the first try in six of their past seven games
* Melbourne has the best defensive record in the NRL conceding just 13 points per game on average
* Gold Coast has lost five of their past six games
* Melbourne has won 38 of their past 40 games at Olympic Park

DID YOU KNOW?
The players' annual comedy day will take place on Sunday, August 17th at the Comics Lounge in Errol Street, North Melbourne. Starting at 3.00pm and going on well into the night, the event will feature 10 of Melbourne's best comedians, and will be hosted by Storm Ambassador and comedian Marty Fields.

Tickets are $30 each and are available before the day at the Melbourne Storm (03 8412 4900) or at the Comics Lounge (03 9348 9488), or on the door on the day (although these tickets will be limited).

KEY MATCH UP
Given the Titans will try to take on the Storm in the forwards, the backrow battle between Anthony Laffranchi and Ryan Hoffman will be one of the key contests in the game.

Other than halfback Scott Prince, Laffranchi has been arguably the Titans' best player this year. He has taken his game to new levels in 2008, and was rewarded with State-of-Origin honours for New South Wales, and was named 18th man for the Kangaroos team in the Centenary Test against the Kiwis. He is also a try-scoring threat having crossed the line 10 times in 14 games this year, a wonderful outlay for a backrower, especially with six games still to go.

Hoffman is the consummate professional. He gets the job done with a minimum of fuss and is always in the thick of the action. A teammate of Laffranchi's in the New South Wales State-of-Origin team, Hoffman also played in the Centenary Test turning in another consistently high performance. What stands Hoffman out from the pack is his work ethic and will to win, and he will never let his teammates down through a lack of effort.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 2, Storm: 1, Titans: 1
At Olympic Park: Played: 1, Storm: 1, Titans: 0

FOR AND AGAINST 2008
Points for: Storm: 396, Titans: 391
Points against: Storm: 235, Titans: 409
Tries for: Storm: 70, Titans: 69
Points differential: Storm: +161, Titans: -18

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm def. by Warriors 8-6 @ Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
Titans def. by Raiders 46-4 @ Canberra Stadium, Canberra

LAST TWO CLASHES
2008 Titans def. Storm 18-0 @ Skilled Park
2007 Storm def. Titans 50-6 @ Olympic Park

THE STORM STORY SO FAR
WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE: STORM 4 (Try: Hoffman) def. by RHINOS 11 (Try: Donald; Goals: Sinfield 3; Field Goal: Sinfield) at Elland Road, Leeds
ROUND 1: STORM 32 (Tries: Slater 3, Johnson, Tagataese; Goals: C. Smith 5, Turner) def. WARRIORS 18 (Tries: Vatuvei 2, Ropati; Goals: Witt 3) at Telstra Dome, Melbourne
ROUND 2: STORM 16 (Tries: Aitken, White, Falou; Goals: C. Smith 2) def. by SHARKS 17 (Tries: Kearney, Gallen, Simmons; Goals: Covell 2; Field Goals: Kimmorley) at Olympic Park, Melbourne
ROUND 3: Storm (Try: Slater; Goal: C. Smith) def. by ROOSTERS (Try: Kenny-Dowell; Goals: FitzGibbon 3) at Sydney Football Stadium
ROUND 4: STORM 28 (Tries: Quinn 3, Folau, Hoffman; Goals: Smith 4) def. BRONCOS 8 (Tries: Robinson, Stagg) at Olympic Park, Melbourne
ROUND 5: STORM 26 (Tries: Slater 2, Inglis, Quinn, Hoffman; Goals: Smith 3) def. SEA EAGLES 4 (Try: Barney) at Olympic Park
ROUND 6: STORM 23 (Tries: Chambers, Turner, Slater, Folau; Goals: C. Smith 3; Field Goal: Cronk) def. RAIDERS 16 (Tries: Best, Plum, Purtell; Goals: Carney 2) at Canberra Stadium
ROUND 7: STORM 12 (Tries: Inglis, Folau; Goals: C. Smith 2) def. COWBOYS 10 (Tries: Williams 2; Goals: Thurston) at Dairy Farmer's Stadium
ROUND 8: BYE
ROUND 9: STORM 18 (Tries: Folau 2, Quinn; Goals: C. Smith 3) def. KNIGHTS 4 (Try: Mullen) at Olympic Park, Melbourne
ROUND 10: STORM 12 (Tries: Chambers, Manu; Goals: Smith, Turner) def. by DRAGONS 36 (Tries: Nightingale 2, B. Morris, J Morris, Lett, Soward; Goals: Soward 6) at ANZ Stadium
ROUND 11: STORM 15 (Tries: Chambers, J. Smith; Goals: C. Smith 2, Field Goals: Cronk) def. RABBITOHS 12 (Tries: Vagana 2; Goals: Luke) at Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
ROUND 12: STORM 46 (Tries: Geyer 2, C. Smith, Folau, Turner, J. Smith, Crocker, Cronk; Goals: C. Smith 7) def. BULLDOGS 0 at Olympic Park
ROUND 13: STORM 0 def. by TITANS 18 (Tries: Delaney, Meyers, Jeffrey; Goals: Rogers 3) at Skilled Park
ROUND 14: BYE
ROUND 15: STORM 48 (Tries: Inglis 3, Turner 2, J Smith, Slater, Geyer, Folau; Goals: C Smith 6) def. COWBOYS 20 (Tries: Henry, Williams, Webb, Cashmere; Goals: Thurston 2) at Olympic Park
ROUND 16: STORM 22 (Tries: Manu 2, Tomane, Cronk; Goals: Turner 2, Cronk) def. by EELS 24 (Tries: Tautai, Williams, Reddy, Inu; Goals: Burt 4) at Parramatta Stadium
ROUND 17: STORM 30 (Tries: Inglis 2, Slater, Manu, Quinn, Turner; Goals: Smith 3) def. RAIDERS 14 (Tries: Monaghan, Carney, Chalk; Goals: Carney) at Olympic Park
ROUND 18: STORM 30 (Tries: Inglis 3, Slater, Manu; Goals: C. Smith 5) def. TIGERS 18 (Tries: Tuiaki, Hodgson, Ryan; Goals: Hodgson 3) at Campbelltown Sports Stadium
ROUND 19: STORM 26 (Tries: J Smith, Lima, Geyer, Turner, Folau; Goals: C Smith 3) def. DRAGONS 0 at Olympic Park
ROUND 20: STORM 6 (Try: Manu; Goal: C Smith) def. by WARRIORS 8 (Try: Fai; Goals: Hohaia 2) at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland

2008 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Slater 10, Inglis 10, Folau 9, Quinn 6, Turner 6, Manu 6, J. Smith 4, Geyer 4, Chambers 3, Hoffman 2, Cronk 2, Johnson, Tagataese, Aitken, White, C. Smith, Crocker, Tomane, Lima

2008 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 51, Turner 4, J. Smith, Cronk

2008 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
Cronk 2

2008 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
C Smith 106, Slater 40, Inglis 40, Folau 36, Quinn 24, Turner 24, Manu 24, J. Smith 18, Geyer 16, Chambers 12, Cronk 12, Hoffman 8, Johnson 4, Tagataese 4, Aitken 4, White 4, Crocker 4, Tomane 4, Lima 4

MELBOURNE STORM MEDIBANK PRIVATE INJURY UPDATE
Danny Vaughan (knee): season
Ben MacDougall (knee): season
Dane Nielsen (shoulder): season
Will Chambers (knee): season

THE STORM AHEAD
Round 22: Friday, August 8th v Sea Eagles @ Brookvale Oval, 7.45pm
Round 23: Friday, August 15th v Roosters @ Olympic Park, 7.35pm
Round 24: Monday, August 25th v Panthers @ CUA Stadium, 7.00pm

TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP LADDER
1 Sea Eagles 30
2 Storm 28
3 Roosters 28
4 Sharks 28
5 Broncos 25
6 Dragons 24
7 Panthers 23
8 Raiders 22
9 Titans 22
10 Warriors 22
11 Knights 20
12 Wests Tigers 20
13 Eels 20
14 Rabbitohs 16
15 Bulldogs 14
16 Cowboys 10

SQUAD FOR FRIDAY'S GAME
Starting team:
1. Billy Slater
2. Steve Turner
3. Matt Geyer
4. Israel Folau
5. Anthony Quinn
6. Greg Inglis
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Jeff Lima
9. Cam Smith
10. Brett White
11. Michael Crocker
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Jeremy Smith, 15. Adam Blair, 16. Sika Manu, 17. Antonio Kaufusi

Coach: Craig Bellamy

News Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Tue July 29, 2008
• Bellamy names 17-man squad for Titans clash
  

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