Round 24
Penrith Panthers 6 l. Melbourne Storm 40

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

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

Storm crush Panthers with Inglis at it again
Tue August 26, 2008
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

The Storm did their for-and-against tally no harm tonight with a commanding 40-6 win against the Penrith Panthers at CUA Stadium, with man-of-the-moment Greg Inglis helping himself to a hat-trick and closing to within two tries of Manly's Brett Stewart and Brisbane's Denan Kemp at the top of the league's try-scorers list.

The performance was particular pleasing to Storm coach Craig Bellamy, but he was quick to point out there are still areas they need to work on.

"I was really happy with our first-half," said Bellamy.

"We started the second-half a bit slow, but it's hard to be too critical. I just thought our first-half was really good.

"We expected a tough game out there, obviously the Panthers probably needed to win tonight to stay alive and I thought our guys handled that really well in the first-half.

"If someone had of told me at the beginning of the game that would be the score I would have been really happy with that. I'm really surprised actually."

Given Manly's 32-point win over Wests Tigers on the weekend, the big win and subsequent points differential boost was important in Melbourne's quest for a third straight minor premiership.

"The minor premiership, it's a really good scalp to have on your belt, it's a little bit under-rated in our game and we'd be proud to hold that again," said Bellamy.

"But we've still got two games to go and we can still finish second or third I think so we're just going to concern ourselves with Newcastle now. We'll do our revue of this game tomorrow and we'll go from there."

After feeling each other out for the first 10 minutes, Melbourne opened the scoring when halfback Cooper Cronk sent a superb pass across the face of Israel Folau and into the arms of winger Steve Turner who out-sprinted the Panthers defence to the try-line.

Four minutes later Cronk was at it again. A perfectly placed kick from the Storm number seven saw Billy Slater challenge Penrith halfback Luke Lewis on the try-line, the clever fullback knocking the ball back into the waiting arms of Inglis who had the simple task of falling over the try-line.

A couple of minutes later Cronk was at the centre of the action again.

Kicking from his own 30 metre line, Cronk was taken out late by Luke Priddis, gifting the Storm possession from a penalty on the Panthers 20-metre line. From there the ball was spread out to Melbourne's left with first Inglis then Matt Geyer flicking passes in the tackle, with Anthony Quinn crossing in the corner to make the score 14-nil.

Another Storm kick towards the try-line, this time from Cam Smith, saw Quinn challenge Penrith winger Michael Gordon. Both missed with their hands, but the ball ricocheted off Gordon's head into the in-goal area, and Inglis was on the spot once again. With Cam Smith's conversion the score had blown out to 20-nil.

The second-half started much better for the Panthers. Nathan Smith scored Penrith's first try for the game when first Gordon made a break down the line, and then the Storm gave away an offside penalty to give the Panthers great field position and momentum.

However, their joy was short-lived when a neat set-play from Melbourne saw Slater gather at his toes brilliantly, before passing to Folau. Folau committed a couple of Penrith defenders to the tackle, but the giant centre got his right arm free to offload to Turner who scored his second for the night.

A penalty against Rhys Wesser for incorrectly playing the ball saw Melbourne get possession 10 metres from the try-line. Cam Smith tapped and instead of passing to a runner, went himself, catching the Panthers defenders unawares as he surged across the try-line for the Storm's sixth try of the night.

Only minutes later front-rower Brett White crossed under the posts, but was deemed to have been held up by Wesser. However, only two plays later and White's front-row partner Jeff Lima wasn't to be denied, crossing to extend Melbourne's lead out to 30-points.

With four minutes remaining, Inglis put the icing on the cake, scoring his third of the night after more terrific lead-up work from Slater.

The Storm will now turn its attention to Newcastle, the penultimate home-and-away game at EnergyAustralia Stadium next Saturday night. Knights coach Brian Smith was in the crowd tonight, and it would be interesting to know what he thought of Melbourne's performance.

STORM 40 (Tries: Inglis 3, Turner 2, Quinn, Smith, Lima; Goals: C Smith 4) def. PANTHERS 6 (Try: N Smith; Goal: Gordon) at CUA Stadium, Penrith.

News Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au


Storm Round 24 v Panthers Game Notes
Mon August 25, 2008
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne won their second top-four clash in as many weeks, this time defeating the Sydney Roosters 30-6 at Olympic Park, moving them to outright leadership on the NRL ladder.

Penrith bounced back from a crushing defeat at the hands of Canberra to defeat the Bulldogs last week 52-16 to keep their finals hopes alive.

WHO: Melbourne Storm v Penrith Panthers
WHAT: Round 24 of the 2008 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: CUA Stadium, Penrith
WHEN: Monday, August 25th @ 7.00pm
ON TV: Fox Sports 2 LIVE from 7.00pm
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
* Penrith have been first try-scorers in five of their past six games at CUA Stadium
* Five of Melbourne's six losses have been away from home
* Penrith have won only two of their seven night games at CUA Stadium in 2008
* Melbourne has won 14 of their 17 night games this season

DID YOU KNOW?
Matt Geyer will be playing his last game at the ground where it all began during his playing days as a junior from Mt Druitt, with retirement coming at the end of this season.

Having not made the grade with the Panthers, Geyer went on to play six games for the now defunct Western Reds, before moving to Melbourne when the Storm founded in 1998.

Geyer has since gone on to play 255 games for the club, scoring 111 tries and 104 goals in the process.

Let's hope he adds to his try-scoring tally on Monday night!

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 17, Storm: 11, Panthers: 6
At CUA Stadium: Played: 6, Storm: 2, Panthers: 4

FOR AND AGAINST 2008
Points for: Storm: 486, Panthers: 462
Points against: Storm: 255, Panthers: 495
Tries for: Storm: 87, Panthers: 78
Points differential: Storm: +231, Panthers: -33

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm def. Roosters 30-6 @ Olympic Park, Melbourne
Panthers def. Bulldogs 52-16 @ CUA Stadium, Penrith

LAST EIGHT CLASHES
2007 Storm def. Panthers 30-20 @ Olympic Park
2006 Storm def. Panthers 17-16 @ Olympic Park
2006 Storm def. Panthers 40-18 @ Hindmarsh Stadium
2005 Panthers def. Storm 28-14 @ Olympic Park
2005 Panthers def. Storm 36-16 @ CUA Stadium
2004 Storm def. Panthers 66-14@ Olympic Park
2004 Panther def. Storm 30-26 @ CUA Stadium
2003 Storm def. Panthers 32-12 @ CUA Stadium

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
ROUND 21: 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
ROUND 22: STORM 16 (Tries: Geyer, Folau, Cronk; Goals: C Smith 2) def. SEA EAGLES 10 (Tries: Hall, Williams; Goals: Matai) at Brookvale Oval
ROUND 23: STORM 30 (Tries: Quinn 2, C Smith, Cronk, Slater; Goals: Smith 5) def. ROOSTERS 6 (Try: M Aubusson; Goal: Roberts 1) at Olympic Park

2008 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Inglis 12, Folau 12, Slater 11, Quinn 9, Turner 7, Manu 6, Geyer 6, J. Smith 5, Cronk 4, Chambers 3, Hoffman 3, C. Smith 2, Johnson, Tagataese, Aitken, White, Crocker, Tomane, Lima

2008 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 62, Turner 4, J. Smith, Cronk

2008 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
Cronk 2

2008 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
C Smith 132, Inglis 48, Folau 48, Slater 44, Quinn 36, Turner 36, Manu 24, Geyer 24, J. Smith 22, Cronk 20, Chambers 12, Hoffman 12, Johnson 4, Tagataese 4, Aitken 4, White 4, Crocker 4, Tomane 4, Lima 4

MELBOURNE STORM MEDIBANK PRIVATE INJURY UPDATE
Ryan Hoffman (ankle): 2 weeks
Danny Vaughan (knee): season
Ben MacDougall (knee): season
Dane Nielsen (shoulder): season
Will Chambers (knee): season

THE STORM AHEAD
Round 25: Saturday, August 30th v Knights @ EnergyAustralia Stadium, 5.30pm
Round 26: Sunday, September 8th v Rabbitohs @ Olympic Park, 7.00pm

TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP LADDER
1 Storm 34
2 Sea Eagles 32
3 Sharks 32
4 Roosters 30
5 Broncos 27
6 Raiders 26
7 Dragons 26
8 Warriors 26
9 Panthers 25
10 Knights 24
11 Wests Tigers 24
12 Eels 24
13 Titans 24
14 Rabbitohs 20
15 Bulldogs 14
16 Cowboys 12

SQUAD FOR MONDAY'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. Jeremy Smith
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Aiden Tolman, 15. Adam Blair, 16. Sika Manu, 17. Antonio Kaufusi

Coach: Craig Bellamy

News Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Tue August 19, 2008
• Manu escapes suspension and named in Storm side
  

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