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Sat May 9 2009, 7:30PM AEST GMT+10Sat: North Queensland Cowboys 24 d. St George Illawarra Dragons 20 at
Dairy Farmers Stadium, Kirwan, Townsville (QLD)Crowd: 16,031
Sun May 10 2009, 2:00PM AEST GMT+10Sun: Newcastle Knights 23 d. Gold Coast Titans 18 at
Energy Australia Stadium, New Lambton, Newcastle (NSW)Crowd: 11,258
Sun May 10 2009, 3:00PM AEST GMT+10Sun: Brisbane Broncos 20 l. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 22 at
Suncorp Stadium, Castlemaine Street, Milton, Brisbane (QLD)Crowd: 27,527
Mon May 11 2009, 7:00PM AEST GMT+10Mon: Sydney Roosters 12 l. Melbourne Storm 28 at
BlueTongue Central Coast Stadium, Gosford, Central Coast (NSW)Crowd: 8,412
Bulldogs bye Parramatta Eels bye Penrith Panthers bye South Sydney Rabbitohs bye Canberra Raiders bye Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks bye Wests Tigers bye New Zealand Warriors bye
Mon May 11, 2009
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.auThe Storm's eight representative players have successfully backed up from Friday night's rep games to beat the Roosters 28-12 at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford.
Craig Bellamy managed the rep players well, starting Cameron Smith on the bench and rotating the forward pack heavily.
The Storm was impressive in attack, scoring their most points for the season.
A talking point to come out of the game will no doubt be the referees, Jason Robinson and Tony De Las Heras, and the flurry of penalties and sin-bins early in the first half.
Things weren't looking good for the Storm in the opening 10 minutes as they were penalised five times, the last of which resulted in the sin-binning of Steve Turner.
With a stretched defence, the Roosters went to the wings and Setaimata Sa scored in the 13th minute.
To make matters worse, Brett Finch was put on report for leading with his feet in an effort to prevent the try.
At the 15th minute mark, the Roosters had enjoyed 75% of possession and a lead of 6-0.
The tables turned however when the Roosters started to feel the wrath of the referees and were warned they too could "pay the price" if they didn't clean up their game.
Willie Mason failed to heed the warning and was sin-binned as a result.
The Storm failed to capitalise on their extra numbers but still managed a try after Mason was back on the field.
On a second tackle, Brett White took the ball at first receiver and ran over the top of the Sydney defence to get his first try for the season. Rookie winger Joe Tomane converted the kick.
Both coaches implored their charges to be patient in the face of tough defence and the Storm grinded away.
In the 36th minute, their patience paid off when Smith ran a set play down the right side, showing the ball three times before Will Chambers ran a decoy that sent the Roosters defence into disarray.
Smith passed to Slater who in turn passed to an unmarked Turner to score in the corner. Tomane took the conversion kick but missed.
It wasn't long before the Storm scored again when Ryan Hoffman busted through a sleeping Roosters defence from dummy half a few minutes before half-time.
The Storm had bounced back from a torrid start to the half and had not only evened up the possession but taken a 16-6 lead.
The Roosters responded early on in the second when Turner missed a high ball to give the Roosters another set of six. They spun the ball out to the wing and Sam Perrett crossed to keep the pressure on the Storm.
The Roosters were playing above what their lowly position on the ladder would suggest and were testing the Storm defence.
Iosia Soliola made some big hits on everyone from Adam Blair to Billy Slater but you don't get points for big hits and in the 58th minute, Brett Finch cut back on the inside to a running Jeff Lima who charged through the line for a try. The Storm had almost sealed the game, leading 22-12.
The Roosters were finishing fast but couldn't get past the Storm, even when many of the Storm players were out on their feet.
By the 61st minute, the Storm had earned nine consecutive penalties - a credit to their renewed discipline and the pressure the Roosters were under.
Finch put the game beyond doubt when he scored his first try for the Storm, splitting the Roosters defence with an easy step.
The rep players put in an exceptional effort and had the Roosters defence on the back-foot.
The Storm has now cemented their place in the top eight with a game against the Raiders coming up next Monday.
Storm 28 (Tries: White, Turner, Hoffman, Lima, Finch; Goals: Tomane 4) def. Roosters 12 (Tries: Sa, Perrett; Goals: Fitzgibbon 2) at Bluetongue Stadium.
Mon May 11, 2009
Source: www.rleaguebetting.comMelbourne can edge back into the Top 8 tonight with a victory over the Roosters.
The Roosters can at times play a near flawless game, but they have no consistency which makes them very hard to back. Take the Storm/Storm
Half Time/Normal Time double - the top odds are $2.30 from
Sports Alive.
If you think the Roosters might have one of their on nights, Sports Alive are also paying top odds of $2.50 for them to win. Giving up 4 points start and taking the Storm @ $1.91 with
IASBet sounds more attractive. The $3.25 odds from
Centrebet of a 13+ victory to the Storm could also be a good bet.
With both teams barely scraping past 30 points in any of their last 3 games, take the $1.90 odds of less than 37 points being scored from Sports Alive. The Roosters have a penchant for either keeping their opposition nearly tryless, or to be nearly tryless themselves, so consider the $1.61 odds from Bet365 that one of the teams will score 3 unanswered tries.
In the 1st Try Scorer market, Sportingbet will give you the best value by far on the favourites - you can get $11 for both Inglis and Slater. Sportingbet are also giving a high value quote of $29 for Cameron Smith to be first over the white line.
Click Here to Compare Odds on Roosters vs Storm
* Note all prices are subject to change.
Round 9
Sydney Roosters 12 l. Melbourne Storm 28
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