Round 10
Melbourne Storm 46 d. Canberra Raiders 6

2009 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Storm rout Raiders
Mon May 18, 2009
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

The Melbourne Storm have demolished the Canberra Raiders 46-6, stretching their winning streak over the Green Machine to 14 and putting them well within reach of the top of the ladder.

It was the performance Storm fans had waited for and the performance the competition feared, the Storm attack finally clicked.

It was the Melbourne Storm of old - clinical and precise.

The Storm crossed the Raiders' line again and again using pace and skill to slice through the defence.

The Raiders tried to play to their strengths, Terry Campese putting in kick after kick for their bigger wingers.

The Raiders plan was successful on just one occasion; their first and only try in the 5th minute.

From then on, the Storm controlled the game.

The Storm executed their set plays while being uncompromising in defence.

Billy Slater starred for the home team, scoring one of the tries of the season in the second half.

Brett Finch and Cooper Cronk worked beautifully in tandem to spark the attack.

The big Raiders pack looked out of sorts and non-threatening while the core Storm forwards of Brett White, Jeff Lima, Adam Blair and Sika Manu all put in great performances.

The Raiders struggled to complete their sets and maintain possession while the Storm worked hard in defence and attack.

The Raiders began to fall apart mid-way through the first half.

Line-breaks were hard to come by and the game was still in the balance, but when Finch side-stepped the rushing Monaghan, the Raiders defence opened up.

Finch passed to Ryan Hoffman who charged through the hole and down to the 40-metre line before passing to Greg Inglis.

The try would have infuriated Raiders' coach, David Furner, who asked for patience from his players, something Monaghan failed to show.

The final 10 minutes of the first half was when the Raiders threw their kitchen sink, four consecutive sets did not even dent the Storm defence.

Not even the Raiders big forwards, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and David Shillington could break the line.

The score at half-time was 18-6.

The Storm had stepped up a gear and the Raiders couldn't go with them.

The second half was a football lesson for the Raiders.

The Storm ran in tries from both sides of the ground, from kicks, from set plays and from solo efforts.

The highlight came from Slater's second try for the night.

A grubber kick from the Raiders was picked up by Cameron Smith 10 metres into Storm territory.

He passed to a running Slater who is at his best in broken play.

The hulking Canberra forwards didn't have a chance as he slid through the attempted tackles, breaking clear in a race for the line.

Monaghan was on his tail and Marc Herbert was coming in from the side.

With skill that only Slater possesses, he bounced off his right foot, almost making Herbert and Monaghan collide as he went under the posts.

The Raiders were well and truly beaten by this stage.

Further tries to Turner, Cross, Blair and Hoffman came in quick succession.

The Storm now look ahead to the Bulldogs at Gosford next Saturday night to see if they really have improved as much as tonight's score line suggests.

Storm 46 (Tries: Slater 2, Inglis, Lima, Turner, Cross, Blair, Hoffman; Goals: Smith 6, Tomane) def. Raiders 6 (Tries: Monaghan; Goals: Campese) at Olympic Park

Crowd: 10,112


Storm Round 10 Game Notes v Raiders
Sun May 17, 2009
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

The Storm were once again in impressive form last week accounting for the Roosters 28-12 at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford.

The halves combination of Cooper Cronk and Brett Finch were at their destructive best, while the starting front-rowers, Brett White and Jeff Lima scored a try each.

The win leaves them sitting in 6th spot on the NRL ladder.

Canberra had a bye last week and are sitting in 14th position.

WHO: Melbourne Storm v Canberra Raiders
WHAT: Round 10 of the 2009 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Olympic Park, Melbourne
WHEN: Monday, May 18th @ 7.00pm
ON TV: Fox Sports 2 - 7.00pm

FAST FACT
Melbourne has not lost to Canberra for the past seven years, winning their past 13 meetings straight

DID YOU KNOW?
Some of the Storm's injured players have been spending plenty of time at NICA (National Institute of Circus Arts) recently.

It's not some sort of effort to gain qualifications for when they finish their playing careers, it seems many of the apparatus at the Academy is great for injury recovery!

To see a video of the players at NICA, and hear from Mary Toomey, the Storm's High Performance Unit General Manager - Click Here

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 23, Storm: 18, Raiders: 5
At Olympic Park: Played: 11, Storm: 10, Raiders: 1

FOR AND AGAINST 2009
Points for: Storm: 149, Raiders: 133
Points against: Storm: 126, Raiders: 176
Tries for: Storm: 25, Raiders: 24
Points differential: Storm: 23, Raiders: -43

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm def. Roosters 28-12 @ Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Raiders BYE

LAST EIGHT CLASHES
2008 Storm def. Raiders 30-14 @ Olympic Park
2008 Storm def. Raiders 23-16 @ Canberra Stadium
2007 Storm def. Raiders 34-6 @ Olympic Park
2007 Storm def. Raiders 32-16 @ Canberra Stadium
2006 Storm def. Raiders 22-18 @ Canberra Stadium
2006 Storm def. Raiders 22-12 @ Olympic Park
2005 Storm def. Raiders 20-10 @ Olympic Park
2005 Storm def. Raiders 46-10 @ Canberra Stadium

THE STORM STORY SO FAR
ROUND ONE: Storm 17 (Tries: Inglis, Slater, Cronk; Goals: Smith 2; Field Goal: Inglis) def. Dragons 16 (Tries: Hornby, Cooper; Goals: Soward 4) at Olympic Park
ROUND TWO: Storm 14 (Tries: Slater, Proctor; Goals: Smith 3) def. by Broncos 16 (Tries: Folau, Michaels, Wallace; Goals: Parker 2) at Suncorp Stadium
ROUND THREE: Storm 26 (Tries: Inglis, Cronk, Quinn, Turner; Goals: Smith 5) def. Cowboys 12 (Tries: Bolton, Williams; Goals: Thurston 2) at Dairy Farmers Stadium
ROUND FOUR: Storm 6 (Try: Tomane; Goal: Smith) def. by Titans 18 (Tries: Bailey, Walker; Goals: Rogers 5) at Olympic Park
ROUND FIVE: Storm 16 (Tries: Slater, Quinn; Goals: Smith 4) def. Panthers 14 (Tries: Tighe, Lewis; Goals: Gordon 3) at Olympic Park
ROUND SIX: Storm 6 (Try: Hoffman; Goals Smith) def. by Tigers 16 (Tries: Moltzen, Lawrence 2; Goals: Marshall 2) at Leichhardt Oval
ROUND SEVEN: Storm 14 (Tries: Turner, Slater, Chambers ; Goals: Smith) drew Warriors 14 (Tries: Vatuvei 2, Ah Van; Goals: Kemp) at Olympic Park
ROUND EIGHT: Storm 22 (Tries: Inglis, Turner, Cross, Slater; Goals: Smith 3) def. Sea Eagles 8 (Tries: Robertson, Williams) at Brookvale Oval
ROUND NINE: Storm 28 (Tries: White, Turner, Hoffman, Lima, Finch; Goals: Tomane 4) def. Roosters 12 (Tries: Sa, Perrett; Goals: Fitzgibbon 2) at Bluetongue Stadium

2009 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Slater 5, Turner 4, Inglis 3, Cronk 2, Quinn 2, Hoffman 2, Proctor, Tomane, Chambers, Cross, White, Lima, Finch

2009 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
Smith 21, Tomane 4

2009 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
Inglis

2009 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
Smith 42, Slater 20, Turner 16, Inglis 13, Tomane 12, Cronk 8, Quinn 8, Hoffman 8, Proctor 4, Chambers 4, Cross 4, White 4, Lima 4, Finch 4

MELBOURNE STORM INJURY UPDATE
Lucas Miller (knee reconstruction): 2 weeks
Willie Isa (wrist): 7 weeks
Kevin Proctor (ankle): 11 weeks

THE STORM AHEAD
Rd. 11 v Bulldogs @ Bluetongue Stadium, Saturday, May 23rd from 7.30pm
Rd. 12 BYE
Rd. 13 v Broncos @ Olympic Park, Friday, June 5th from 7.35pm
Rd. 14 v Rabbitohs @ Members Equity Stadium (Perth), Saturday, June 13th from 7.30pm
Rd. 15 v Wests Tigers @ Olympic Park, Sunday, June 21st from 2.00pm
Rd. 16 v Raiders @ Canberra Stadium, Sunday, June 28th from 2.00pm
Rd. 17 v Knights @ Olympic Park, Saturday, July 4th from 7.30pm
Rd. 18 BYE
Rd. 19 v Eels @ Parramatta Stadium, Monday, July 20th from 7.00pm

NRL SQUAD FOR MONDAY'S GAME
To hear front-row coach Robbie Kearns' thoughts on Bellamy's team selection and the game against the Raiders - Click Here

Starting team:
1. Billy Slater
2. Steve Turner
3. Will Chambers
4. Greg Inglis
5. Joseph Tomane
6. Brett Finch
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Jeff Lima
9. Cameron Smith [c]
10. Adam Blair
11. Matt Cross
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Ryan Hinchcliffe, 15. Sika Manu, 16. Aiden Tolman, 17. Brett White, 18. Scott Anderson (one to be omitted)

Coach: Craig Bellamy

UNDER-20 SQUAD FOR MONDAY'S GAME
Starting team:
1. Gareth Widdop [c]
2. Josh Jerome
3. Sam Joe
4. Pita Maile
5. Matt Duffie
6. Jake Hawkins
7. Keni Blair
8. Pulou Vaituutuu
9. Will Naitoro
10. Jesse Bromwich
11. Rob Rochow
12. Fred Makimare
13. Jai Jones-Weigold

Interchange:
14. Blake Leary, 15. Billy Rogers, 16. Andrew Smith, 17. James Barker

Coach: Brad Arthur

Tue May 12, 2009
• Country Raiders back on deck
  
Tue May 12, 2009
• Bellamy names 18-man squad for Raiders clash
  

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