Round 8
Wests Tigers 30 d. Melbourne Storm 12

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

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

Tigers early bite too much for Storm
Sat May 5, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

The Melbourne Storm suffered their first loss of the season tonight, ending a seven game winning streak that is good enough to maintain their number one position on the NRL ladder. A fired-up Wests Tigers piled on 22 unanswered points in the first half and ran out deserving 30-12 winners.

Both teams had players and coaches backing-up from City-Country duty on Thursday night. Melbourne's Brett White, Ryan Hoffman and Ben Cross playing well despite the lack of rest.

The encounter could not have started any worse for the Tigers. Their talismanic playmaker, Benji Marshall exited the game after only five minutes when his troublesome right shoulder was injured while attempting a tackle on Israel Folau. But his replacement, Chris Lawrence, was immediately in the action, picking up the crumbs from a Greg Inglis handling error and scoring under the black dot.

The Storm have conceded the opening try a number of times this season, but have always managed to get back in the game soon after. Tonight though, they never settled, giving away penalties and seemingly not able hold onto the ball. While in previous games Melbourne's attack compensated for such deficiencies, this week everything the Storm tried, turned sour.

Critically, a Cooper Cronk kick close to the Tigers' line was battered down by Billy Slater into the hands of Robbie Farah. The ensuing play saw the Tigers make their way deep into the Storm's territory, where Farah, running parallel to the line, dummied twice and then sliced through some limp defense for Wests second.

Two penalty goals made it 16-0 and considering how out of sorts the Storm looked, it would not have been a bad half-time result. But, with only minutes remaining, it was Lawrence again who starred for the Tigers. Twenty-five metres out from Melbourne's line, he amazingly evaded six Storm defenders and made the half-time score 22-0.

Whatever coach Craig Bellamy said at half-time, it did wonders for Cooper Cronk. A 40-20 kick in the opening minutes of the second half from the halfback gave the Storm the start they were looking for. The ball was then spread wide to captain Matt King, who planted the pill and gave the visitors a sniff of a comeback.

Things finally started to click for Melbourne and minutes later the Storm were in again. Cronk this time set his sights on a leaping Israel Folau. The target wasn't met, but Folau did enough to get the ball back to a supporting Cronk who pulled-off a miraculous flick to Dallas Johnson and it was a 10-point ball game.

The game could have been even closer seven minutes later, when Cronk chipped in the Storm's half for Billy Slater. The fullback retrieved the ball and looked to be on his way to score, but referee Tony Archer ruled Slater offside in what must have been a matter of millimetres.

The momentum - all Storm for the first 20 minutes of the second half ? swung back the Tigers way, resulting in Melbourne enduring multiple sets on their own line.

Cameron Smith, attempting to regain possession, kicked out on the full from a line drop-out, earning Wests a penalty. They took the two points and the Storm needed two converted tries to send the game into golden point.

Some enterprising attack ensued for the Storm, Ryan Hoffman just able to offload to Greg Inglis close to Wests' line and Cronk and Slater chipping and chasing again, but ultimately failing to trouble the scorers.

A Ben Galea try then put the result beyond doubt, giving the Storm plenty to work on between now and their Round Nine clash against the Bulldogs when Monday night football comes to the southern capital for the first time in 2007.

TIGERS 30 (Tries: Lawrence 2, Farah, Galea; Goals: Collis 7) def. STORM 12 (Tries: King, Johnson; Goals: C. Smith 2)

Report sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au


Storm Round 8 v Wests Tigers Game Notes
Fri May 4, 2007
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne Storm defeated the Brisbane Broncos in the Grand Final replay last Friday night 28-18 at Suncorp Stadium.

The win extended its winning sequence to seven for the 2007 season.

Brett White warmed up for the City v Country clash with a mammoth 18 hit-up effort against the Broncos, earning him the players-player-of-the-week award.

The Tigers were equally as impressive in their Round 7 clash, disposing of the Bulldogs 34-18 in form reminiscent of their 2005 premiership campaign.

WHO: Melbourne Storm v Wests Tigers
WHAT: Round 8 of the 2007 Telstra Premiership season
WHERE: Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
WHEN: Saturday, May 5th @ 7:30pm
ON TV: Fox Sports 3 LIVE
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 a 19-man squad for this Saturday night's Round 8 clash against Wests Tigers. The game will be played at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford from 7:30pm.

Bellamy has made one change to the starting line-up that took the field against the Broncos on Friday night.

Matt Geyer returns to his customary wing position in place of Steve Turner who has been named to start in the centre.

Anthony Quinn will take his place on the bench for the second week in a row, while Ben Cross has been named in the squad as 18th man.

FAST FACTS
* Melbourne has beaten the Tigers in four of their past five clashes
* While Melbourne has never played in Gosford, the Tigers have won their only two game there
* Five Storm players and three Wests Tigers players will be backing up from the City v Country game on Thursday night
* Both teams are miserly in defence having only conceded 18 tries each this season

DID YOU KNOW?
* Jeff Lima, who started his career as a Balmain junior and played two games for Wests Tigers, claims to be the only Pacific Islander who can't sing or play a musical instrument.

KEY MATCH-UP
Both teams have match winners all over the ground.

The Tigers boast NSW Origin fullback Brett Hodgson, Kiwi five-eighth Benji Marshall and City Origin centre Dean Collis.

On the other side of the coin Billy Slater, Matt King, Greg Inglis and Israel Folau can rack up enough points to get their team over the line.

However, it is the battle of the hookers that will determine the result of this game.

Cam Smith has been in scintillating form in 2007, particularly over the past couple of weeks. His efforts to back up the night after representing Australia to score two tries and make 39 tackles is the stuff of legends, while his 51-tackle effort last week against Brisbane showed he is still the number one hooker in the country. He also has a kicking game second to none, and his runs out of dummy half have caught even the best defences off-guard.

Wests Robbie Farah is probably the unluckiest player in the country. If it weren't for Danny Buderus at state level, Farah would have played plenty of State-of-Origin games, and would probably have played a starring role in most of them. A lot of credit goes to Marshall for the attacking flair the Tigers possess, but Farrah is the man who gets the team heading in the right direction. Like Smith, his darting runs out of dummy half are extremely dangerous, particularly around the try-line where he loves nothing more than diving over for the four points.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Total: Played: 14, Storm: 10, Tigers: 4
At Bluetongue Stadium: First meeting

FOR AND AGAINST 2007
Points for: Storm: 184, Tigers: 116
Points against: Storm: 104, Tigers: 114
Tries for: Storm: 34, Tigers: 19
Points differential: Storm: +80, Tigers: +2

LAST ROUND MATCHES
Storm: def. Broncos 28-18 @ Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Wests Tigers: def. Bulldogs 34-18 @ Telstra Stadium, Sydney

LAST EIGHT CLASHES
2007 Storm def. Tigers 18-16 @ Olympic Park
2006 Storm def. Tigers 46-4 @ Olympic Park
2006 Tigers def. Storm 30-28 @ Leichhardt Oval
2005 Storm def. Tigers 34-22 @ Olympic Park
2005 Storm def. Tigers 30-14 @ Leichhardt Oval
2004 Tigers def. Storm 32-18 @ Leichhardt Oval
2004 Storm def. Tigers 30-24 @ Olympic Park
2003 Storm def. Tigers 16-8 @ Olympic Park

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) at 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) at 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) at Suncorp Stadium

2007 TRY SCORERS (STORM)
Folau 9, Slater 5, Hoffman 4, King 3, Turner 3, White 2, Quinn 2, C. Smith 2, Cronk 2, J. Smith, Geyer

2007 GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 23, Turner

2007 FIELD GOAL SCORERS (STORM)
N/A

2007 POINTSCORERS (STORM)
C. Smith 54, Folau 36, Slater 20, Hoffman 16, Turner 14, King 12, White 8, Quinn 8, Cronk 8, J. Smith 4, Geyer 4

MELBOURNE STORM MEDIBANK PRIVATE INJURY UPDATE
Danny Vaughan: Season (ACL)
Garret Crossman: 3 weeks (Knee)
Jeremy Smith: 1 week (Fibula)
Russell Aitken: 1 week (Hamstring)

THE STORM AHEAD
Round 9: Monday, May 14th v Bulldogs @ Venue TBC, 7:00pm
Round 10: Saturday, May 19th v Roosters @ Olympic Park, 7:30pm
Round 11: Saturday, May 26th v Sea Eagles @ Brookvale Oval, 5:30pm
Round 12: Saturday, June 2nd v Rabbitohs @ Olympic Park, 7:30pm
Round 13: Sunday, June 10th v Warriors @ Mt Smart Stadium, 2:00pm (AEST)
Round 14: Saturday, June 16th v Cowboys @ Dairy Farmers Stadium, 7:30pm
Round 15: Sunday, June 24th v Dragons @ Olympic Park, 3:00pm
Round 16: Bye
Round 17: Saturday, July 7th v Rabbitohs @ Bluetongue Stadium, 5:30pm
Round 18: Monday, July 16th v Knights @ Olympic Park, 7:00pm

2007 TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP LADDER
1. Storm 14
2. Sea Eagles 12
3. Cowboys 10
4. Warriors 10
5. Rabbitohs 8
6. Gold Coast 8
7. Knights 8
8. Sharks 6
9. Tigers 6
10. Bulldogs 6
11. Eels 6
12. Raiders 6
13. Broncos 4
14. Panthers 4
15. Dragons 4
16. Roosters 4

SQUAD FOR SATURDAY'S GAME
Starting team:
1. Billy Slater
2. Steve Turner
3. Matt King
4. Matt Geyer
5. Israel Folau
6. Greg Inglis
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Antonio Kaufusi
9. Cameron Smith
10. Brett White
11. Michael Crocker
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Sam Tagataese
15. Jeff Lima
16. Ian Donnelly
17. Anthony Quinn
18. Ben Cross
19. Will Chambers
(two to be omitted)

Coach: Craig Bellamy

News sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Tue May 1, 2007
• Sheens names squad of 20 for Storm clash in Gosford
  
Tue May 1, 2007
• Storm name 19-man squad for Tigers clash
  

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