Monday’s only NRL Round 16 match is between St George Illawarra Dragons and Melbourne Storm with the opening kick to commence at 19:00 local time. The game is to be played at WIN Stadium which see’s away team Melbourne Storm hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between St George Illawarra Dragons and Melbourne Storm.
Where and when: 19:00 | Monday 30/06/2014 @ WIN Stadium
Preview:
The Dragons recorded their second win from their past three matches with a narrow 19 – 18 victory over the Titans on the Gold Coast last week.
The Dragons are improving in conjunction with recent addition Benji Marshall, starting to find his feet back in the NRL and forming valuable partnerships with the likes of halves partner Gareth Widdop and centre Josh Duggan.
After losing seven of eight earlier in the year, the Dragons have showed the season isn’t yet over for them and that there’s something there for Coach Paul McGregor to work with.
Trent Merrin will be the out of this week’s clash and his absence is the only change to the starting line-up from last week.
Dan Hunt and Jack Stockwell have been named on an extended bench.
The Dragons have won two of their three games at WIN this year and will be looking to consolidate their recent performances with a strong effort against the Storm.
STORM
Either side of consecutive losses to North Queensland and Roosters, when heavily effected by Origin commitment, the Storm have shows with wins over the Rabbitohs, Manly, Gold Coast and last week Parramatta, that they are back near their best.
They were clinical against the Eels early in last week’s game and raced to an 18 – nil lead after 25 minutes.
Billy Slater was heavily involved in each of the first three tries, one of which he scored himself, as the star fullback responded from the disappointing Origin loss in devastating fashion.
The solid form for the Storm comes off strong showings from several of their forwards, namely Jesse Bromwich and Ryan Hinchcliffe who each starred for the Storm last week.
The Storm has name basically the same starting line-up for this week’s clash and a repeat performance of last week’s effort, will see them extremely hard to beat.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Dragons lost in controversially circumstances when the sides last met in round six this year,
A try after the bell saw the Storm successful 28 – 24, which made it their fourth win from the past five games over the Dragons.
The last three clashes have seen a good amount of match points scored, all exceeded 40 points and with the Storm in form and the Dragons saving their best performances this year for WIN Stadium, a similar score might be on the cards here.
Tips: OVER 39.5 @ $1.90
Teams:
DRAGONS: Adam Quinlan, Charly Runciman, Josh Dugan, Gerard Beale, Jason Nightingale, Gareth Widdop, Benji Marshall, Ben Creagh, Mitch Rein, Michael Cooper, Leeson Ah Mau, Joel Thompson, Jack de Belin. Interchange: Dan Hunt, Shane Pumipi, Will Matthews, Bronson Harrison, Jack Stockwell.
STORM: Billy Slater, Sisa Waqa, Kurt Mann, Mahe Fonua, Young Tonumaipea, Ben Hampton, Ben Roberts, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith (c), Bryan Norrie, Kevin Proctor, Ryan Hoffman, Ryan Hinchcliffe. Interchange: Kenny Bromwich, Tohu Harris, Junior Moors, Jordan McLean, Tim Glasby, Joel Romelo.
News:
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has defended cheeky halfback Chris Sandow and laid the blame for his sin-binning on referee Ben Cummins.
Arthur admitted that Sandow’s 10 minutes on the sideline cost his team dearly in their 46-20 NRL loss to Melbourne at AAMI Park, as the Storm ran in three tries while the Eels were down a man.
Sandow was sin-binned for dissent in the 60th minute when he asked Cummins: “How much are they paying you?” following a penalty against his team.
With the Eels down 24-16 but still in touch, Storm youngster Kurt Mann scored a double following Sandow’s departure and prop Bryan Norrie also crossed to set up the match-winning lead.
Arthur said Sandow’s offence was “trivial” and he didn’t believe it deserved such a penalty.
“No I don’t. There needs to be a two-way street with respect shown to the players and the referee,” Arthur said.
“It was pretty trivial and we need to grow up a little bit and get on with refereeing the game.”
He said he understood Sandow’s frustration, despite the penalty count finishing at just 8-7 in favour of the Storm.
“He probably shouldn’t have said anything but the players are out there busting their arse … they just want an even share of the ball,” Arthur said.
“We know we need to be better but the blokes in pink needed to be better today too.”
Parramatta were up against it from kick-off, starved of ball in the opening half as the home side opened up an 18-0 lead.
Two tries just before the break helped them to 18-10 at halftime.
Superstar fullback Billy Slater put his Origin pain behind him with his 165th try, equalling Cronulla’s Andrew Ettingshausen at third on the all-time try-scoring list.
Slater ended with two tries and set up two others.
His NSW Origin rival Jarryd Hayne was comparatively kept quiet.
As well as Mann’s double, winger Sisa Waqa also picked up two among the eight-try haul.
Melbourne climbed into seventh place with the win, ahead of the Eels on points differential.
Storm skipper Cameron was delighted to see his team post their highest tally of the season.
“A lot of times this year teams have come over the top of us so it was nice to really put on Parramatta’s throat and kick away at the end,” Smith said.
Coach Craig Bellamy said his team was continuing to build, with the young backs such as Mann and Young Tonumaipea finding their feet.
“We’re not looking at September at the moment and we just need to make sure we keep looking to improve but our young backs are going from strength to strength,” Bellamy said.
