Melbourne suffered their first defeat of the season last week, going down 40 – 12 to the Bulldogs in a match played in Perth.
It was a tough week for the Storm. They had a tight encounter on the Monday night against Newcastle, a match marred by the injury to Knights’ Alex McKinnon, and then on a five day back-up, had to travel to Western Australia.
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The task was made tougher again by the withdrawal of Skipper Cameron Smith just prior to the game with a back complaint but regardless of the tough week the Storm began well and posted the first two tries of the game, leading 12 – 0 after fifteen minutes.
But that is where the game stopped for the Storm. The remaining sixty minutes were labelled “rubbish” by Coach Bellamy has Canterbury score seven unanswered tries.
The Storm don’t take losing well, especially not by margins like last week’s result, and will be out to seek immediate redemption.
The Titans recorded their third win of the season in a scrappy affair against the Cowboys last Monday night.
Five-eight Aidan Sezer returned after missing his side’s victory of the Warriors in round 3 and he proved the difference in a man-of-the-match performance.
It wasn’t a polished performance by the Titans but they did contest well and kept the pressure on the Cowboys defensively throughout the match, which they’ll have to do again here this week to keep the will drilled Storm side to a minimal total.
Whilst the Titans, like the Storm, have a winning record of 3 – 1 so far this season, this will be the first time the Titans have faced a team in the top of the table and they’ll need to show improvement on their performances so far if they are to beat Melbourne at home.
On the results of the two games played between these sides last year, which resulted in a victory to the Titans 18 – 12 in the first encounter and then a solitary point win to the Storm (23 -22) in the second, the 12.5 line in favour of the Titans appears to be generous.
Cameron Smith returns to the line-up this week and the Storm will be pleased to have the opportunity to put the events, travel and performances of last week, well behind them here and they should win – by more than 13 though?
Odds Comparison:
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| Melbourne Storm | 1.28 | 1.25 | 1.28 | 1.25 | 1.28 | 1.25 |
| Gold Coast Titans | 3.75 | 4.10 | 3.75 | 4.10 | 3.75 | 3.90 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Teams:
Melbourne Storm:
Billy Slater, Sisa Waqa, William Chambers, Mahe Fonua, Young Tonumaipea, Ben Hampton, Cooper Cronk, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith (c), Bryan Norrie, Kevin Proctor, Ryan Hoffman, Ryan Hinchcliffe. Interchange: Kenny Bromwich, Tohu Harris, Jordan McLean, Mitch Garbutt, Tim Glasby
Gold Coast Titans:
David Mead, Kevin Gordon, Brad Tighe, Brad Takairangi, Anthony Don, Aidan Sezer, Albert Kelly, Luke Douglas, Beau Falloon, Nate Myles, Greg Bird, Dave Taylor, Ashley Harrison. Interchange: Matt White, Luke Bailey, Mark Minichiello, Paul Carter
