PRELIMINARY FINAL TWO
Sunday 4:00pm AEST, 23rd September 2007, @ Telstra Dome, Melbourne.
V
#1 MELBOURNE STORM
1-13:B Slater, S Turner, M King, I Folau, A Quinn, G Inglis, C Cronk, B Cross, C Smith (c), B White, C Newton, R Hoffman, D Johnson.
Bench:Jeremy Smith, M Geyer, M Crocker, J Lima.
Coach: Craig Bellamy.
#5 PARRAMATTA EELS
1-13:J Hayne, K Inu, D Wagon, T Tahu, E Grothe, B Finch, T Smith, N Cayless (c), M Riddell, FF MoiMoi, N Hindmarsh, I Hindmarsh, C Robinson.
Bench:PJ Marsh, J Cordoba, F Mateo, J Reddy.
Coach: Michael Hagan.
FIRST HALF
1stMinute MEL – Brett White brings back the kick-off into the teeth of the Parramatta defence. Nathan Hindmarsh has been getting in around the head on every tackle to rough up the Melbourne runners. Cooper Cronk’s clearing kick sees Jarryd Hayne bring it back from 5m out from his line.
2nd Minute PAR – Hayne makes a half break after Mark Riddell puts him into an opening. Hayne then milks a penalty far too easily – Tony Archer duped early.
3rd Minute PAR – After building a nice set inside the Storm’s 20m zone, the Eels somehow allow FuiFui MoiMoi to go into dummy half and his pass to Tim Smith on the last tackle is knocked on by the halfback.
4th Minute MEL PENALTY – N Hindmarsh continues with his stupid ankle lifting tackles and gets pinged for one on Steve Turner but Archer says it is for MoiMoi’s arm across the ball – pity FuiFui’s arm was around the head. Melbourne out of their own half.
5th Minute MEL – Cameron Smith’s grubber from dummy half and only 2m out is snuffed out by MoiMoi and Melbourne end their first attacking set meekly.
6th Minute PAR – Hayne makes a clean break this time from halfway beating Greg Inglis, Slater stops him but Hayne finds Wagon who is wrapped up 15m out. Tim Smith is held on the last after Parra run the ball but Hayne might have aggravated his knee injury from last week.
9th Minute PAR – Timana Tahu steps around Israel Folau and makes a half break from a scrum. Turner is penalised for not being square at marker. Eels turn down a shot at penalty goal.
11th Minute EELS TRY- Eric Grothe goes over untouched in the right corner after a lovely Tim Smith cut out pass that sucks Anthony Quinn in off his wing to tackle Daniel Wagon on suspicion. Great pass. Krisnan Inu to try and make it 6-0 from the right touchline.
EELS TRY – E Grothe (1); T Smith 1A Cut Out Pass to – E Grothe to score.
K Inu M/CONV from right touchline to the left.
4-0 EELS after 13 Minutes.
14th Minute MEL – Cronk goes to the air on the last towards Inu’s right wing but the winger is equal to the challenge and it is a 20m restart.
15th Minute PAR – Nathan Cayless is tackled rather aggressively by White – the latter locking into Cayless’s shoulder and turning him violently when on the ground. Cayless not happy. Wagon and Ian Hindmarsh gives away a penalty to Melbourne for lifting Matt King.
17th Minute MEL – Cronk kicks high towards the posts under pressure from MoiMoi. Tahu takes it easily.
19th Minute MEL – Billy Slater throws a pass over the sideline under nominal pressure. Melbourne had just started an attacking set too.
23rd Minute MEL – Cronk goes to the left touchline with a kick and again Parramatta aren’t hurt by it. King tries to bat it back to Quinn but it goes over the sideline off the latter.
25th Minute PAR – Smith finds touch inside the Storm’s 30m line. Eels playing very well at the moment and Melbourne don’t look like they have a forward pack – it has been backs running predominately the past 6 or 7 minutes.
27th Minute MEL - Cameron Smith traps Grothe in goal with a grubber after Melbourne had turned a penalty into a strong offensive set. Dropout Parramatta.
28th Minute STORM TRY- Turner goes flying up the right wing from a Slater cut out pass that isolates Inu’s wing. Turner scores in the right corner and Smith will have a chance to put the Storm in the lead.
STORM TRY – S Turner (1); C Cronk 2A Cut Out Pass to – B Slater 1A Cut Out Pass to - S Turner to score.
C Smith M/CONV to the right of the uprights.
4-4 ALL after 30 Minutes.
30th Minute MEL PENALTY – Wagon gives away a penalty for a high grab on Cameron Smith on the kickoff set. Here comes Melbourne.
31st Minute STORM TRY- Cronk steps through some pathetic defence (Brett Finch and Josh Cordoba with N Hindmarsh not able to hold him up getting there late) to score to the left of the uprights. Smith’s pass from dummy half just gave him enough time and space to make it happen.
STORM TRY – C Cronk (1); C Smith 2A D/Half Cut Out Pass to – C Cronk to score.
C Smith CONVERSION successful.
10-4 STORM after 33 Minutes.
33rd Minute MEL – Jeremy Smith’s charge from the kickoff is met by a huge Feleti Mateo/Tahu sandwich. But Mateo looks hurt – which isn’t a shock given he’s been carrying an arm injury for about 6 weeks now.
34th Minute PAR – Mateo ‘loses’ the ball thanks to a 3-man Melbourne tackle. Archer with a dud call that could really hurt Parramatta 6 minutes out from the break.
35th Minute MEL – Quinn forced into touch by Finch and Joel Reddy but Melbourne looking ready to make it three straight tries before halftime.
37th Minute PAR – Finch’s desperation bomb from the right sideline to the posts is allowed to bounce by Cameron Smith and luckily for Melbourne Folau was on hand to get it back into the field of play.
38th Minute MEL – Cronk chips in behind the line for Slater but Reddy knocks on. Big set here inside the Parramatta half. Wagon jumps on a loose offload from Jeff Lima and the Eels survive.
40th Minute MEL – King can’t ground the ball cleanly in the left corner after a shortish Cronk cross kick was allowed to bounce by the Eels. 10-4 Storm at the break.
HALFTIME WRAP
Parramatta trail by 6 but the first 25 minutes was advantage Eels. Nathan Hindmarsh has been outstanding in defence and Mark Riddell was dangerous around the ruck when he was on. Tim Smith set up the only Eels try but has been quiet and Finch has had an up and down half. Hayne looks injured and Tahu hasn’t got enough quality ball to really take advantage of his matchup on Folau.
For Melbourne – Cronk has been good without being great, Cameron Smith and Inglis have made an effort to get into the game but both haven’t quite made a difference yet. The Storm pack has been good in patches but Ryan Hoffman in particular has hardly been used in an attacking role which is a surprise. Slater looks a little shaken after some tough defence on his kick returns while Folau hasn’t see the ball in attack.
If Melbourne had scored in the 5 minute period before halftime this one might have been done and dusted but there’s only a converted try in it with 40 minutes still to play.
SECOND HALF
41stMinute PAR – Eels get the first set after halftime and MoiMoi makes a halfbreak on the 2nd tackle getting the Eels into the Storm half. Finch’s grubber forces a Slater mistake in his own in goal under pressure from Reddy and Parramatta have a repeat set straight away.
43rd Minute EELS TRY- Reddy scores! He’s touched down on the right side after some great hands by MoiMoi (yes MoiMoi!), Finch and Wagon and Melbourne looked terrible defensively to open this half and get burned. Inu to convert from about 5m in from touch.
EELS TRY – J Reddy (1); PJ Marsh 2A D/Half Cut Out Pass to – FF MoiMoi 2A Short Pass to – B Finch 2A Short Pass to – D Wagon 1A Short Pass to – J Reddy to score.
K Inu CONVERSION successful.
10-10 ALL after 45 Minutes.
45th Minute PAR PENALTY – Here’s the first piggy back for the Eels of the half – markers not square. Melbourne rattled.
46th Minute PAR – Tim Smith knocks on after a great spread of the ball to the right and Melbourne looked in all sorts. But Slater knocks on a few tackles later and Parramatta get another chance to go ahead.
48th Minute PAR – Grothe knocked out of bounds after Wagon made a half break out wide from a Tim Smith cut out pass. Storm looking lost out on their left side defence.
51st Minute MEL – Storm get 6 again after they had powered through the middle of the ruck to get into Parramatta’s half. Tide might turn here in a big way. Tahu after two great tackles gives away a penalty close to the posts for an ordinary and ill-disciplined head slam on Folau. Slater to the bench with an injury, Inglis or Turner to fullback and Geyer will come on. Cameron Smith to take the penalty goal attempt.
STORM PENALTY GOAL – Cameron Smith Penalty Goal (1) from just to the right of the posts 15m out.
12-10 STORM after 53 Minutes.
54th Minute – STORM TRY- King scores on the left after a great break by Hoffman from an Inglis pass on halfway. Cayless and Finch dissected in defence. What a turnaround! Smith to convert from the left side.
STORM TRY – M King (1); G Inglis 2A Short Pass to – R Hoffman 1A Line Break & Pass to - M King to score.
C Smith CONVERSION successful after hitting the upright.
18-10 STORM after 56 Minutes.
57th Minute MEL – Melbourne rolling now. Cronk kicks from inside his own 40m zone but finds massive space behind Hayne who is on one leg now.
58th Minute POSSIBLE EELS TRY – Inu has given the Eels some hope with a possible touchdown in the left corner after a super Tahu pass gave the winger a chance one on one with Turner – who is now at fullback. Inu’s torso is out however before the ball was forced. Eels don’t strike back.
59th Minute PAR – Ian Hindmarsh knocks on with the impact of Folau’s tackle. Storm ball inside the Eels 30m zone.
60th Minute MEL – Cronk kicks to Inu’s wing again but it is caught by Inu in-goal. Parramatta’s defence on the goal line was superb that set.
61st Minute PAR – Tim Smith’s average grubber is let bounce one too many times by Turner and the Storm fill in fullback is trapped in goal. Eels needed this badly.
62nd Minute PAR – Reddy is thrown over the sideline by a reborn Storm left side defence. Eels let an opportunity slip and you have to wonder how many more they will get in the next 18 minutes.
64th Minute MEL – Inglis puts a massive bomb up that Hayne takes brilliantly just inside the field of play. Tim Smith tries to emulate Inglis’s effort and gets a better result – Turner knocks it on under far less pressure. Here’s at least one of those opportunities we mentioned above.
66th Minute PAR – Tim Smith tries a banana kick across the right of the field but punts it straight and over the dead-ball line on the full. Ordinary barely sums it up.
67th Minute PAR PENALTY – Hayne goes down and stays down… waits for the replay to be run and then gets up. And here’s an Eels penalty for Jeremy Smith’s high shot. Hayne gets the penalty… and that’s all we’ll say about that.
68th Minute PAR – Riddell is down with injury – Jeremy Smith involved again. No penalty this time but this time Riddell does look hurt.
69th Minute MEL – Archer calls a Storm knock on but changes his mind and says the Eels made the error after Quinn is caught near the left touchline in attack. Storm feed.
70th Minute MEL – Folau held up on the right side. Reddy and Grothe stop King just a metre short with a top tackle. Cronk’s last tackle kick is ruled to have been played at by Nathan Hindmarsh and it’ll be six more.
71st Minute MEL PENALTY – Lima is ruled to have had the ball raked by Archer. Storm can eat up minutes here going for two points. Hayne gets a talking too by Archer for basically annoying him.
STORM PENALTY GOAL – Cameron Smith Penalty Goal successful from just to the left of the posts 15m out.
20-10 STORM after 73 Minutes.
73rd Minute PAR – Riddell’s kick-off finds touch! Huge error by the Storm not cleaning that up.
74th Minute PAR PENALTY – Grothe is stripped by Hoffman on the goal-line. Eels to remain on attack.
74th Minute POSSIBLE PAR TRY – Inu leaves old man Geyer on his inside and just gets the ball down inside the left corner-post. Eels alive maybe it’ll go upstairs! Great lead-up play by Mateo and Tahu. Inu needs to convert this one if it is awarded. On the replay I don’t think this is a try. Correct call – No Try, Storm scrum 10m out.
76th Minute MEL – Storm produce a solid set to get out of their own half. Slater on for Folau who is off with cramp. Inu has moved to fullback for Parramatta.
77th Minute PAR – Finch kicks across field for Hayne on the left wing about 35m out from the Storm line but it goes out off Hayne’s fingers and that’ll be the Parramatta season over.
78th Minute PAR – Reddy’s draw and pass goes over the sideline ahead of Grothe’s half hearted attempt at catching it. Melbourne can eat up the last 90 or so seconds and go on to the Grand Final for the second straight season.
80th Minute STORM TRY – King barges over in the dying seconds after Lima’s offload gave Cameron Smith a chance to find his outside men. Archer went upstairs and King is given the try. Smith to convert from the left side about 10m in from touch.
STORM TRY – M King (2); J Lima 2A Offload to – C Smith 1A Cut Out Pass to – M King to score.
C Smith CONVERSION successful.
26-10 STORM at Fulltime.
FULLTIME WRAP
Melbourne win through to consecutive Grand Finals thanks to a flattering scoreline of 26-10. Parramatta got it back to 10-All just after halftime but the sign of a quality team is when the opposition take the foot off the gas for only a minute – you can take back the momentum. Melbourne did that with a penalty goal and then Hoffman’s setup of King’s first try and they were away.
It wasn’t a great performance by the Storm and no one player stood out but they got the job done and the Eels will wonder what might have been had they been able to pull ahead in those 10 minutes after halftime. Nathan Hindmarsh was the best on ground despite being in a team that lost by 16 points while Cronk was the Storm’s best.
FULL TIME RESULT
MELBOURNE STORM 26
TRIES
M King 2 (54th & 80th), S Turner (28th), C Cronk (31st)
GOALS
C Smith 5 from 6.
Defeated
PARRAMATTA EELS 10
TRIES
E Grothe (11th), J Reddy (43rd).
GOALS
K Inu 1 from 2.
League Player Ratings: Player of the Finals 3-2-1
3 – N Hindmarsh, Eels, 8/10.
2 – C Cronk, Storm, 7/10.
1 – M Crocker, Storm, 7/10.
Referee: Tony Archer 6/10.
_________________________
Warrick Nicolson
E: wdnicolson@optusnet.com.au
P: 0402851485
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