Narelle's NRL Report

NRL Report
Results from the Week 3 Finals matches last week:
Melbourne Storm convincingly defeated Cronulla Sharks 28-0
Late super coach, Jack Gibson once said waiting for Cronulla to win a premiership was like leaving a porch light on for Harold Holt. He was right again on this occasion, with Cronulla saving their worst performance of the season for this match.
Cooper Cronk stepped in for Cameron Smith and was outstanding.
Although there were a lot of errors from both sides in the first half, the Storm were still able to score.
The game turned in the second half when Cronulla couldn’t penetrate the Storm line in the opening 15 minutes. Cronulla did have a lot of possessions in the second half, which is testament to Storm’s defence, holding them off with 18 straight tackles.
Manly Sea Eagles also trounced the NZ Warriors 32-6
Manly showed they are a superb outfit in this match, with superbly constructed tries and wonderful attacking plays – typified by a through the legs pass by Brett Stewart to the Centre, Steve Matai for Manly to score at half time.
Manly have scored more tries than any other team this season. They also make more line breaks and offloads than Melbourne Storm. Steve Bell has made 19 line breaks this season for Manly. This is two fewer than Melbourne’s Billy Slater though.
GRAND FINAL: Manly vs Storm, Sunday 5th October
· Tony Archer to referee the Grand Final, it’s his second Grand Final.
· When they played each other during the season, the Storm won both times, 26-4 at Olympic Park in Round 5 and 16-10 at Brookvale Oval in Round 22. Manly were also beaten by the Storm in last year’s grand final, losing 34-8.
· Manly centre, Steve Matai is delaying surgery to his injured shoulder until after the Grand Final.
· The Storm’s Greg Inglis has said his ‘knees are shot’, but will also play.
· Melbourne Storm prop, Brett White has been cleared to play in the Grand Final, after elbowing Cronulla’s Ben Ross last week. White actually came out this week to say that there isn’t a rift between the pair, despite rumours there were (White punched Ross in Round 2).
· After their impressive display last week against the Warriors, Manly have been stamped has favourites for the Grand Final, but I am going to pick the Storm to win the match given they have beaten them already twice this year.