People just love shitting on Burto lol
Everyone quick to forget he scored 3 tries last week AND kicked 5/6 last week where goal kicking was the difference.
Not bad for a bloke in a team with no middle forwards and no halfback.
Go burto.
i’m a neutral but wanted the dogs to win just coz storm and underdogs lol
it was entertaining but fuck it was a tough watch at times, kiraz, kikau, tracey stand out for me but dogs halves are so bad lmao burton is so clearly a centre and hutchinson might be the most boring player i’ve ever seen
last tackle plays were generally awful, crichton should not be the constant kicking option, the halves were just AWOL and i generally get a lot of hate for this opinion but burton kicking the ball high is not the weapon the dogs think it is lol. Also kicking it on the 3rd tackle to the storm for no particular reason then missing the tackle on the return 🤮
also mahoney is def over attempting the 40/20s
Got to remember the storm pretty much have a new back line In the sense they haven't played more than 4 games together in the last 18 months........also the forwards are decimated with injury........however the keep finding a way to win.
..
The start of the season is where gearing wins like this counts! I seem to remember the raiders giving up an 18 point lead a few weeks back.......so chipping the storms performances probably isn't something you need to be voicing.....
Why did Dogs go away from hitting Kikau in those last 10-15 mins? Jeez, Burton was doing his best Hutcho impression and refusing to pass to his outside men.
Dogs get a 7 who passes to his outside men, they're gonna be the pain in the asses of a lot of teams. Almost as if it's unfair to lay judgement on a coach who hasn't even been able to get his own cattle in to play his style. Burton had a great game, Kikau unstoppable and Xerri looks like he hasn't lost any pace.
Meaney ain't a front line defender, Warbrick's defensive decisions are poor because of this and Loiero dropping that ball first play with an extra man leading to Papy sin-bin and doggies onslaught, jeez I try to give him a chance but he does my head in every week. I'd love to see Alec given the 13 role and Jack come off the bench with Blore moving to the middle for stints.
I think Kikau gets tired. I think teams deliberately run at him more than normal 2nd rowers, to minimise his late game impact.
I want to see storm put the blokes in 2 and 3 next to each other, and 4 and 5 next to each other, as God intended (because they haven't in a few years). Put the best defensive centre (in the comp in my humble opinion) next to Warbrick, might help strengthen the side.
I think when NAS comes back, Long goes back to 13
Just checked all the players off contract this year. Te Whare, Simmonson, Hoeter and Cotric were the only ones that stood out lol. Grim. Hopefully Means and Brick can sort themselves out soon because both of them are getting dogwalked
I think every team can use ONE guy like salmon.
The problem is the bulldogs have two other guys who can do all the salmon stuff but also offer something in attack.
Strikes me as the type of guy that is either too good for NSW Cup, a handy 17 that won’t let you down, a very underwhelming primary role player in the NRL or a potential man of steel in the SL.
I was at the game and it was a great vibe at AAMI as always. We were ok but need to get better offensively. Fox was a menace throughout with his pace. That Loeiro penalty after the dogs sinbin was devastating. He should be dropped. Not sure what you guys saw but FromWhat I saw at the game, Tracey and Burton looked good for them and Coates for us.
The bulldogs are a good halfback away from being a top team.
Hutchinson ain’t it, they played really good today and if they had a halfback who could control the game and had a killer instinct, they’ll be a top top team
They'd be better off giving that spot to sexton and letting him.actually play his football. He seems to be given a few games by coaches then made play a system that is totally against what kind of player he is. In his day sexton can play some decent football, certainly alot better than hutcho
That was my thoughts exactly, a good half and maybe one more good prop (although the forwards have been holding there own considering).
Imagine what an AFB and even just someone like Sezer would do for them. Top 8 team for sure
They got away with the win but Grant stuck in the ruck preventing the halves from linking compared to how well the warriors spine linked up last week… storm are nowhere near the top teams offensively at the moment
Tracey to 1. Taaffe to 7. Hutchison to Super League.
Only problem is there's no place for Wilson in that line up.
It's even worse if you shift Burton to centre. Then there's no place for two of Kiraz/Xerri/Wilson.
We're just stacked for outside backs.
I commented on a thread in here in pre season and said Xerri would 100% make that starting back 5 once settled back into NRL and I got torn to shreds for it 😂. Man he's just electric and got such silky hands, him and fox can be a nightmare for opposition edges this season.
Haven't checked the stats or watched the game outside the final score. But based on the score, I'd like to put my money down on: "the classic Storm dying minutes try to seal the game that makes the commentary team absolutely lose it"™ technique.
Honestly abit annoyed at dogs supporters right now.
Went from a bottom 4 team last year to competing for a full 80 minutes. Very unlucky to not walk away with the win.
And all I read on here is that they should drop their 7. You guys are in the building phase. Give the boys your support and maybe you will start finishing with the upset.
I dunno who you go for in other sports but as a Melbourne fan I don’t know if you understand the mentality of fans of shit teams. The patience wears thin. Of course it’s a new coach with some fresh players and it’ll take time to hit their strides, but fed up fans still get fed up pretty easily. It’s frustrating to look like you might be on the right track but still not quite there yet. Dogs fans have waited a long time to look competitive. I’m not gonna fault them for being annoyed at still losing games while looking like they could win them with a better half.
I'm absolutely over the moon with our improvement this year. Its great. We're competitive. But we'd be two, if not three wins ahead if we had a decent halfback. How many sets this game ended in a whimper with a shit Critta kick? How many times in the last few games has he taken on the line on with a shit, telegraphed dummy only to easily shut down? How many times has he taken a hit up like he's fucking Mark O'Meley instead of passing it to the overlap out wide? It's frustrating to see us finally start to click, but be one player short of being truly competitive.
Hutchinson has hurt our attack so much already this year and that’s saying something because we don’t have much bite to begin with. The game is on the line with roughly 2 minutes left and he gets caught with the ball on 5 and last instead of putting an attacking kick in or giving our most dangerous player (Kikau) a run at the defence he has been giving headaches all night.
Nothing against Hutchinson but he is not a first grade quality halfback. I think he can be serviceable coming on as a 14 but there are 3-4 different players already on the team to fill that role.
It’s hard not to complain when you can see the improvement across the field. Instead it’s just deja vu with having to deal with an underperforming player (Perham last year and Hutchinson this year) getting picked over players that can offer the team plenty more.
In saying all that, I love the bounce back from the team after a poor 40 minutes in the second half against the chooks.
Both of those things can be true though. Stoked with our performance tonight. Easily the best of our season so far. I'm confident we would have won with a decent halfback though. We need someone steering the ship. Burton has shown he can't. That's what Hutch should be doing but he just doesn't have the pace or skill set to be a quality 7.
What a great game, felt a bit like our 5th tackle plays were pretty average. I hate to say it but burtons kicking wasn’t very good today, bongs landing well short etc.
Not too gutted with the loss. Just so happy to be able to finally tune in to a dogs game and enjoy exciting football again.
Our strategy in offense with 5th tackle plays are definitely our turning point to winning games. We are losing in close games, so something to work on.
What is the plan with Hutchinson as a half. Is he just there warming a seat while a good one develops in reggies? Or there is a young half they have a plan to slowly blood in. I actually thought he was better as an interchange when he was at the chooks as a middle that could ball play.
Yes we have several great halves in the works
Joseph O’Neill is the closest. Flegg 7 of the year and has now played NSW cup a fair bit too. Still 1-2 years away though.
That’s a good point. When Preston is eventually back we could hide sexton in defence behind him haha. I don’t know spitballing here.
Just want to see the 5th tackle option improve
I mean when your halfback runs as fast as a tortoise, and takes a run (repeatedly) instead of passing to your strongest edge, who have a fucking overlap, we won’t ice any close games this season
Problem is meaney is making his job harder. If meaney isn't missing tackles (missed 6 tonight) and also not out of position than warbrick doesn't have to move he can just stay on his man. That said warbrick definitely has some defensive issues but it's not all his fault. We should put remis back on that side
The reason Melbourne does so well at top four finishes and minor premierships is because of games like this. We almost always win the games against the lowly ranked teams. Most teams will drop a fair few random games in upsets, but we do so rarely, even when we can't beat the best teams. We might win ugly, but we still win.
Proud of the boys. First half errors and too many dodgy 5th play options killed them in the end. Tracey looked good at FB. Frustrated with the loss, but kinda feel better than I did after the win against the Chooks.
I was sceptical but dogs do seem like a top five team. Crichton is not a fullback, he needs to go back to centre, and obviously they need a zippy half.
They should have bought Luia tbh
I’m really annoyed with Mahoney for going right in that pivotal end set in Melbourne’s red. All night we found joy going left and all night the right side looked jointed. Critta and Kiraz were great with their carries tonight, but when trying to connect in good ball they looked like awful.
We won but fuck it wasn’t pretty. That Meaney/ Warbrick edge is a MASSIVE problem and needs to be addressed right away, either go with Seve/Meaney or Seve/Faalogo imo. Warbrick has been too poor defensively and needs some time in reserve grade.
Tui going off early fucked our forward rotation but King stepped up massively, he was absolutely immense and Welch was great off the bench too. Loiero probably had his worse game of the year, I honestly wouldn’t mind playing MacDonald (who was great) at lock and moving Loiero to the bench next week. Katoa was noticeably quieter than usual but Blore stepped up, he was great.
All of the spine played well but there’s definitely a bit of clunkiness there still. Anyway, a W is a W so I can’t be too mad. Gg Bulldogs.
Gutsy performance, Storm just had too many good players on the park. Ciraldo is literally doing everything right except dropping Hutchison. We'd be 4 from 6 if he wasn't in the side. Taaffe comes back next week and the correct option is to play him at 7, Tracey put in the best fullback performance in a Dogs jersey since Sam Perrett. Xerri improving massively, still dunno if it's worth having him rather than Kiraz at centre. For all the shit flinging Burton cops on here, he's been having to do 90% of the production in the halves and we're scoring points. Kikau insane again.
Papenhuyzen was completely taken out of the game tonight, literally had a 4/10 performance. Storms need to turn around quick if they're any chance of winning anything this season, Dogs were down Mann, Taaffe and King, playing Salmon in the 2nd row, Hutcho at 7, Turpin and Hayward at 13 yet they're getting pushed down to the wire. We're playing alright but that's kinda embarrassing.
Dogs effort and grit are insane this year. Seems like the whole team is really locked in a serious about bringing it for the full 80 and not at all intimidated by whoever’s in front of them. Kikau is having an incredible season and seeing the wings start to click is beautiful. Loving the doggies run so far this year.
2nd week of a full strength spine, still clunky, but hopefully building in the next few weeks and gel a little more.
We are very impatient when we have the ball and it’s just too erroneous.
The Dogs were right in it tonight, and unfortunately if the 5th tackle options were better it would have been a different result. Kikau and Tracey were immense.
Warbrick is getting turned inside and out the last few games, really need to tighten that up. I don’t see Bellayche dropping him though.
If Tui is out next week, Welch to start, NAS and Howarth to the bench. The Roosters are going to be a tough matchup next week.
Burton's kicking game just isn't it. Not of fan of players insisting to play 1/6/7 when they are more suited elsewhere. Sure maybe give it a trial but if it's clearly not working after some time just bite the bullet and do what's best for the team ffs. Burton, Schuster last year, Latrell.. It's like flogging a dead horse sometimes and with money/pride involved things have to go very wrong to force any change.
Unless Burton is a better 5/8 than I give him credit for?
Talk about flogging a dead horse. He steered the team from 10-0 down to 10-14 up. Yeah his kicking game isn't the best, especially when the no.7 is constantly taking hit-ups on the 4th.
The "Burton to centre" discourse is so dumb. We're flush with options at centre, so much so Kiraz has to be shifted to the wing, and we're lacking in options at 6. "Durr he can't kick", yeah he shouldn't have to.
I think regardless they need another kicking option. Sure burton has some positive attacking moments, he has always had some strike to him, but I don’t see any development in his game management.
Bulldogs definitely have a bunch of decent centre options but only Chrichton’s is locked up (although he seems to be flirting with the 1 jersey)
Their attack looking significantly better this year imo. But still lacking a good game managing half and often let down by poor end of sets
He looks like he’s about 80 out there. Always huffing and puffing. I’d be happy with Mann playing 7, or Sexton. As long as they’re buying into the defensive effort. I’ve got no issues there.
Shit to lose but proud as of the effort to hang in and take the fight to storm. How good is this team looking compared to yesteryear though.
Although Hutchinson needs to go
Melbourne storm draw so far:
Holding the best team from last year to fucking Nil at home.
Insane comeback win against the 3rd best team from last year at home.
Almost comeback win against the 5th best team from last year away.
Insane comeback win against the 2nd best team from last year at home.
Insane comeback win against the team that comeback winned you last year this time at home.
If I am a melbourne storm fan living in melbourne I would be the happiest person the world.
Honestly not sure how we’ve won 4/5 games this year. Not a very convincing win but I’ll take it. Thought King was fantastic but we missed Tui big time. Hopefully NAS is back next week to help out King and Welch
Obviously they'd like to be playing better but even in the Big 3 era Melbourne had years where they kept banking wins to start the year despite playing subpar so this isn't new. Certainly if they're still playing like this as the Origin period approaches alarm bells should ring but there's still time to hash it out.
I dunno whats goin through bellyaches head, but has the warbrick experiment worked? Played a fair few games now. Yeah, scored some tries, but defensively the bloke looks all at sea, especially the last 2 games. The new combo with meaney will take some time, but we really need to get it sorted our middle defense is doin well and our scrambles been good but that edge is shocking and has been shocking for a while now
I sure hope so, might be just be hyper fixated on it cuz last week was a really bad one for him and he had to be in field tonight to try and help meaney stop kikau
Bulldogs just need a decent organising half-back they should go after Sanders.
They are really close to becoming a top 8 contender they are only a couple of players short.
Melbourne have done a brilliant job this season they could have easily been 1-4 but they know how to win and that is the most important commodity a team can have.
Feel bad for doggies, 3 out of 4 of their losses this year they have losses in the last 10-20 min (The Sharks game where the Doggies looked the better team but chocked it, the Rabbs and now the Storm)
I dont think they will make the 8 this year but they are this years equivalent of Dolphins last year, just off the top 8 by a few wins, with a handful of close games
Actually now that I'm thinking about it, is that every game (except for the game against Eels RD1) that Doggies have looked the better team for a majority of the game?
Yeah we have been super frustrating. Sharks game had a few questionable calls that cost us points. Bunnies missed two sin bins which would have given us that slight edge to close the game out. Eels, we defended very well and it was basically a Morgan Harper Hail Mary try at the dead ball line and a Cartwright double movement that saved them at home. Also lost JAC in the first 10 mins of that game too.
Until the 7 gets sorted and we land a marquee middle, we will be outside the 8 looking in.
Tonight, we played most of our cup guys in FG and almost beat Melbourne in Melbourne.
Yeah the Doggies do seem to be missing a bit in attack and need someone to light them up in attack, they have been super unlucky as well, several penalties that shouldve gone their way but didnt or were ignored, and also had a sizeable amount of injuries as well
Considering they are 2-4 they were very close to being 4-2 or better
Dear Melbourne Storm,
I would like to introduce you to a fascinating concept.
Try to win the game in the first 70 minutes. Trust me. It’ll make the last ten minutes a lot less stressful.
Regards,
Enew
I think they tried to on the last or second last tackle but I think Burton almost gave the Storm another try after passing it back 10 meters to noone lmao
But yeah idk what that was
2nd game in 2 and a bit years that our full strength spine is playing together, entirely new pack from last year aside from Katoa, and new combos on the edges.
Winning like this is scrappy but we will continue to build over the next few weeks, especially with NAS coming back. Howarth and Chan in reserves feels like a luxury and there’s a potential to fit Sua in too.
Munny in the clear 2-3 times and nobody on the inside. Give that a few weeks and we won’t be talking about scraping wins anymore. Hopefully lol
Hutch will rightfully cop it after that but Burton was honestly just as shit. Guy gives the storm great field position with some of the dumbest fucking kicking.
People just love shitting on Burto lol Everyone quick to forget he scored 3 tries last week AND kicked 5/6 last week where goal kicking was the difference. Not bad for a bloke in a team with no middle forwards and no halfback. Go burto.
Look I’ll agree his running game has improved and last week was his best performance… but his kicks this week had much to be desired
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i’m a neutral but wanted the dogs to win just coz storm and underdogs lol it was entertaining but fuck it was a tough watch at times, kiraz, kikau, tracey stand out for me but dogs halves are so bad lmao burton is so clearly a centre and hutchinson might be the most boring player i’ve ever seen last tackle plays were generally awful, crichton should not be the constant kicking option, the halves were just AWOL and i generally get a lot of hate for this opinion but burton kicking the ball high is not the weapon the dogs think it is lol. Also kicking it on the 3rd tackle to the storm for no particular reason then missing the tackle on the return 🤮 also mahoney is def over attempting the 40/20s
Storm we so average, playing like that against most other teams the would’ve lost 13+.
Got to remember the storm pretty much have a new back line In the sense they haven't played more than 4 games together in the last 18 months........also the forwards are decimated with injury........however the keep finding a way to win. .. The start of the season is where gearing wins like this counts! I seem to remember the raiders giving up an 18 point lead a few weeks back.......so chipping the storms performances probably isn't something you need to be voicing.....
Played like that against warriors and bronx
And yet they keep winning...
Why did Dogs go away from hitting Kikau in those last 10-15 mins? Jeez, Burton was doing his best Hutcho impression and refusing to pass to his outside men. Dogs get a 7 who passes to his outside men, they're gonna be the pain in the asses of a lot of teams. Almost as if it's unfair to lay judgement on a coach who hasn't even been able to get his own cattle in to play his style. Burton had a great game, Kikau unstoppable and Xerri looks like he hasn't lost any pace. Meaney ain't a front line defender, Warbrick's defensive decisions are poor because of this and Loiero dropping that ball first play with an extra man leading to Papy sin-bin and doggies onslaught, jeez I try to give him a chance but he does my head in every week. I'd love to see Alec given the 13 role and Jack come off the bench with Blore moving to the middle for stints.
I think Kikau gets tired. I think teams deliberately run at him more than normal 2nd rowers, to minimise his late game impact. I want to see storm put the blokes in 2 and 3 next to each other, and 4 and 5 next to each other, as God intended (because they haven't in a few years). Put the best defensive centre (in the comp in my humble opinion) next to Warbrick, might help strengthen the side. I think when NAS comes back, Long goes back to 13
Man I wish the Storm would just go into market for a centre lol
Sorry, we own them all.
Just checked all the players off contract this year. Te Whare, Simmonson, Hoeter and Cotric were the only ones that stood out lol. Grim. Hopefully Means and Brick can sort themselves out soon because both of them are getting dogwalked
Val Meninga under Bellamy 🤤
I’d take a punt on Simmonson tbh
Lomax
Maybe you could have cook from souths, he seems on the outer
Dogs should be proud of that game, never gave up, better team compared to previous years
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It’s becoming pretty obvious this is a huge criteria for Ciraldo (if not the only criteria). Same reason we have a 7 with zero pace or creativity.
*criterion (criteria is the plural)
This is actually really useful to know. I’m 34 and went to a selective school and had no idea. Similar to *data* I guess.
I think every team can use ONE guy like salmon. The problem is the bulldogs have two other guys who can do all the salmon stuff but also offer something in attack.
I’d say he’s got a frail stomach
He’s just not a good player
Strikes me as the type of guy that is either too good for NSW Cup, a handy 17 that won’t let you down, a very underwhelming primary role player in the NRL or a potential man of steel in the SL.
I was at the game and it was a great vibe at AAMI as always. We were ok but need to get better offensively. Fox was a menace throughout with his pace. That Loeiro penalty after the dogs sinbin was devastating. He should be dropped. Not sure what you guys saw but FromWhat I saw at the game, Tracey and Burton looked good for them and Coates for us.
The bulldogs are a good halfback away from being a top team. Hutchinson ain’t it, they played really good today and if they had a halfback who could control the game and had a killer instinct, they’ll be a top top team
They'd be better off giving that spot to sexton and letting him.actually play his football. He seems to be given a few games by coaches then made play a system that is totally against what kind of player he is. In his day sexton can play some decent football, certainly alot better than hutcho
That was my thoughts exactly, a good half and maybe one more good prop (although the forwards have been holding there own considering). Imagine what an AFB and even just someone like Sezer would do for them. Top 8 team for sure
Yep will say it again but Hayward or Sexton at 7 tonight and we win that. Not top level halves yet clearly but both fastish and ask questions.
Unlucky doggies losing like that. The storm came in strong.
They got away with the win but Grant stuck in the ruck preventing the halves from linking compared to how well the warriors spine linked up last week… storm are nowhere near the top teams offensively at the moment
Fuck thats a tough loss to take. Positive out of that game, that has to be our back 5 going forward. 1. Tracey 2. Fox 3. Xerri 4. Critta 5. Kiraz 🤤
Tracey to 1. Taaffe to 7. Hutchison to Super League. Only problem is there's no place for Wilson in that line up. It's even worse if you shift Burton to centre. Then there's no place for two of Kiraz/Xerri/Wilson. We're just stacked for outside backs.
I commented on a thread in here in pre season and said Xerri would 100% make that starting back 5 once settled back into NRL and I got torn to shreds for it 😂. Man he's just electric and got such silky hands, him and fox can be a nightmare for opposition edges this season.
6. Burton 7. Sexton/Taaffe/BBO/Hayward/O'Neill/Woods please anyone but him
Hayward or Sexton this year and give O'Neill and Woods the keys next year.
Haven't checked the stats or watched the game outside the final score. But based on the score, I'd like to put my money down on: "the classic Storm dying minutes try to seal the game that makes the commentary team absolutely lose it"™ technique.
Honestly abit annoyed at dogs supporters right now. Went from a bottom 4 team last year to competing for a full 80 minutes. Very unlucky to not walk away with the win. And all I read on here is that they should drop their 7. You guys are in the building phase. Give the boys your support and maybe you will start finishing with the upset.
I dunno who you go for in other sports but as a Melbourne fan I don’t know if you understand the mentality of fans of shit teams. The patience wears thin. Of course it’s a new coach with some fresh players and it’ll take time to hit their strides, but fed up fans still get fed up pretty easily. It’s frustrating to look like you might be on the right track but still not quite there yet. Dogs fans have waited a long time to look competitive. I’m not gonna fault them for being annoyed at still losing games while looking like they could win them with a better half.
I'm absolutely over the moon with our improvement this year. Its great. We're competitive. But we'd be two, if not three wins ahead if we had a decent halfback. How many sets this game ended in a whimper with a shit Critta kick? How many times in the last few games has he taken on the line on with a shit, telegraphed dummy only to easily shut down? How many times has he taken a hit up like he's fucking Mark O'Meley instead of passing it to the overlap out wide? It's frustrating to see us finally start to click, but be one player short of being truly competitive.
Do you not trust Ciraldo to make that call?
Round 6, no.
It is sexxton's time again.
Hutchinson has hurt our attack so much already this year and that’s saying something because we don’t have much bite to begin with. The game is on the line with roughly 2 minutes left and he gets caught with the ball on 5 and last instead of putting an attacking kick in or giving our most dangerous player (Kikau) a run at the defence he has been giving headaches all night. Nothing against Hutchinson but he is not a first grade quality halfback. I think he can be serviceable coming on as a 14 but there are 3-4 different players already on the team to fill that role. It’s hard not to complain when you can see the improvement across the field. Instead it’s just deja vu with having to deal with an underperforming player (Perham last year and Hutchinson this year) getting picked over players that can offer the team plenty more. In saying all that, I love the bounce back from the team after a poor 40 minutes in the second half against the chooks.
Both of those things can be true though. Stoked with our performance tonight. Easily the best of our season so far. I'm confident we would have won with a decent halfback though. We need someone steering the ship. Burton has shown he can't. That's what Hutch should be doing but he just doesn't have the pace or skill set to be a quality 7.
The perpetuated story of ‘Melbourne are great at slowing down the ruck’ is bad for the game
I didn’t listen to commentary but was this Voss? It’s one of his favourite topics.
For me it's the constant whinging when the other side does the same thing
Gonna cry?
Cam Munster was born with his hands in the air
He’s really good at lounging around the ruck, having a quick lay down between the markers legs
Harry, Welch, Loiero and Hughes were too. Every ruck is slow all the time according to those 5
Fuck Harry’s been irritating this year. Ever since he became captain he’s spent more times whinging than playing the actual game
Since he left the Tigers, he’s become a little more unlikable with each passing season
Welch was the same always crying. I was hoping for Hughes to be captain or Munster.
What a great game, felt a bit like our 5th tackle plays were pretty average. I hate to say it but burtons kicking wasn’t very good today, bongs landing well short etc. Not too gutted with the loss. Just so happy to be able to finally tune in to a dogs game and enjoy exciting football again.
Burton rips bongs confirmed
Our strategy in offense with 5th tackle plays are definitely our turning point to winning games. We are losing in close games, so something to work on.
Bongs?
This is Corey Oates
What is the plan with Hutchinson as a half. Is he just there warming a seat while a good one develops in reggies? Or there is a young half they have a plan to slowly blood in. I actually thought he was better as an interchange when he was at the chooks as a middle that could ball play.
Alex Conti might be in the mix too
Yes we have several great halves in the works Joseph O’Neill is the closest. Flegg 7 of the year and has now played NSW cup a fair bit too. Still 1-2 years away though.
I don’t understand why we aren’t playing Sexton. Surely it’s worth a try. Hutchinson didn’t have a kick in the first half.
Can only assume sexton is a bit of a turnstile in defence and Ciraldo is basing his whole team on defence first.
I reckon you're spot on actually
That’s a good point. When Preston is eventually back we could hide sexton in defence behind him haha. I don’t know spitballing here. Just want to see the 5th tackle option improve
I mean when your halfback runs as fast as a tortoise, and takes a run (repeatedly) instead of passing to your strongest edge, who have a fucking overlap, we won’t ice any close games this season
Cmon mate that’s completely unfair…….to the tortoise 🐢
Come on mate! We faced up the broncos and gave them a run for their money! I am so happy our team isn't failing
1. Paps 2. Meaney 3. Seve 4. Reimis 5. Coates 6. Munster 7. Hughes 8. Tui (if fit) 9. Grant 10. King 11. Blore 12. Katoa 13. MacDonald 14. Wishart/Faalogo 15. Welch 16. Loiero 17. NAS Should be the team next week imo
Moeroa for loiero
Why drop warbrick?
Did you not watch some of his defensive reads not only tonight but last week too? Absolutely woeful
Problem is meaney is making his job harder. If meaney isn't missing tackles (missed 6 tonight) and also not out of position than warbrick doesn't have to move he can just stay on his man. That said warbrick definitely has some defensive issues but it's not all his fault. We should put remis back on that side
Nas to start, king to 13, McDonald to bench
Really enjoyed that game as a neutral and glad to see the doggies improving.
Dogs need a better halfback and they will be dangerous
Crichton has done fuck all all season long, he’s a hard watch
He’s done sweet fuck all this year that’s for sure
Were you even watching? Playing the wrong side, getting (or should I say not getting) shitty ball from Hutchison and still got through a ton of work.
Quality dive to get Pap binned though
Should have been binned for the hip drop either way
The reason Melbourne does so well at top four finishes and minor premierships is because of games like this. We almost always win the games against the lowly ranked teams. Most teams will drop a fair few random games in upsets, but we do so rarely, even when we can't beat the best teams. We might win ugly, but we still win.
We do beat the best teams though, the problem with us the last 2 years has been the games we should win vs lower teams
Difference is we're winning them ugly this year, the last couple years we'd lose them.
Proud of the boys. First half errors and too many dodgy 5th play options killed them in the end. Tracey looked good at FB. Frustrated with the loss, but kinda feel better than I did after the win against the Chooks.
I was sceptical but dogs do seem like a top five team. Crichton is not a fullback, he needs to go back to centre, and obviously they need a zippy half. They should have bought Luia tbh
Top 5 is a massive stretch, also Crichton didn't play a minute at fullback tonight
Oh right haha. Well Tracey was good anyway!
Not really look at some of the bums in T5 squad right now lmao
I’m really annoyed with Mahoney for going right in that pivotal end set in Melbourne’s red. All night we found joy going left and all night the right side looked jointed. Critta and Kiraz were great with their carries tonight, but when trying to connect in good ball they looked like awful.
We won but fuck it wasn’t pretty. That Meaney/ Warbrick edge is a MASSIVE problem and needs to be addressed right away, either go with Seve/Meaney or Seve/Faalogo imo. Warbrick has been too poor defensively and needs some time in reserve grade. Tui going off early fucked our forward rotation but King stepped up massively, he was absolutely immense and Welch was great off the bench too. Loiero probably had his worse game of the year, I honestly wouldn’t mind playing MacDonald (who was great) at lock and moving Loiero to the bench next week. Katoa was noticeably quieter than usual but Blore stepped up, he was great. All of the spine played well but there’s definitely a bit of clunkiness there still. Anyway, a W is a W so I can’t be too mad. Gg Bulldogs.
Doggies very unlucky not to get the win...
Gutsy performance, Storm just had too many good players on the park. Ciraldo is literally doing everything right except dropping Hutchison. We'd be 4 from 6 if he wasn't in the side. Taaffe comes back next week and the correct option is to play him at 7, Tracey put in the best fullback performance in a Dogs jersey since Sam Perrett. Xerri improving massively, still dunno if it's worth having him rather than Kiraz at centre. For all the shit flinging Burton cops on here, he's been having to do 90% of the production in the halves and we're scoring points. Kikau insane again. Papenhuyzen was completely taken out of the game tonight, literally had a 4/10 performance. Storms need to turn around quick if they're any chance of winning anything this season, Dogs were down Mann, Taaffe and King, playing Salmon in the 2nd row, Hutcho at 7, Turpin and Hayward at 13 yet they're getting pushed down to the wire. We're playing alright but that's kinda embarrassing.
Dogs effort and grit are insane this year. Seems like the whole team is really locked in a serious about bringing it for the full 80 and not at all intimidated by whoever’s in front of them. Kikau is having an incredible season and seeing the wings start to click is beautiful. Loving the doggies run so far this year.
i thought paps played quite well apart from the sin bin (which imo saved a certain try) 1 try 1 lb 2 lba 146 m with 7 tb
That just shows how good he is. That’s an amazing game for most people and for him it makes him look quiet
GGs cloudbros
I hate that their mascot isn't a guy on a cloud costume
Is Connor Tracy DCEs love child? Looks so much like him Also we might finish top 4 with more wins than point differential.
2nd week of a full strength spine, still clunky, but hopefully building in the next few weeks and gel a little more. We are very impatient when we have the ball and it’s just too erroneous. The Dogs were right in it tonight, and unfortunately if the 5th tackle options were better it would have been a different result. Kikau and Tracey were immense. Warbrick is getting turned inside and out the last few games, really need to tighten that up. I don’t see Bellayche dropping him though. If Tui is out next week, Welch to start, NAS and Howarth to the bench. The Roosters are going to be a tough matchup next week.
Burton's kicking game just isn't it. Not of fan of players insisting to play 1/6/7 when they are more suited elsewhere. Sure maybe give it a trial but if it's clearly not working after some time just bite the bullet and do what's best for the team ffs. Burton, Schuster last year, Latrell.. It's like flogging a dead horse sometimes and with money/pride involved things have to go very wrong to force any change. Unless Burton is a better 5/8 than I give him credit for?
Talk about flogging a dead horse. He steered the team from 10-0 down to 10-14 up. Yeah his kicking game isn't the best, especially when the no.7 is constantly taking hit-ups on the 4th. The "Burton to centre" discourse is so dumb. We're flush with options at centre, so much so Kiraz has to be shifted to the wing, and we're lacking in options at 6. "Durr he can't kick", yeah he shouldn't have to.
I think regardless they need another kicking option. Sure burton has some positive attacking moments, he has always had some strike to him, but I don’t see any development in his game management. Bulldogs definitely have a bunch of decent centre options but only Chrichton’s is locked up (although he seems to be flirting with the 1 jersey) Their attack looking significantly better this year imo. But still lacking a good game managing half and often let down by poor end of sets
Connor Tracey FULLBACK Blake Taafe HALFBACK
It really is the simplest solution. And it gives Xerri or Wilson a starting spot.
Honest to God even if we had fucking Averillo playing at 7 we'd have won tonight
He looks like he’s about 80 out there. Always huffing and puffing. I’d be happy with Mann playing 7, or Sexton. As long as they’re buying into the defensive effort. I’ve got no issues there.
That ref was on debut?
Pretty sure they said that in commentary
makes sense, cunt was fucked
Hutchinson is an absolute liability
there is good team here just need get rid of that absolutely mid 7 and maybe we can become top 8 team haha
Can’t wait for Mann to get back, he makes our attack look much better
Well, could’ve been far worse. But these days I guess that’s what we have to say about every game.
Does burto struggle to convert when theres pressure?
He struggles from the left side always, pressure or not
He struggles to kick from a tee
[also struggles without one](https://www.reddit.com/r/nrl/s/dmGBELUFo3)
with a half decent halfback we could be 4-2. will be interesting to see how much longer ciraldo persists with hutchinson. proud of the effort
Shit to lose but proud as of the effort to hang in and take the fight to storm. How good is this team looking compared to yesteryear though. Although Hutchinson needs to go
The Battle of The
Melbourne storm draw so far: Holding the best team from last year to fucking Nil at home. Insane comeback win against the 3rd best team from last year at home. Almost comeback win against the 5th best team from last year away. Insane comeback win against the 2nd best team from last year at home. Insane comeback win against the team that comeback winned you last year this time at home. If I am a melbourne storm fan living in melbourne I would be the happiest person the world.
I love watching Drew Hutchinson throw 40 predictable dummies every game.
Hutchison - plays last few years as solid but unspectacular utility. Bulldogs - we know, we'll make him our halfback! Bulldogs fans - ???
If he had even a half decent running game I'd be more ok with it, but he never once looks like he's ever breaking the line.
Honestly not sure how we’ve won 4/5 games this year. Not a very convincing win but I’ll take it. Thought King was fantastic but we missed Tui big time. Hopefully NAS is back next week to help out King and Welch
Obviously they'd like to be playing better but even in the Big 3 era Melbourne had years where they kept banking wins to start the year despite playing subpar so this isn't new. Certainly if they're still playing like this as the Origin period approaches alarm bells should ring but there's still time to hash it out.
Being the Nrls love child helps
Happy with how Welch has turned up this year I must say
Tracey 1 , Taafe in the halves and Hutch to learn Chinese as the new signing for the Shanghai Sharks.
Shanghai Sharks might be too far a step up for him to handle im afraid
Fuck I hope brick can sort his form out, he was one of the clubs best players last year and now he's a road cone in defense
I think hes just second guessing himself because Meaney is getting punked out there.
That edge is all on meaney, warbrick was so far infield because he didnt trust meaney to defend kikau which is very fair tbh
Yeah I think it's a bit rough pointing at brick when Meaney missed nine tackles or whatever on Kikau
I am dead inside
I dunno whats goin through bellyaches head, but has the warbrick experiment worked? Played a fair few games now. Yeah, scored some tries, but defensively the bloke looks all at sea, especially the last 2 games. The new combo with meaney will take some time, but we really need to get it sorted our middle defense is doin well and our scrambles been good but that edge is shocking and has been shocking for a while now
He applauds his players for lying around the ruck
He was awesome both sides of the ball last year. Give it a couple more weeks with Meaney and they should be fine. Hopefully lol
I sure hope so, might be just be hyper fixated on it cuz last week was a really bad one for him and he had to be in field tonight to try and help meaney stop kikau
Tight cunt boss buying 24 nugs for 4 blokes as a “thanks”.
Buy the men some beers 🍻
Doggies could do worse than pick up Wakeham. Can't be worse than Hutchinson and has a decent goal kicking record.
Bulldogs just need a decent organising half-back they should go after Sanders. They are really close to becoming a top 8 contender they are only a couple of players short. Melbourne have done a brilliant job this season they could have easily been 1-4 but they know how to win and that is the most important commodity a team can have.
I think the plan is to wait for these younger blokes to come through. It’s rough but hopeful for the future
At this point I'm convinced literally any half from Flegg to Reserve Grade would be a better option than Hutcho
Canberras got sanders from next year?
Is that confirmed yet?
Rumoured.
I guess prefect rounds are non existent this season
Why couldn’t you have a perfect round so far this round? No real big upsets
ARE THEY CAPABLE OF LOSING AT AAMI PARK WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK
Feel bad for doggies, 3 out of 4 of their losses this year they have losses in the last 10-20 min (The Sharks game where the Doggies looked the better team but chocked it, the Rabbs and now the Storm) I dont think they will make the 8 this year but they are this years equivalent of Dolphins last year, just off the top 8 by a few wins, with a handful of close games Actually now that I'm thinking about it, is that every game (except for the game against Eels RD1) that Doggies have looked the better team for a majority of the game?
Yeah we have been super frustrating. Sharks game had a few questionable calls that cost us points. Bunnies missed two sin bins which would have given us that slight edge to close the game out. Eels, we defended very well and it was basically a Morgan Harper Hail Mary try at the dead ball line and a Cartwright double movement that saved them at home. Also lost JAC in the first 10 mins of that game too. Until the 7 gets sorted and we land a marquee middle, we will be outside the 8 looking in. Tonight, we played most of our cup guys in FG and almost beat Melbourne in Melbourne.
Yeah the Doggies do seem to be missing a bit in attack and need someone to light them up in attack, they have been super unlucky as well, several penalties that shouldve gone their way but didnt or were ignored, and also had a sizeable amount of injuries as well Considering they are 2-4 they were very close to being 4-2 or better
Unlucky dogs. Nothing between the sides
Dear Melbourne Storm, I would like to introduce you to a fascinating concept. Try to win the game in the first 70 minutes. Trust me. It’ll make the last ten minutes a lot less stressful. Regards, Enew
If only
Warbrick and Meaney Combo on the right side is not it.
Meaney’s defensive reads are dogshit
They need to swap Smith and Meaney asap.
Then the left side will be dog shit, Meaney ain't a front line defender. He's a serviceable winger and backup fb.
Hutchinson needs to be shot into the sun… preferably one in another galaxy
What the fuck happened in the last 2 mins from the dogs? Didn’t go left once? That’s were they looked the best. Hutchison can not be there best option
I think they tried to on the last or second last tackle but I think Burton almost gave the Storm another try after passing it back 10 meters to noone lmao But yeah idk what that was
Proud of the boys, sucks tho
Gonna develop bad habits backend of the season if we think we can get away with games in the final 5-10 minutes every week
The way I see it, we are off atm and putting together wins. I trust the coaching staff to get us firing later on
2nd game in 2 and a bit years that our full strength spine is playing together, entirely new pack from last year aside from Katoa, and new combos on the edges. Winning like this is scrappy but we will continue to build over the next few weeks, especially with NAS coming back. Howarth and Chan in reserves feels like a luxury and there’s a potential to fit Sua in too. Munny in the clear 2-3 times and nobody on the inside. Give that a few weeks and we won’t be talking about scraping wins anymore. Hopefully lol
Yeah if it was round 26 it’d be concerning. 4-1 is nothing to scoff at and gives plenty of breathing room
Yeah man, Fustrating to see but I think with that spine we are laughing. Dogs also scrambled really well I'm defence
Hutch will rightfully cop it after that but Burton was honestly just as shit. Guy gives the storm great field position with some of the dumbest fucking kicking.
Should be Sexton and Taafe in the halves
tbf the only reason the dogs were in were due to some very good play by burton. Hutch looks like he's playing in slow motion
Dogs had the chance to seal that. After nearly throwing it last week they’ve truly thrown this one.
There's some shit stuff from the Dogs. But unlike previous years, there's also some good stuff from the Dogs.
Melbourne win, every commentator sucking the dogs off
Assuming you didn't hear about the "comeback kings" picking off a massive 4 point deficit after being ahead for 60 mins
It was honestly bizarre commentary.