Raiders revel in eye of the Storm
NRL champion Cooper Cronk says Melbourne Storm play a style that can “unsettle” Canberra on Saturday night, despite a recent run of outs against the Green Machine.
The Raiders have worried the Storm out of the past three games. And with victory at GIO Stadium tonight, they could become just the sixth team to win four straight against Melbourne.
It has happened only once in the Craig Bellamy era, when the bogy Bulldogs won six from 2013-16.
Incredibly, the Raiders’ wins have all been in Melbourne.
“It’s always come down to one moment that’s been the difference, but I think Melbourne is just playing at a higher level this time, and their good players are influential,” Cronk said.
“They just hang in and hang in, and when they get the opportunity they tend to make the right decision.”
Storm stunned premiers Sydney Roosters in extra-time last week, scoring multiple tries from opposition errors.
“As they say in boxing, styles make fights, but when Canberra plays Melbourne it ends up being the same style from each team, and then it is who can be resilient enough,” Cronk said.
“Who can be ruthless enough at doing those highpercentage plays for longer periods of time, and then it comes down to an individual or a moment.”
Storm gave up an 18-4 lead in Round 22 last year, and then Josh Addo-Carr lost the ball late in the first final to set up the Raiders’ matchwinning try.
The teams locked horns in Round 3 when the competition resumed, and the Raiders torched Storm 22-6, with halfback George Williams setting up two of his team’s four tries.
“The blueprint for the Raiders is exactly what they did Round 3,” Cronk said.
“They played really fast, the halves were up over the advantage line.
“Melbourne, whether they’re winning by 40 points or down by four, play the same and like to suffocate teams and take teams into uncomfortable areas they haven’t been before and just grind it out.”
With injured Raiders Iosia Soliola and Emre Guler out, Cronk said Melbourne would hammer the middle.
“Those guys have been the cornerstone of the Raiders pack the last 18 months,” the six-time grand final winnerturned-Fox Sports analyst said.
“Those people aren’t there, so you miss some consistency.
“I expect Melbourne to see if the new recruits that Canberra puts in can hold up.
“The right-side defence of the Raiders has been carved up since the resumption. No doubt (Storm will) go down the middle and try to systematically break them down.”