Purple metre eaters lurking
THEY are Melbourne’s other Big Three – the trio of monsters whose 344kg of forward muscle threatens to bash North Queensland into submission in tomorrow night’s NRL grand final.
While Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk are the brains, big boppers Jesse Bromwich, Jordan McLean and Nelson AsofaSolomona provide the brawn for Melbourne’s success.
The towering trio will combine to terrorise Cowboys wrecking ball Jason Taumalolo at ANZ Stadium, with Storm insiders declaring they have never seen a bigger pack in the club’s 19-year history.
Bromwich (194cm and 114kg) is Melbourne’s chief enforcer.
The Cowboys-bound McLean (196cm and 115kg) is his engine-room cohort, while Asofa-Solomona (200cm and 115kg) is the two-metre mono- lith who wreaks carnage off the interchange bench.
The growth of Melbourne’s pack is no fluke. When the Storm were beaten twice by the Roosters during the 2014 season, skipper Cameron Smith met with coach Craig Bellamy and said Melbourne needed more muscle to win another premiership.
“It’s the biggest pack I’ve seen in my time here,” Melbourne football operations chief Frank Ponissi said.
“We actually came up with a plan at the end of the 2014 season – Cam Smith was the instigator of it.
“He went to Craig Bellamy and myself and said that we needed a bigger pack.
“He said we couldn’t compete for the premiership if we didn’t get bigger.”
Taumalolo said: “They’ve not only got size, they’ve got a great passing game and speed,
“They are great through the middle and the Big Three (Cronk, Slater and Smith) guide them around the park.”