HOW TO BEAT THE STORM
Ennis was captain of the Bulldogs in 2014, when they were beaten by Souths in the grand final. He missed the clash through injury but said the Cowboys, who finished eighth after the regular season, could create history tomorrow. Ennis says: “Don’t buy into the hype. We spoke at Cronulla last year about ‘ why not us?’, just because it hasn’t been done before, doesn’t mean it can’t be done and you have to go in with that mindset. They’ve played their finals series like that. The practice they’ve put in place the last Michael Ennis. three weeks is everything they need for Sunday.
“It ( 2014) was a funny finals series because we went in with pretty average form, pretty similar to the Cowboys, but we had a massive win in Melbourne in week one which gave us a heap of confidence.” There’s no better frontrunners in the game than the Storm. They’ve scored more tries in the first 20 minutes of games than anyone this year and once ahead, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith strangle teams into submission.
Ennis says: “The start is so crucial for the Cowboys. The first 25 minutes against Melbourne is game- deciding in my opinion. They need to get some scoreboard pressure on, even if it’s an early penalty goal. The frugal Storm defence is unlikely to be as generous as the three sides the Cowboys have played in the finals thus far. The Cowboys will be keen to make it a low scoring arm wrestle. Ennis says: “If Melbourne scores more than 14 or 16 points against the Cowboys they win, their defence is too good. As boring as it sounds they need to control the football. The teams who have played the Cowboys in recent weeks have beaten themselves. We made three errors in the grand final last year, you have to be at your absolute best to beat them, and you’ve got to scramble defensively because that’s what they do so well. They just don’t give you a cheap try, so you can’t afford to give them a cheap try.” The Cowboys have completed at over 80 per cent in all three of their finals games, but by no means have they done so by playing conservatively. They’ve dominated possession, but also managed to throw plenty at the opposition defence.
Ennis says: “The positive for the Cowboys is they’re going to ask a lot of questions of Melbourne’s defence. They really move your big guys around and they have to do that against Melbourne who have such a big forward pack. The Cowboys don’t have a huge forward pack but they have to use that to their advantage, control the football.” The Sharks forced Smith ( left) to make 67 tackles in last year’s grand final, which limited his effectiveness in attack. Ennis says: “The thing which pleases Shane Flanagan most is we did everything he asked of us in terms of limiting their key players. Cameron is their go- to man and the orchestrator of all their set pieces, and you can never shut Cameron out of a game, but you can limit his impact. He made 70- odd tackles so it was pretty clear what our plan was, and our big guys and outside backs, especially in the second half, targeted him well.“ As if his final game for Melbourne isn’t motivation enough, Cooper Cronk ( above) was well below his best in last year’s grand final and that would have eaten away at him for 12 months. Several current and former playmakers have said halves need more protection after Brisbane Bronco Adam Blair’s late hit on Cronk last week. But Ennis says the Cowboys must get in his face, within the rules.
Ennis says: “You’ve got to get up in his face and unsettle his cohesion. You’ve got to pressure his kicking game relentlessly so he never gets a clean kick away. He likes to play to his back- rowers on the edges and come down a short side with ( Billy) Slater, or link back to the open side with ( Cameron) Munster or Slater. Whenever he went to the line and, I don’t think we did anything dirty, we made sure we put him on the ground. When he’s down on the ground he can’t double up on plays. It’s been the way forever and a day, if the halfback goes into the line you’re entitled to put a shot on him. But you can’t be running out of the line and giving away penalties on such a big day just to try and unsettle Cronk, it won’t work. He’s tough and he bounces up.” Given two big Sydney clubs were competing, Ennis remembers the lead- up to the 2014 grand final being absolute bedlam. He believes the fact the Cowboys have bunkered down away from the Townsville hype all finals series will galvanise them.
Ennis says: “The good thing for them is they saw what it did to the community only 24 months ago, and how special it is. They get it ( hype) early in the week, but then they get a break from that. To get away together as a team and focus clearly is a huge bonus. You walk through the street, someone says ‘ good luck on Sunday’ and all of a sudden you start thinking about the game. I think the Cowboys have the Storm in a great position.”