Dominant Storm a roadblock for Eels

PARRAMATTA need to overturn almost a decade of misery to beat Melbourne on Saturday night but if the Eels can pull it off, history says they’re almost certain to go on to make the grand final.

Seven of the nine teams to beat the Storm in the finals since 2011 have made the decider and each of the past five premiers (with the exception of 2017, when Melbourne won the competition) have had to take down Craig Bellamy’s men to either qualify for or win the grand final.

The road to the premiership leads through Melbourne.

But in recent years – including a 32-0 footballing lesson in last year’s finals – the Eels haven’t been able to match the Storm when it’s mattered most.

“I think they’re a tough match-up for anyone, not just us,” said Eels skipper Clint Gutherson.

“Last year they probably showed us how to play finals footy properly, a few of us hadn’t experienced finals footy and we’ve learned a lot from that.

“(I learned about) the intensity, how much bigger it feels than a regular season game. Everything you do you need to find an extra gear.

“We just have to go out there and play our style of game. If we can go out and play footy and 1-17 do their job for the team we’ll put ourselves in a position to win.”

Parramatta beat the Storm 14-0 in Round 15 in their only meeting of 2020, but the Victorians were without Cameron Smith, Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Jesse Bromwich.

In fact, you need to go all the way back to 2012 to find the last time the Eels beat the Storm when Cameron Smith was playing.

The Eels’ only victories over the purple machine since came when Melbourne were without their Origin players.

The belting in the finals last year wasn’t the worst flogging the Storm put on Parramatta in 2019 either – in Round 9 they tore them to shreds in a 64-10 destruction at Suncorp Stadium, the venue of Saturday’s final.