Kenny Bromwich celebrates with teammates after scoring a try during the round 25 NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and the North Queensland Cowboys. Photograph: Robert Prezioso/Getty Images
Kenny Bromwich celebrates with teammates after scoring a try during the round 25 NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and the North Queensland Cowboys. Photograph: Robert Prezioso/Getty Images
Melbourne bury the spectre of that haunting loss against the Knights in the best possible fashion. Resolute defence the hallmark of that performance, but Cronk’s kicking game perhaps also a factor.
The Cowboys huffed and puffed, but really needed an X-factor. JT had some moments but also one particular high profile error that cost his side. Tamou was sorely missed in the forwards, his ability to grind down opposition big men was notably absent as the Storm remained disciplined in the tackle.
An inability to capitalise on early dominance has hurt the North Queenslanders, and once the hosts were in front the old heads of Smith et co. were able to control proceedings from there.
Loses to the Storm, Cronulla and Souths over the last four weeks - the three teams immediately below them on the ladder - bodes poorly for the Cowboys as they approach the pointy end of the season.
Much for Paul Green to ponder to prevent an otherwise promising season ending in meek capitulation.
Well, they were so very close to handing the Cowboys a big fat donut on the scoreboard. And the ball finishes in the arms of Ryan Hinchcliffe, in his last game in front of his home fans.
78 min: And if that’s not some wilful cursing I don’t know what is - in the shadow of the full-time siren the Melbourne defensive line has finally been breached!
JT with a perfect crossfield kick and Feldt rises highest to put it in the corner.
76 min: Looking back over the Cowboys’ last few rounds - they’ve registered scores of 50, 18, 18, 32, 46 and 30 - so to be staring at being kept pointless is a remarkable achievement by the hosts.
They’ve lacked a bit of creativity at times, but the conditions have perhaps stifled inventiveness tonight.
A penalty for a high shot, and now the Queenslanders have perhaps one final chance to get on the scoreboard.
73 min: A sly little grubber from JT looking for the angled runner but it’s well-read from Munster. They protect their line. I can’t remember the rest of that thought because Brandy’s just uttered the phrase “finish with a home semi” and I’ll be honest, my imagination has just run off for a while.
Munster again with some fine work at the back - I’ll be eager to see the MOTM thoughts, but both fullbacks have been excellent, albeit with intermittent moments of madness.
71 min: Both sides exchange dropped balls - Gavin Cooper appears to have given himself a falcon there - attempting to catch a lofted kick with his noggin; great stuff.
The Cowboy’s chances of a top-two finish appear to ebbing away as we speak. They need something and they need it very soon.
68 min: Almost! The Cowboys thought they had a try, but some scrambling cover from Munster knocks it dead. Desperately close, the visitors, but they’ll have to settle for a drop out.
They’ve forced the play now, and some poor ball security is punished - a Storm scrum 20m out, and that window of opportunity goes begging.
I’ve praised the Cowboys defence, but in fairness, in greasy conditions the Storm have done remarkably to prevent their moat from being forded.
A score reminder - nil is the number of points they’ve conceded thus far.
66 min: Smith not afraid to chance it on the last, but after a series of hot potato, it’s ended with a Cowboys penalty. Their first in 60 minutes for those of you who are counting.
62 min: If you hadn’t spotted already that I’m a notorious Coote fan, I’ve only just noted that it’s Brandy Alexander providing commentary on the telly. Next Fittler will pop up from nowhere and just make this a real chocolate soldiers love-in.
Thurston clears, and Koroibete stretches the legs. He is a big lad, this kid, would not want to be first tackler on those ball returns.
Smith and Green push some passes on the 4th with Melbourne testing the righthand defence. Coote now gets a hand on a cheeky Smith kick and it’s six more.
They’ve been good in defence the Cowboys, but surely they can’t survive this type of barrage much longer, could they?
60 min: Ray Thompson with a crucial tackle - before Coote keeps a Melbourne man about 12mm short. Munster almost piles over but about 5 Cowboys hold him up.
Resolute work, that - and the Queenslanders have survived.
58 min: Cowboys about 10m out, JT with the angled run, and now O’Neill is kept aching short - the former Melbourne man was so nearly over, but man-mountain Koroibete shows great strength to hold him up. Great defence!
Meanwhile at the other end Coote and Thurston have combined to put the Cowboys under pressure. This is getting Jekyll and Hyde from the NQ stars; some suspicion of Cronk getting a hand in that ball to ground.
Not to be, and it’s the Storm about 15m out with five tackles to run.
55 min: Munster is making some ground here - gosh, I’d love to drop a well placed Munster joke here, but in honesty I’ve not been. Any Irishmen out there willing to step up? Otherwise you’ll get a Münster joke; but I’m not sure how funny that will be.
Storm knocking at the door now; Cronk with a dangerous grubber and an absolutely excellent clean out from Coote. Comes flying across his line and then shows great hands to hold on to that one. He’s been a standout for the Cowboys.
And now, JT’s come up with a great play dragging our lad Munster back into his ingoal. Could this be a turning point? Cowboys REALLY need to make this six count.
50 min: And.. from the ideal position - the Storm have lost it! Ooh, a second look makes that look like a strip, rather than a classic dropped ball; there you go aggrieved Cowboys fans - you’ve been given a real freebie. See, refs are just trying their best guys, and sometimes they are consistent. Consistently right or wrong is immaterial.
48 min: A close up of Craig Bellamy absolutely losing his **** - not really sure what prompted that but whatever chips he had previously have now well and truly been spat.
Cowboys try to bring it out from their own line, but it’s pretty short metres. Thurston approaches the line, tries to fire his side. But the chipped kick is dealt with from Munster. He’s performed with aplomb tonight in Billy Slater’s absence. Not too sold by his flash pink boots though. That’s some lairy business.
And from seemingly nothing the Storm have conjured a 40-20! Nice work, and now the Cowboys brace for further punishment.
Conversion - Melbourne 14-0 North Queensland (Smith)
45 min: That’s a real sucker punch for the Cowboys. Doesn’t matter what the coach tried to tell them at halftime, they’ve come out and suffered a head knock and then a really sloppy error from their skipper. Deflating stuff.
Storm test Coote with another highball, not the best tactic for mine, has the kid ever dropped one in the history of all time? No. Fact. (*rifles through book of facts*)
Still, it’s Melbourne getting better metres in their sixes so far in the half, and now they’re not afraid to chance their arm as they try to throw it about.
42 min: Oh no, oh no - a really regrettable handling error from Thurston and the Storm have capitalised! Cronk with a probing grubber, JT attempts to pick up and get out of his ingoal but leaves the leather behind. Chambers capitalises.
Pffft! Second Half - Melbourne 8-0 North Queensland
40 min: The Storm start with it after a towering kick off from the Queenslanders (Feldt perhaps?).
Winterstein tested by a highball, but comes through. Now the Cowboys are making good ground down the left flank but Koroibete deals comfortably with JT’s testing crossfield kick.
Now Kostjasyn is down in backplay and players are looking concerned. A possible concussion, he doesn’t look to sharp as he leaves the pitch.
Your thoughts on that first forty? Seems pretty straightforward, Storm worthy of their lead, ne c’est pas? I don’t speak French so feel free to write in and correct that instead, if that’s what you enjoy on a Saturday night.
The Cowboys’ aggrieved perhaps that a great passage of play was chalked out due to a offensive foul in the lead up. But the refs arguably on the money with that call.
Can they channel the anger and make up the deficit after the break? Mal sehen.
JT continues the conversation as the players leave the field; he’s debating the finer points of offside with ref Cummins, the NQ co-captain certainly isn’t too happy about something.
To be fair though, it’s been that classic story of non-capitalisation from the Cowboys. They had the lion’s share of possession early on and didn’t make it count; the Storm went up the other end and did.
Bellamy the happier coach with the ‘siren’ sounding (we’ll delve into whatever that noise was during the break); it’s the Storm by eight.
39 min: No try! Cronk taken out by one of the Cowboy defenders in the build up, and the video ref has adjudged that it affected the outcome. Hard on JT and friends, but perhaps fair.
Now they’re scrambling to defend their own line with less than a minute to play in the first half. Temperature rising - Now JT’s barking at the ref. Some classic “But sir” feedback, but all for nought.
37 min: Storm pinged for a forward pass about 20m out; a let off for the Cowboys. What can they muster?
Well, Lowe goes down injured in the tackle, but then what follows looks pretty amazing - Coote beats his man outside, before Thurston puts a great kick cross field to pick out one of his wide man.. Are they over the Cowboys? The visiting fans loved it, Captain Whistles’ going upstairs again..
34 min: Suddenly Koroibete is everywhere, he’s making an impressive dash from dummy half. Cronk isolates Winterstein 1v1 with Duffy with a lovely grubber, the ball falls loose and the Storm reckon they’ve grounded it inside the back try line..
32 min: Koroibete is causing trouble out wide with some powerful running, he combines well with Munster, as suddenly its the Cowboys on the back foot. They concede the penalty attempting to slow down the play the ball.
Duffy lines up Coote 1v1, he looks for all money like he’s heading for the corner - but an absolute trysaving tackle from the former Penrith man! Great work, Coote. Hopefully his teammates take inspiration from that.
Conversion - Melbourne 8-0 North Queensland (Smith)
30 min: From almost in front Smith adds the extras.
The Cowboys with it 30m out. Some pretty standard one-out running here, as they grind towards halfway and shuffle a dribbling kick that’s comfortably dealt with.
28 min: A nice angled run from Smith and he puts Bromwich comfortably through a hole. Nothing too fancy, just good angles. Cowboys will be aggrieved to be pointless here.
27 min: I wasn’t joking about these greasy conditions - I’d hate to see the set-completion stats, because both sides are guilt of just dropping the pill here.
25 min: Oh lordy, a shocking fumble from Will Chambers from the dropout and he’s put it down cold. Nobody within cuckoo of him - if we were at the ‘Gee we could all shout ‘Footsteps!’ for that one.
Poor hands there, no Wilt Chamberlain, is our man from Gove.
22 min: Now that’s better, a much better kick to the corner; weighted perfectly and the Cowboy’s fullback is forced across the deadball line in his own ingoal. Line drop out, and the Storm start to gather their first passages of momentum.
They’re probing and scheming, and now a ricocheting ball forces another drop out.
19 min: Showing my age but from hair-view alone does anyone else think Granville looks deceptively like Nathan Hindmarsh? Not a day goes past that I don’t miss Nathan Hindmarsh.
Cronk puts a kick through, not the best from Storm’s halfback. A pretty nondescript set of six from the Cowboys in return though, so the Storm back with it.
14 min: Some mixed imagery there - would mediaeval torturers have existing in a world with chips? What even does the expression spitting chips mean? Gosh, the English language can be daft sometimes.
Storm with it about 30m out, massive tackle by Granville - no, Captain Whistle, you can’t pin that, that’s a cracking tackle. Sure, the players gone ‘over the axis’ but that’s rubbish.
Smith takes the freebie - he points to the sticks to indicate a penalty shot to come.
10 min: And, I made myself one promise tonight, and glad to report it’s taken less than ten minutes for me to break it. No mispelling of JT’s name, said I; can’t do, said fingers.
It really is unconventional business, this John-athan caper. Can we just all sign off on JT? Okay.
Storm now with their first look at the pill - Smith tries to spread it wide from about 10m out, but they in turn have dropped it. A great desperate tackle from JT and Linnett scampers 40 to put the pressure back on the men in purple.
Bellamy would be spitting chips, his side have put themselves right back on the rack.
8 min: Half a gap by Jonathan T, he’s just 12m out; but from the next play the Cowboys have spilled it. A let off - put that one down to some strong Storm defence and some treacherous conditions. Light drizzle really is the enemy of ball possession.
6 min: A third consecutive penalty for the visitors, they need to make this early dominance count. JT and Thompson combine ominously but the Storm rightside defence is equal to the task.
Coote with a well-weighted bomb, and the Cowboys pin Koroibete inside his in-goal. Line drop out.
5 min: Not the most impressive from the Cowboys - JT ends a directionless passage of play with a crossfield kick - Winterstein looks to capitalise but he’s comfortably dealt with. Storm hang on.
1 min: And we’re underway - Melbourne kick off, the Cowboys hold the first pill and send a series of reasonably straight-batted hit ups. Early look at JT who gives a skittish 10-15m run, before Coote puts it on the boot. The Storm now about 30m out from their own line.
As always, feel free to shoot your observations (learned or otherwise), witticisms or general quips to get involved in the conversation - either via the twitters @rrjparkin or the emails.
Failure to do so will see me trawl the internet aimlessly bringing you whatever unrelated content has the misfortune to fall into my indiscriminate gaping maw.
Where are you following tonight’s game from? Hanging out with Tuareg rebels in southern Mali? Walking the Kokoda track? Let me know.
G’day - Richard Parkin in the chair here at Guardian HQ. Will be on to the action for Storm v Cowboys as soon as I’ve caught my breath from Knights v Bulldogs!
A frenetic and frenzied finish to that one, and wasn’t it great to see Kurt Gidley cross the line in his 250th game; shame his teammates couldn’t quite snare the win for him. Two competition points for the Dogs therefore, as they leapfrog (albeit possibly temporarily) the Storm into 6th spot on the ladder.
Okay, team line ups:
Melbourne Storm
1. Cameron Munster; 2. Marika Koroibete; 3. William Chambers; 4. Kurt Mann; 5. Matt Duffie; 6. Blake Green; 7. Cooper Cronk; 8. Jesse Bromwich; 9. Cameron Smith (c); 17. Jordan McLean; 11. Kevin Proctor; 12. Tohu Harris; 14. Ryan Hinchcliffe
Interchange:
10. Tim Glasby; 13. Kenny Bromwich; 16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona; 19. Christian Welch.
North Queensland Cowboys
1. Lachlan Coote; 2. Kyle Feldt; 3. Justin O’Neill; 4. Kane Linnett; 5. Antonio Winterstein; 6. Ray Thompson; 7. Johnathan Thurston (c); 8. Matt Scott (c); 9. Jake Granville; 10. Ben Hannant; 11. Gavin Cooper; 12. Ethan Lowe; 16. Scott Bolton
Interchange:
13. Jason Taumalolo; 14. Rory Kostjasyn; 15. John Asiata; 17. Ben Spina.
There’s a bit of drizzle falling in Melbourne, just for a change, which may suit the hosts. If not for any other reason that they’ve endured Melbourne for longer I guess.
Really looking to see what kind of a response there will be from Cronk, Smith et al. after a truly stinky showing against the Knights. That said, the Novacastrians appear to have found some late season pride - or conversely, they just really want to see Robbie Farah finish with a first-ever wooden spoon. Who can say.
The Storm will be looking to make amends for a frankly awful showing against the Knights, and will be hoping to keep their slender chances of a top four spot alive.
The Rabbitohs’ loss last night aids this, but late heroics this afternoon from an aging menace, Michael Ennis, has put Cronulla in the box seat.
Melbourne fans will be hoping the midweek news of Billy Slater’s re-signing with the club will boost morale (and not see The Kid get complacent with another contract secured), as he joins skipper Cameron Smith in the quest to be one-club men – an increasingly rare and admirably trait in today’s commercial footy environment.
For the Cowboy’s part, they’re already secure in the four, and heavy wins to both the Roosters and Broncos has already put paid to any hope of cutting back the top two’s net points differential with a heavy win here.
Shorn of two of their origin reps Michael Morgan and James Tamou through injury that particular outcome looks increasingly unlikely, but they have edged three of their last four encounters with the Storm, including a memorable extra-time win in the reverse fixture during round 4.
It’s never dull when Maroon teammates Cronk and Thurston go head-to-head, and with form incredibly important at this late stage of the season, expect this one to be a belter.
Hi all - hope this finds you well if your respective lives this sunny/gloomy/windy Saturday afternoon/Friday wee hours.*
Richard Parkin will be in the chair shortly at Guardian HQ to take you through all the live action from this important top-eight showdown between Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys.
In the interim here’s an excerpt from Nick Tedeschi’s round preview:
Defending premiers South Sydney will attempt to hang onto a top four spot against Brisbane without Greg Inglis. Hope remains high at Redfern because of the return of Issac Luke but despite Luke being arguably the hooker of 2015, Inglis remains a more important cog in the Rabbitohs machine. Since 2013 the Rabbitohs are 6-6 when Inglis is absent from the cardinal and myrtle.
The Rabbitohs looked lifeless when Inglis hurt himself late in last week’s loss to the Bulldogs and were soundly beaten by also-rans Wests Tigers and Penrith in their last two games sans their skipper.
With the Broncos fit and firing – and the Roosters on the slate for the final round – the Bunnies are staring down the barrel of finishing in the bottom half of the eight with their star player unlikely to be at full fitness if available at all.
Mmm, remarkably prescient there, given the spanking the Bunnies went on to receive - good fun if you’re a fan of 15/16 of the league’s other offerings.
Can the Storm take advantage of the Rabbitohs’ pummelling and try and pilfer their spot in the four? We’ll find out shortly, with kickoff not too far away.
