Friggin Storm

[Big Poppa Pump]

I know I shouldn't be surprised but the game was very dirty and full of niggle.

Slater elbows Boyd in the face, Blair and Smith trying to twist legs off, Cheyse Blair pulling Adam Blairs hair, Sims dropping elbows, Thaiday 3rd man into Vunivalu's back and then rippping at Bromwich's thumb. He should get a charge for that one.

[Headless Chook]

Yep all fair points. But what I was getting at is that Melbourne were so dominant. Their defence was awesome also. Brisbane were great in defence BUT Melbourne owned field position and the game.

I really didn't see the dominance you are talking about from Melbourne. They dominated possession and field position sure, but needed a lucky bounce and a goal line conversion to get the points in the end. Dominance would be if Brisbane were never in the hunt and the Storm towelled them, not a 2 point win courtesy of a try in the dying stages

[Tommy Smith]

The Pump has made an appearance! A welcome visit from an old Wallster regular

And yes, two very dirty teams. Luckily the media lovefest will ensure that their indiscretions are overlooked.

Thaiday's act in particular was very low. And his push from behind. A real snake who would have got hammered 20-30 years ago.

[Johnny Tobin]

The Thaiday thumb-rip actually made me feel sick. Let's not forget that was a compound fracture. What a revolting act.

[redwhiteblue]

The Pump has made an appearance! A welcome visit from an old Wallster regular

And yes, two very dirty teams. Luckily the media lovefest will ensure that their indiscretions are overlooked.

Thaiday's act in particular was very low. And his push from behind. A real snake who would have got hammered 20-30 years ago.

Actually, I read this online today and I didn't realise how dirty the game was until I found the article..oh why am I not surprised? Look at the lineup..ugh. I have a long list of filthy players I can't stand watching and when they all retire, I might start watching other games as well as ours...

funniest moment of my day so far is listening to the Manly fans at work getting stuck into the Broncos fan for following such a dirty team...pot kettle etc...

[stringaz]

The Thaiday thumb-rip actually made me feel sick. Let's not forget that was a compound fracture. What a revolting act.

I know its a tough game but that is not on. Like Gallen ripping at stitches ffs. What kind of human does something like that?! Its just a game of footy not life or death. If JT is gone for 2 weeks for that shoulder charge, then thaiday the grub should be cited for contrary conduct.

[roosterproud]

boring as batshit to watch. simple boring footy

[PeeGee]

boring as batshit to watch. simple boring footy

Agree 100% with that.................

[ROC181]

The Storm beat the dogs first round by 6 then they beat the warriors by 16. Then they beat the Broncos by 2. The results still say that the Storm are not as good as we perceived they are. They may have a good defence but as far as scoring points, there could be a problem. The warriors were beaten by the dogs in NZ. I can't wait till tomorrow to see how good, or bad we are against a fast young side.

[John Corey]

I don't care who played better. I'm just happy Fatboy Thaiday lost. Nothing but a grub.

I gotta say tho, Darius Boyd is a great footballer. Great fullback who would also kill it at 5/8 imo.

[PeeGee]

boring as batshit to watch. simple boring footy

One thing about the Storm is that they defend like mad. I don't think any or many teams last year scored more than 20 against them.

[Kingbilly]

I gotta say tho, Darius Boyd is a great footballer. Great fullback who would also kill it at 5/8 imo.

I regretfully have to admit I am thinking the same thing about him being a great fullback, and it annoys the crap out of me because I can't stand him..
I just wanted a storm player to put one on his chin when he kept hold of the ball and threw it away whenever there was a penalty or turnover

[ism22]

I regretfully have to admit I am thinking the same thing about him being a great fullback, and it annoys the crap out of me because I can't stand him..
I just wanted a storm player to put one on his chin when he kept hold of the ball and threw it away whenever there was a penalty or turnover

I don't think he's a great fullback. He's just confident and has the same kind of structure/reading ability as anybody else who constantly gets picked for QLD and Australia.

His form with Newcastle was telling. Take away his confidence and he'll play like poo and slip into a depression. Give him a world cup, an unbeaten Origin record and a coach who loves him to bits plus a team who are favourites to win the comp... he'll be on cloud 9, gain confidence and back himself.

Look clearly he's a good player. But Gordon's a good player! Guys like Dugan, Tedesco, Coote, [Latrell], Hayne, Munster, GI, Slater, Barba, Moylan...etc (in my opinion) have a lot more potential than Boyd as a FB. And yet Boyd gets to play for QLD and Australia!!!! Would I want Darius Boyd as a Rooster? Not really. As somebody who has suffered from mental health conditions (and struggled with the job market as a result), I think it's fair to question how capable a guy is if he can't perform without a star-studded squad and Wayne holding his hand. Given the right circumstances he is an integral part of VERY elite teams (where pressure is taken off him by the talent of others around him). I suspect his mental health condition is such that he's great at focussing on smaller tasks and sticking to a plan, but can't handle change or added pressure very well. As such, I think he would struggle with the Roosters (and would obviously never come here anyway).

[Yak]

still best at the wrestle too. absolute masters

I actually think we look like we have very close to the best ruck defence in the comp this year. Our contact has been excellent and very consistent through the 80 mins for the two games so far. Hopefully nothing changes in that department tonight. Just watch how good our grip is after first contact. We've conceded far fewer offloads than we were last season because we're controlling the attackers shoulders and stopping momentum so well. Against the Titans 4/5 tackles would finish with the attacker on his back. It's giving us great line speed which is really helping us dominate in the ruck and putting great pressure on opposition halves when they move into first receiver. It's so important that we continue all this if the up and in style that defend with wide is going to be good enough to win us a comp. So important to get that inside pressure to make the halves play early so your backrowers and halves can slide and cover any slip ups.

If you look at all tries against us so far this season, I think only two have been from defensive line errors. All the Titans tried were from kicks. And two Dogs tries were directly off our errors.