I’m going to bow out now after a fascinating introduction to season 2021. Keep an eye out for a match report soon but until then, thanks for joining me. Pleasure as always. Good evening to you!
Cameron Munster is, on the whole, satisfied with a first half during which the Storm “put on really good points and shapes”.
“We spoke about completions and spoke about getting to that kick. We did that first 15, 20 minutes. Put on really good points and shapes. After that the back end of the game in the first half we let them back in. Scored an easy try. Just vice versa in the second half just complete and gave the Rabbitohs a chance. When you give them a chance they make you give them a chance they make you pay.
“Excited with the way the team is going. We just got to keep chipping away each week and get better.”
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And here’s what Latrell Mitchell had to say at full-time:
Melbourne started well. They come out with the intent to win the game. I think that’s what we lacked in the first half. We didn’t get to our points and play to our strength.”
Individually, he is felling “confident”.
“So happy to be back. So happy to play at the Charity Shield and come down here for first round – was a good test for us, test for myself. And see how the hammy is going – pulled up well.”
Quick pre-diagnosis on Tom Burgess:
Concern for Tom Burgess who is stretchered off, hopefully just a precaution. Main concern for stinger/burner where nerves that run from neck/shoulder down into arm are compressed, can reproduce significant symptoms short term but most settle very quickly #NRLStormSouths pic.twitter.com/0Txj4fCare
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 11, 2021
Full-time! Melbourne 26-18 South Sydney
80 mins: That’ll do. Souths are closing in on a last-gasp try but Welch is alert to the danger and reacts, well, dangerously. They gave it a good crack in the second half after being completely left behind in the first, but the Storm win their opening game of the season yet again and maintain their perfect Melbourne record against the Rabbitohs.
78 mins: Souths are in possession off their own line there are only a few chances left to save this game. Walker takes a kick on the fifth at the halfway mark Melbourne are quick to run it back up the other end. Two minutes to go.
Applause from the crowd of mostly purple-clad fans as Burgess is carried off.
A note that Souths have made eight interchanges already, with Murray having come off moments earlier, so the team will play the final four minutes with 12 men.
76 mins: Ouch! Burgess is down there is a call for play to be halted. His neck is burning red and medics are taking precautionary measures. He appears in pain but conscious. Bennett is staring at the ceiling in the coach’s box as the spinal board comes out.
73 mins: The Storm have switched the lights back on in the past 10 minutes or so to close that window of opportunity for a comeback. Time is ticking, and both teams look spent. Free-flowing this footy is.
71 mins: Souths are on a bit of a roll now, and there’s a mini-melee as Melbourne let rip a brutal tackle on Murray. Souths have possession but it’s soon back with their opponents and they are fatigued but still
Olam has challenged a knock-on call. Mansour has knocked on and Olam collects but the questions is whether the ball bobbles forward as he does. It is adjudged he did not, and Melbourne have six again inside the Rabbitohs’ 10. Are they over? Not quite, for Mitchell has hustled just in time.
64 mins: Tyson Smoothy is on the field for his NRL debut. The 21-year-old only started training with Storm in early January as part of the club’s partnership with the Sunshine Coast Falcons. As expected, he relieves Brandon Smith.
Did you want to see Latrell’s try? Sure you do.
Oooo yeahh! We have a ball game.#NRLStormSouths #TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/n3lGS3m0eD
— NRL (@NRL) March 11, 2021
Penalty! Melbourne 26-18 South Sydney
61 mins: Papenhuyzen slots another as the Storm chip away at the scoreline, creating a nice little cushion in case Souths score again. Which they might, to be fair, for the Storm are inviting the Rabbitohs back into the game, asking them to dine at their dinner table.
Try! Melbourne 24-18 South Sydney
56 mins: Cook to Marshall to Walker to Latrell, who gallops through space and scores in that left-hand corner with two indentations already left by Johnston. That corner is becoming a problem for the Storm, a vulnerability their visitors have clearly identified.
The pressure is on Reynolds now. This sideline conversion is important. It’s an acute angle but also the right angle for a right footer. He does his duty and suddenly Souths are but six points adrift.
53 mins: One stat in particular is perhaps reflective of the Storm’s capacity to adapt to the new rules, with the home side completing 22 sets to the Rabbitohs’ 16.
Penalty kick! Melbourne 24-12 South Sydney
48 mins: The Storm don’t fancy opponents biting back, getting a taste for a comeback. So what do they do? They embark on a wrecking-ball rampage, a defensive masterclass that wins them a penalty. Papenhuyzen slots the kick with no problem to extend the Storm’s lead to 12 points.
Try! Melbourne 22-12 South Sydney
44 mins: A few, apparently. No sooner have I typed that and the Rabbitohs are in for a second try. Marshall is playing well, he’s sort of everywhere but seeming to link the team as they approach the Storm’s line. Walker shifts a lovely pass across the face of the Storm defence and out to the left where Johnston is waiting to score his second try in almost exactly the same spot as his first. Reynolds converts again. We might finally have a contest on our hands here.
We're back under way!
43 mins: Wayne Bennett is well known for his half-time talks vis-à-vis 2020 State of Origin. Wonder what gems he had to get out of this tight spot.
Here’s that Johnston try:
Souths hit back! #NRLStormSouths #TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/Qu15Vjt7NG
— NRL (@NRL) March 11, 2021
Half-time! Melbourne 22-6 South Sydney
40 mins: And that’s all she wrote from stanza one of season 2021. Souths will be gulping in the big ones in the sheds for they simply couldn’t keep up with a relentless, strategic Storm who were lightning fast in attack and exhaustive in defence.
Nine is interviewing Brandon Smith, who has had an excellent half:
“The plan was just to hold the ball in the early rounds of the season. It’s all about completing and possession, and I think we done that really well. Apart from the back end of the half, we started throwing silly offloads anf weren’t really putting good kicks in at the end of our set.
“Lucky they threw a forward pass there. Cody Walker would have pulled my pants down. But it’s been pretty good out there so far.”
37 mins: We have a captain’s challenge as the ball finds the sideline and Souths challenge a play the ball call to Melbourne. Papenhuyzen kicked the ball but the question is whether Reynolds played at it but the Bunker rules the ball struck him on the foot. Challenge successful. Nevertheless, the Rabbits will be hanging out for the break now.
A couple of moments as we inch towards half-time:
Paps goes in under the posts! ⚡#NRLStormSouths #TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/hs868BDiYu
— NRL (@NRL) March 11, 2021
Of course it's the man, MUNSTER!#NRLStormSouths #TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/HFEROSCKKh
— NRL (@NRL) March 11, 2021
Try! Melbourne 22-6 South Sydney
32 mins: Hold up a second! Benji Marshall is coming on for Jaydn Su’A and no sooner than he’s on he is running onto the ball and guiding his new club deeper until Johnston is suspended in the air just inside the corner post and planting the ball for Souths’ first try of the game. A second sigh of relief as Adam Reynolds nails his conversion from the sideline.
Try! Melbourne 22-0 South Sydney
29 mins: Josh Mansour made the latest Souths error and the ball is back with the Storm. Munster breaks Johnston’s tackle and is 5m out from the try line. Smith to Papenhuyzen to Bromwich. It’ll be a miracle for Souths if they don’t concede another try here.
There was a brief shift in momentum during that tiny period of Souths possession but they keep coughing up the ball at key moments and the pressure has been building again. And there it is. Who is it? Papenhuyzen again. The man with the quirky haircut wriggles through a gap at the corner post. He diverts his conversion wide on this occasion but it matters little at this point.
26 mins: This could be a little chance for Souths. The Storm have made their first error with a double knock on and the Rabbitohs are suddenly in the Storm’s 10m area. Now the referee has called up play for a penalty to Souths after a player is held up off the ball.
22 mins: This is what Papenhuyzen had to say straight after Cameron Smith’s retirement this week. Not really sure what he was worrying about.
Better start practicing my goalkicking! 😅
— Ryan Papenhuyzen (@ryanpapenhuyzen) March 10, 2021
Try! Melbourne 18-0 South Sydney
16 mins: What the actual! This is truly sublime from Melbourne. Papenhuyzen lays off a lovely ball to Bromwich, who gives it back to a quick-footed Papenhuyzen, who runs straight under the posts for his side’s third. And he’ll have the conversion too, thank you very much. A penny for Wayne Bennett’s thoughts right now. Souths have looked out of their depth against the premiers thus far.
16 mins: Souths are on the attack now and approaching the Storm’s 30m line but the ball is down, as called by the referee and now Nelson Asofa-Solomona is off and replaced by Tui Kamikamica. Possession is back with the Storm.
Try! Melbourne 12-0 South Sydney
10 mins: The Storm are whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears and they are on a seamless attack from well inside their own half before Addo-Carr disappears in a puff of smoke. He is tackled but the next play brings the joy the hosts are after when Justin Olam picks up a pass from Papenhuyzen and races over the line. Papenhuyzen adds the extras.
8 mins:
That’s the best three-minute opening to a season from a team I’ve ever seen I reckon. #NRLStormSouths
— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) March 11, 2021
Meanwhile, we’ve just been given a demonstration on one of those new rules. The ball is over the sideline and the non-offending side here, South Sydney, a 10m, 20m or 30m restart, and they’ve gone with the middle for Mitchell to play the ball.
And we’re away! Try!
5 mins: The Storm are in possession their opening set features two offloads.The crowd are vocal, even at 50% capacity. This is the first time AAMI Park has hosted since the 2019 preliminary final against Canberra. Try! What about that! Reynolds kicks and Addo-Carr juggles and keeps the ball. Cody Walker is down and up as quickly as a six-again is called and Munster double steps and shimmies his way to the opening try. Some start to Melbourne’s season.
Speaking of Mitchell and Papenhuyzen, these two are one of a couple of key match-ups. Storm No 1 Papenhuyzen had a breakout 2020 when he added goal-kicking to his repertoire, while his South counterpart Mitchell has put those teething issues and injuries of last season behind him and is one of the NRL’s more eye-catching talents.
And don’t forget the battle at dummy-half. Brandon Smith is a gritty power player while Damien Cook boasts speed befitting a national under-15 flags champion and is a nightmare for fatigued defenders.
The new rules will undoubtedly make for a fast-pace contest will minimal stoppages. I’m talking about six-again for 10-metre infringements and play-the-ball restarts. This is match will be something of a guinea pig (for the season proper), which generally means some sort of refereeing controversy could unfold. Worth noting also that both the Storm and Souths are the type of teams who’ll likely handle this free-flowing-on-steroids type of game well.
Fittler likes the rule changes.
“We are trying to get more ball in play, so more football per game. Over the last three years there’s been a gradual increase of two minutes per year. So it is up around 56 minutes per game ball in play. So the rule changes I like ...
... penalties now for inside the 10 is going to be crucial for these two teams because I think these are the two teams that can take advantage of this rule the most. It is now just the six again. That means a lot of sides will be getting eight, nine, 10-tackle sets. Imagine Latrell Mitchell coming at your defence line after nine or 10 tackles consistently [or] Ryan Papenhuyzen.”
Well pre-match coverage has just got under way and Freddy Fittler and Johnathan Thurston have just been introduced with a jovial “Hello boys!”
Let’s talk a little bit about the state of these two teams. Simply speaking, both had sizeable wins in the condensed pre-season trials. The Storm beat Newcastle 30-10 and Souths made light work of St George Illawarra 48-16.
Melbourne, of course, start the season without one Cameron Smith, who finally, FINALLY, announced his retirement decision. The mystery of the whole saga nearly killed us here at Guardian HQ. But now we know, which makes this game a first in almost two decades. How Bellamy’s side cope without Smith’s on-field management will no doubt have been a focus for the team – and Souths.
Harry Grant was due to replace the ex-captain at hooker until he was sidelined with a knee injury, meaning Brandon Smith will wear No 9 for the first few weeks.
Souths, meanwhile, are not expected to win at AAMI Park. It’s never happened before and won’t happen now. Simple as that. We’ll see about that, shall we? Bennett’s men are favourites among some bookies, and Latrell Mitchell has returned from injury and shown he is well settled at fullback.
But here are those awful stats Souths must overcome tonight:
*The Storm have won their first game of the NRL season since 2001
*Souths have never beaten Melbourne in Melbourne
*Across 33 games at any stadium the Rabbitohs have beaten the Storm just five times and only twice in the past decade
How about that, said the rat. Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook knows it doesn’t make for pleasant reading. “It’s not the best record,” Cook said this week.
“We haven’t won down there and I think Bellamy has got a good record of round one victories as well. But records are made to be broken. I enjoy it down there.
“One of the good things about footy and all sports is you want to come up against the benchmark of the competition and at the moment they are, they have been for a while.”
Well the news is still going on Channel Nine so we’re a little while off from go time. In the interim, whet your appetite with a bit of Nick Tedeschi, who has previewed the season for you and I alike.
Preamble
Good evening! Welcome to our live coverage of the NRL’s season opener. My time flies when off-seasons are fun. As per usual, this competition has sort of dodged Covid, if we are going to reminisce on the challenges confronted by the summer of cricket and tennis. But we will not, for the future awaits.
Tonight that future consists of premiers Melbourne Storm v title challengers South Sydney, an enticing contest however you spin it. It is the post-Cameron Smith era, the where-will-Craig-Bellamy-and-Wayne-Bennett-end-up-next-year era, and a time of great contemplation for statisticians opining the fact the Storm have not lost a season opener since 2001 and never been beaten by the Rabbitohs in Melbourne.
So much ahead tonight. Kick-off is at 8.05pm AEDT.
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