Match Centre

Round 1: Wests Tigers v Storm preview

Having won their last 17 opening round match ups, the Melbourne Storm travel to CommBank Stadium to take on the Wests Tigers. The streak of 17 wins includes this very same season opener, only 15 years ago, which saw the Storm prevail by two points. The Storm will be aiming for a similar result and given their 50-point thrashing of the Tigers last year, you'd expect that to happen.

The Storm were brilliant throughout the 2021 regular season, scoring 815 points, the second most in NRL history. They dropped 66 on the Tigers last year and routinely put on 40-odd points to defeat that week's opponent. However, this wasn't enough to get the Melbourne Strom over the line, losing in the Preliminary Final to the eventual premiers, the Penrith Panthers.

Since then, the Storm have lost several key members from the 2021 squad, in particular, Nicho Hynes, Josh Addo-Carr and Dale Finucane. All three were excellent in the Storm's record-breaking season and they surely will be missed, but as we know, the Storm still posses some of the best players in the game, with the likes of Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes, Brandon Smith and Christian Welch lining up for Melbourne this week. At full fitness the Storm can still name one of the best teams on paper but luckily for the Tigers, the defending minor premiers will be without both Cameron Munster and Harry Grant as the serve one-match suspensions. New recruit, Nick Meaney will make his club debut at five-eighth, covering for the suspended Cameron Munster. Tyran Wishart, Jayden Nikorima, Josh King and Xavier Coates will also make their debuts for Melbourne on Saturday night.

It was a poor finish to the 2021 season for the Tigers, losing 20-50, 16-30 and 0-38 to round out a disappointing season. Wins were scarce in 2021 for the Tigers, only winning eight of their 24 matches and just one win in the opening seven weeks. If Wests start in a similar fashion, you can write another season off for the merger club who haven't played finals since 2011.

Jackson Hastings, Oliver Gildart and Tyrone Peachey, the club's three new signings will run out for their club debuts on Saturday night and many Tigers fan will be waiting in anticipation to see how their new men perform. Hastings will partner 172-gamer Luke Brooks in the halves and much has been said about the current halves' situation at the Tigers. With Adam Doueihi out for the first few months, both Hastings and Brooks will get a fair shot at claiming their halves positions. Eyes will be on Hastings, who returns to the NRL for the first time since 2018 but we all know the pressure is on Luke Brooks. It's going to be a crucial year for Luke Brooks and his future at the Tigers. If he struggles to perform for the club, that could be it. Alongside the club debutants, the Tigers bring Jake Simpkin and Alex Twal into the starting line-up for Jacob Liddle (injury) and James Tamou (suspension).

Last meeting: Round 15 2021 - Storm 66 Wests Tigers 16

Who to watch: Fans of the Wests Tigers will be pleased to see the return of Daine Laurie in the number one jersey. Laurie's 2021 season ended earlier than expected, suffering a broken leg in their Round 20 match against the Warriors. Joining the Tigers at the start of last season, the ‘Great Daine' scored seven tries, assisted eight tries, broke the line on nine occasions and averaged just over 134 run metres per game. Very solid output for a rookie fullback playing for a side at the wrong end of the ladder. His return will be welcomed by Tigers fan as they get to see their young fullback in action again who will be looking to strike up combinations with Hastings and Brooks as they settle into the season.

Laurie's opposing player is a former Tiger junior in Ryan Papenhuyzen. The 23-year-old fullback is now 57 NRL Games into his career and will be rearing to go this season after missing a decent amount of time last season with concussion troubles. Nonetheless, Papenhuyzen still dominated in his 15 appearances last season, scoring 14 tries, assisting six and averaging just over 145 run metres per game. A very good year for Papenhuzyen despite his run metres being down 50 metres per game on his 2020 season. Everyone would love to see the Storm fullback get back to the very top of his game and if he does, himself and Laurie could provide plenty of highlights.

The favourite: It's no surprise to any NRL fan that the Melbourne Storm are the favourites to win their Round One clash with the Wests Tigers. The Storm's 21 regular season win compared to the Tigers eight should be enough to convince you to lean the Storm's way. They still possess some of the best players in the game and we've seen no signs from last season that the Tigers will be able to limit their point scoring.

My tip: I'm tipping Melbourne to win this one, pretty much for everything that was said in the preview. The Storm are an exceptional attacking side, and the Tigers are a poor defensive team, so I'll expect the Storm to put a few tries past the Tigers. I just can't see the Tigers scoring the 24-30 points that they'll need if they were to perform well and pull of a victory. Storm by 16.