Round 24: Storm v Roosters preview
Red hot Roosters clash with Scintillating Storm
The two form sides of the competition at the moment will face off in arguably the biggest game of the round, when the Sydney Roosters, on a 6 game win streak, take on the Melbourne Storm, who have won their last 4 games.
The Roosters 5 victims have been the bottom 8 sides Dragons, Knights, Manly and Tigers as well as top 8 sides Cowboys and Broncos. They've scored an impressive 254 points across these games - an average of 42 points per game, while conceding 88 - just over 14.5 points per game.
While many will say they've had a relatively easy run, the strength of a side is how they beat the weaker sides. The Roosters put 54 points on the Dragons, 42 on the Knights and a whopping 72 on the Tigers last weekend. That's exactly what they should be doing.
More impressively though, was the comfort in which they disposed of the Broncos 34-16 and the second placed Cowboys 32-18.
The Roosters wingers Joseph Sua'ali'I and Daniel Tupou have both bagged 14 tries so far this season, with fullback James Tedesco scoring 12 tries and centre Joey Manu bagging 10. Even edge forward Nat Butcher has scored 10 tries, showing that the Roosters have a myriad of attacking and scoring ooptions on the edge of the ruck and out wide. With Luke Keary and Sam Walker well synchronised, the Roosters attack is running smoothly and their defence has almost simultaneously become rock solid.
The Storm suffered their first 4-game losing streak since 2015, albeit against some solid teams in good form: Manly, Cronulla, Canberra and Souths. They had a seemingly growing number of players suffering injuries in this period, but over the past 4 weeks have started to get some players back and their squad is finally looking settled and got back to their defensive best, which in turn supports their attack which is now well and truly back in form.
Melbourne's last 4 games has seen them rack up 132 points at 33 points per game, while conceding just 38 at 9.5 per game. Most impressive has been their last two games where they beat an admittedly weakened Penrith side 16-0 before last week demoralising fellow top 8 outfit Brisbane 60-12.
Melbourne's top tryscorers paint a different picture to the Roosters, as halves Jahrome Hughes (12 tries) and Cameron Munster (11) joined by winger/fullback/five-eighth Nick Meaney (11) and fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen (14) have scored the bulk of their tries closer to the middle, off the back of good work from their forwards.
This is set to be a great game between the two best attacking sides in the competition this year, who also are both ranked in the top 5 of best defensive sides.
For the Storm, Felise Kaufusi returns to the side, pushing Tui Kamikamica to the bench. Marion Seve is on the extended bench.
The Roosters welcome back Lindsay Collins and Siosiua Taukeiaho via the bench, while Paul Momirovski returns to centre, forcing Drew Hutchinson out of the 17, alongside Terrell May and Oliver Gildart.
Last meeting: Round 14 2022 - Roosters 18 Storm 26
Who to watch: The halves. All of them. Luke Keary got a great training run under his belt last weekend against the Tigers, while Jahrome Hughes returned after missing the previous game and looked like he hadn't skipped a beat. Cameron Munster is hitting peak form precisely when he needs to and Sam Walker has been rock solid for over a month now.
Angus Crichton and Nat Butcher have been damaging with their line running all season and they will be out to isolate the Storm halves when running the ball, especially close to the Storm line.
Jesse Bromwich, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Josh King and Brandon Smith will be out trying to punch holes through the middle defences, as they have been doing so well for the past month.
The favourite: Melbourne is ahead thanks somewhat to the home ground advantage and the fact that they are slightly better in attack and defence this year than the Roosters.
My tip: Melbourne in a nailbiter. Storm by 1 in golden point.
