Sydney Roosters vs Melbourne Storm (Sunday, Sep 30 7:20pm AEST)
The NRL gets the ultimate dream matchup as the Sydney Roosters play the Melbourne Storm for the 2018 title on Sunday night at ANZ Stadium. There’s a number of storylines to watch during the week, which will mainly be focused on two shoulders.
Billy Slater was offered a 1 week suspension for a shoulder charge as he attempted to stop a try against the Sharks. However as of Tuesday night, Billy is now free to play and will take the field for one last time! Former Storm halfback, Cooper Cronk will be given until kickoff to prove his fitness after injuring his shoulder against the Rabbitohs. It seems to be a similar injury to Paul Gallen, who missed the final against the Storm last week so it’s not looking positive for Rooster fans. It’ll be a real shame if he can’t lineup against his former side and lead the Roosters to glory.
Impressively, Melbourne will play in their 3rd straight decider. They comfortably beat the Cowboys in 2017 and lost a nail-biter against the Sharks 2 years ago. The Roosters have reached their first Grand Final since 2013, where they defeated Manly. Overall in the modern era of the NRL, these two sides have featured in the most Grand Finals.
In a pretty sloppy final against the Rabbitohs, the Roosters defence showed why they ranked #1 in the NRL this year. Both sides combined for 26 errors but near the goal-line, Sydney were the better team. There’s obviously a huge question mark on Cooper Cronk who sustained his shoulder injury in the victory. As a result, Luke Keary took over the game in the second half and was outstanding. So if Cronk plays, he will not be 100% but the Roosters should have confidence in Keary leading the way. There is good news for the home side with two players due back from suspensions - Latrell Mitchell and Dylan Napa. Mitchell missed the win over the Rabbitohs and will re-ignite his Origin matchup with Will Chambers. Napa hasn’t played in the finals so far after a 3 week suspension.
In Billy Slater’s finale at AAMI Park, the Melbourne Storm put in a clinical performance against the Sharks. Their defence held them scoreless until the 68th minute and the home side led 20-0 at half-time. Slater was outstanding with 2 tries and he’ll be the player to watch in this Grand Final. The X-Factor is Cameron Munster who usually setups on the big stage and he’s so damaging when he runs the ball. Then there’s the Storm skipper - Cameron Smith. There’s some talk he could retire if the Storm win, which just adds to the extra motivation for this Melbourne side as they look to send Slater off with another victory.
Melbourne came into 2018 with a few question marks - the main being who would take over from Cooper Cronk. Brodie Croft looked to be the obvious option but struggled for consistency during 2018. But he looks to have the faith of Craig Bellamy after a good performance in the finals. The departure of Cronk showed in the first few rounds as they struggled for points and they held a 2-3 record after 5 rounds. But the bye was the catalyst for the Storm in the second half of 2018. They rattled off 7 straight wins after the bye, which setup another top 4 finish. To kick off the finals, they met the Rabbitohs at AAMI Park in a tough matchup. In the end, the boot of Cameron Munster and a late try to Chayse Blair proved the difference as the Storm survived by a field goal. With the week off, they dominated the Sharks, who were coming off two tough finals and missing key players.
Having added Cooper Cronk and James Tedesco in the offseason, expectations were high for the Sydney Roosters in 2018. 2017 was another failed attempt at a Grand Final appearance and the additions were aimed at gaining more experience in these type of games. After an inconsistent start to the year and a 1 point loss to the Storm, the Roosters hit peak form after the Round 17 bye. Coming into the finals, they had won 6 of 8 and met the Sharks in the first week of the 2018 finals. They would close out a 21-12 win, which setup the week off. Then, they faced the Rabbitohs and defensively were too good as they advanced to the Grand Final with a 12-4 win.
The head to head between Melbourne and Sydney says this will be a nail-biting Grand Final. In the last 3 meetings, the overall average margin is just 1.66 points! Which includes 2 games decided by a field goal. So hopefully this is another epic encounter. In the only meeting of 2018, a field goal was the only difference between the sides as Melbourne prevailed 9-8 at the Adelaide Oval. Cameron Smith booted the match winning field goal on that occasion. Overall, the Storm are 9-6 against the Roosters since 2010. In the end, the money is on the Storm after the Billy Slater suspension was overturned and the emotion around that decision will be tough for the Roosters to overcome. It’s his last game in the NRL and the script is saying Melbourne will send him off a winner. The other major factor is Cooper Cronk’s injury unfortunately is going to comeback to hurt the Roosters in the game they desperately need him the most. His experience in Grand Finals is the key reason they brought him to Sydney. With him either missing this game or playing through injury, I doubt they’ll score enough points to beat the Storm. In my opinion, this is setup for the Storm to take home the trophy once again and I’ll be backing them in straight up.
Melbourne Storm to win
$1.67
