Despite the loss of Cameron Munster, the Storm will be confident of making it two wins from two to start the season when they host the Bulldogs at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Melbourne extended their incredible Round 1 record under Craig Bellamy to 20-0 last week with a thrilling 16-12 golden point triumph on the road against the Eels.
The Storm never led until the final whistle, with their defence keeping them within striking distance before Harry Grant barged over from dummy-half for the victory in extra-time.
The win came at a cost though, with Munster somehow returning to the field in the second-half despite suffering a finger injury that will sideline him for the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, it was unfortunately more of the same for the Bulldogs, who endured a rough 31-6 opening round loss to Manly.
Despite the additions of Reed Mahoney and Viliame Kikau to a side already boasting Matt Burton and Josh Addo-Carr, along with new highly-heralded coach Cameron Ciraldo, the Bulldogs couldn’t conjure up anything special in another dire attacking performance.
Mahoney to his credit had a solid game, but the fact remains the Bulldogs’ only try was from a lucky deflected kick. Their attack has been terrible for years now and early signs are they still need significant improvement in 2023.
Munster is a big loss for the Storm, but they should still be able to get the job done at home.
Craig Bellamy has picked Tyran Wishart as his Munster replacement.The Storm’s injury woes just keep on getting worse with star winger Xavier Coates officially ruled out due to a SC joint injury he suffered in Round 1. He joins Cameron Munster (finger), Justin Olam (arm), George Jennings (illness), Ryan Papenhuyzen (knee), Tui Kamikamica (foot), Tepai Moeroa (calf), Tariq Sims (calf), Tom Eisenhuth (back), Marion Seve (knee) and Dean Ieremia (knee) on the sidelines.
Canterbury simply can’t get any sort of rhythm going in attack and it’s looking like the same old story in 2023, at least in the early rounds. Back the Storm for a workmanlike performance and an eighth straight win over the Dogs
Storm team: 1. Nick Meaney 2. William Warbrick 3. Reimis Smith 4. Young Tonumaipea 5. Grant Anderson 6. Tyran Wishart 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 9. Harry Grant 10. Christian Welch 11. Trent Loiero 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Josh King 14. Bronson Garlick 15. Alec MacDonald 16. Aaron Pene 17. Jordan Grant 18. Grant Anderson 19. Chris Lewis 20. Joe Chan 21. Kane Bradley 22. Jonah Pezet
Bulldogs team: 1. Hayze Perham 2. Jacob Kiraz 3. Jake Averillo 4. Paul Alamoti 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Matt Burton 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Max King 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Ryan Sutton 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 13. Fa’amanu Brown 14. Jayden Tanner 15. Corey Waddell 16. Franklin Pele 17. Jacob Preston 19. Braidon Burns 20. Karl Oloapu 21. Kurtis Morrin 22. Jackson Topine 23. Jayden
- Storm have won the last seven meetings between the teams
- Bulldogs won just two of their 12 away games in 2022
- Storm have gone 2-0 to start the season in five of the last seven years
- PREDICTION. The Storm to win. Minus 6.5 points @ $1.87 looks pretty tempting.
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