2023 NRL Preview Round 2: Storm Vs Bulldogs
Matt Attard previews the Melbourne Storm playing host to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in this Round two clash at AAMI Park.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Melbourne Storm Vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Date: Saturday March 11, 7:35pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Storm: 1. Nick Meaney 2. William Warbrick 3. Reimis Smith 4. Young Tonumaipea 5. Xavier Coates 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: 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 Okunbor
Referee: Chris Butler
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
Melbourne were as impressive as you’d expect in Round one, scoring a Golden Point win on the back of some Harry Grant wizardry.
As with any Craig Bellamy side, they were slick and courageous. Their forwards were strong despite their off-season departures and fill-in fullback Nick Meaney was superb.
They’ll go in to this clash with plenty of confidence but there’s a feeling the new-look Bulldogs may have a bounce-back factor after their thumping in Round one.
While they failed to deliver on the extreme hype, the Bulldogs showed signs of grit and determination against Manly.
It’s hard to find positives when they had such a dismal completion rate, but the first 35 minutes up until the Kyle Flanagan sin-bin was 6-all.
The Bulldogs will have to be a hell of a lot better up the middle as they were dominated in the forwards by Manly. If they can hold on to enough ball to give themselves a chance it could be a tight contest given Melbourne’s outs.
LAST TEN MATCHES
Storm 7, Bulldogs 3
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Storm by four points.
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