Check out the match preview and prediction for the Magic Round clash between the Storm and Eels.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Melbourne Storm Vs Parramatta Eels
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Date: Sunday 19th May, 4:05pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Storm: 1. Sualauvi Faalogo 2. William Warbrick 3. Reimis Smith 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Tyran Wishart 8. Christian Welch 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Trent Loiero 14. Jack Howarth 15. Tui Kamikamica 16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 17. Alec MacDonald 18. Grant Anderson 19. Joe Chan 20. Bronson Garlick 21. Dean Ieremia 22. Chris Lewis
Eels: 1. Blaize Talagi 2. Maika Sivo 3. Will Penisini 4. Sean Russell 5. Bailey Simonsson 6. Daejarn Asi 7. Dylan Brown 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 9. Joey Lussick 10. Junior Paulo 11. Shaun Lane 12. Ryan Matterson 13. J’maine Hopgood 14. Bryce Cartwright 15. Makahesi Makatoa 16. Joe Ofahengaue 17. Kelma Tuilagi 18. Brendan Hands 19. Morgan Harper 20. Ethan Sanders 21. Wiremu Greig 22. Luca Moretti
Referee: Wyatt Raymond
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
The ever-consistent Storm takes on a desperate Eels outfit on the final day of the 2024 Magic Round.
Last week, the Storm suffered only their second loss of the year against an in-form Sharks team. Bellamy hates losing with a passion and will have reminded his team of the high expectations placed on anyone who wears the purple jersey coming into this round.
In a big boost, Xavier Coates returns, pushing out Grant Anderson. However, the chief playmaker Jahrome Hughes remains sidelined, with Tyran Wishart holding his spot in the halfback jersey.
The Eels continued a trend of looking good and bad in patches across 80 minutes. They had beaten the Broncos across many key stats: run metres, post-contact metres, kick return metres and the like. However, they didn’t beat them where it mattered: the scoreboard. A completion rate of 62% is where the game was lost, and what they need to fix coming up against a competition heavyweight.
Daejarn Asi returns to the side at the expense of Ethan Sanders. Furthermore, Bryce Cartwright returns after a stint injured on the sidelines. Eels fans would have been hoping for the return of Moses, however, will need to wait another week to see their star playmaker on the pitch.
The most enticing match-up in this game will be that of the two young fullbacks: Sualauvi Faalogo and Blaize Talagi. Faalogo has proven himself to be a livewire and future star for the Storm. With the ball in hand, he’s not afraid to test the defence himself, most notably bringing the goose step back to the fore. Meanwhile, Talagi has already made a case to take the fullback jersey off of Eels’ captain Clint Gutherson, with a range of touches last week showing his class. Both players will demonstrate youthful exuberance and be a joy to watch.
The Eels have been in most games this year but, more often than not, beaten themselves. Should they maintain their intensity in the middle and improve their completions, they’re every chance. That said, the Storm are the Storm: they only know winning. Bellamy should have them ready to atone for last week’s loss.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Magic Round Number Crunch.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions for Magic Round here.
Storm by 12 points.
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