Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 20 clash between the Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Melbourne Storm Vs Sydney Roosters
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Date: Sunday October 2, 7:30pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Storm: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen, 2. William Warbrick, 3. Jack Howarth, 4. Nick Meaney, 5. Grant Anderson, 6. Tyran Wishart, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. Tui Kamikamica, 9. Harry Grant, 10. Josh King, 11. Shawn Blore, 12. Eliesa Katoa, 13. Trent Loiero, 14. Sualauvi Faalogo, 15. Christian Welch, 16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 17. Alec MacDonald, 18. Reimis Smith, 19. Joe Chan, 20. Dean Ieremia, 21. Chris Lewis, 22. Lazarus Vaalepu
Roosters: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 4. Sitili Tupouniua, 5. Dominic Young, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Sam Walker, 8. Terrell May, 9. Brandon Smith, 10. Lindsay Collins, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Victor Radley, 13. Connor Watson, 14. Sandon Smith, 15. Spencer Leniu, 16. Nat Butcher, 17. Naufahu Whyte, 18. Ethan King, 19. Siua Wong, 20. Blake Steep, 21. Jake Elliott, 22. Salesi Foketi, 23. Michael Jennings, 24. Zach Dockar-Clay
Referee: Grant Atkins
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
The Melbourne Storm hosts the Sydney Roosters in a huge Saturday night match-up of two sides who are likely to meet again come September.
With so much riding on this game, both coaches have named their Origin stars to back-up, although they are both willing to make late changes if need be.
Fresh off the bye, the Storm welcome Nick Meaney back from a calf injury at centre, with Grant Anderson sliding to wing and Kane Bradley dropping out of the side. Harry Grant is also named for his first club game since round 15, with Bronson Garlick dropping out of the squad entirely.
Trent Robinson has named all four of his Origin players to back up for this crucial match, while also welcoming Joseph Sua’ali’i back from suspension at left centre, pushing Michael Jennings out of the side. The suspension of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves sees Terrell May move into the starting side, with Naufahu Whyte rejoining the bench. Sandon Smith has also been named on the bench, with round 18 debutant Ethan King named at 18th man. With four Origin players, Robinson has also named an extra two players among the reserves, most notably Siua Wong, Blake Steep, and impressive back rower Salesi Foketi.
There’s a general feeling that the Roosters need to win this game to prove they are a genuine premiership contender in 2024. While they sit third on the ladder, they’ve lost all three matches they’ve played against top 4 teams (including 18-12 against the Storm at Allianz Stadium in round 7) and six of the seven games they’ve played against teams currently in the top 8, finally breaking their drought against Canterbury in round 16. While their attacking exploits have been well publicised, it’s their defence which will have pleased Trent Robinson the most, conceding just 26 points in their past three games, giving them the fourth-best defence in the competition.
The Storm continues to lead the way. They currently sit four points clear at the top of the table, having won 13 of their 16 games, including the past five straight, two wins ahead of each of the Panthers, Roosters and Sharks. They’ve also won seven of their eight games at AAMI Park, only going down to the Sharks in round 10. Their run has been particularly impressive considering how many games the likes of Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Harry Grant have missed.
Matches between the two sides were pretty even for a long time, however the Storm have comfortably pulled clear in recent years, winning nine out of ten matches against the Roosters since 2020. The Roosters lone win in that time came at AAMI Park in a thrilling match in round 24, 2022. This will be their first trip to Melbourne since their controversial defeat in the 2023 semi-final.
This game could potentially prove to be a grand final preview. Either team can win, and neither will be pushovers. The Roosters must improve their discipline if they want to claim the two competition points against a Melbourne team that rarely loses at home.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Storm by 2 points.
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