Melbourne are a Premiership Threat
Although they’ve been in the top four for the entire season to date, some critics have questioned whether the Melbourne Storm are a genuine chance of winning the premiership in 2016 with the absence of Billy Slater, due to narrow victories over lowly teams such as the Tigers and Knights in the past month. However, the Storm have shown just what they’re capable of, following up their 42-0 demolition of the Warriors last week with a similar 38-0 flogging of the Titans.
The Titans Need a Backline Reshuffle
Neil Henry attempted to spice up the Titans struggling backline pre-match by bringing Nathan Davis onto the wing in the place of Anthony Don, however the move struggled to improve a backline that has not only struggled in defence, but in this match failed to score any points. Centres Nene MacDonald and Josh Hoffman have been in poor form this season, and missed 2 and 3 tackles respectively, some of which lead to Melbourne tries. Neil Henry needs to promote speedy Rabbitohs recruit John Olive to the first grade team, in place of either Hoffman or MacDonald.
Storm’s Spine Looking as Good as Ever
The Storm are hardly missing the injured Billy Slater, with Cameron Munster once again having a brilliant game, along with the other members of the Storm’s ‘spine’, Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, and Blake Green. Smith and Cronk had their best games of the season, with Cronk scoring 2 tries and setting another up, while Smith had a try assist and ran for 107 metres. Munster also notched up 2 try assists, and Green scored a try of his own.
Home Ground Struggles
The Titans were looking to turn Cbus Super Stadium into a fortress in the early stages of the season when their 2 wins at home added to a streak of 5 home wins in a row, including last season. The tides have turned rapidly, as Sunday’s game was their 3rd home loss in a row, and was also the first time that the Titans have ever been held scoreless at Cbus Super Stadium.
