The Melbourne Storm will host the Brisbane Broncos at AAMI Park for the opening game of Round 3 in Thursday night footy at 8:05pm.
Last Time Out
Last time these two sides went up against each other was round 25 at AAMI Park where the Broncos defeated the Storm by 10 points, 26-16.
With a victory needed for Melbourne Storm last year to be awarded minor premiers, the pressure got to them after a horrific display of defence and handling errors particularly in the first half. The Broncos came out with a very strong start and were able to score two tries in the first twenty minutes. The strong start for Broncos was crucial to the result after they maintained momentum throughout the game.
Key Match Up
Although there are many crucial match ups in this game, including Billy Slater and Darius Boyd, Ben Hunt and Cooper Cronk, I believe the big battle and game changer will be between wingers Suliasi Vunivalu and Corey Oates.
Both wingers have a huge job to finish off the job by scoring tries and both of these players have the ability to make line-breaks and assist with multiple try assists.
The difference between both teams will clearly be evident with how Vunivalu and Oates play and contribute to the game.
Prediction
With Billy Slater’s return after only playing eight games in the past two years and the Storm playing at home should be a recipe for success. Broncos will give a good crack but Storm will be too strong, Storm by 12.
Squad
Storm: 1. Billy Slater 2. Suliasi Vunivalu 3. Will Chambers 4. Cheyse Blair 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Cameron Munster 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Tim Glasby 9. Cameron Smith 10. Jordan McLean 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Kenneath Bromwich 13. Dale Finucane 14. Christian Welch 15. Joe Stimson 16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 17. Vincent Leuluai 18. Mark Nicholls 19. Young Tonumaipea 20. Ryley Jacks 21. Jesse Bromwich
Broncos: 1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. James Roberts 4. Tautau Moga 5. Jordan Kahu 6. Anthony Milford 7. Ben Hunt 8. Korbin Sims 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Adam Blair 11. Sam Thaiday 12. Matt Gillett 13. Josh Mcguire 14. Alex Glenn 15. Tevita Pangai 16. Herman Essese 17. Jai Arrow 18. Benji Marshall 19. George Fai 20. David Mead 21. Jonus Pearson
