Broncos v Storm preview

Brisbane Broncos v Melbourne Storm
Suncorp Stadium - Thursday 7:45pm

Two of the best teams in the competition meet in a mouth-watering clash in Brisbane.

These two teams met earlier in the season and it was a match for the ages. Brisbane made over 400 tackles and the Storm threw everything attacking wise and the Broncos but to no avail. This could loom as a very important game for both sides. Brisbane can take out the Minor Premiership with a win and a Roosters loss (although coach Wayne Bennett has stated publicly that he has no desire to win the Minor Premiership), regardless of where they finish it has been a very successful season for the Broncos who many pundits had written off after their disastrous week 1 outing against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Melbourne on the other hand are aiming for a surprise top 4 finish and if the Sharks stumble on Sunday afternoon against a desperate Manly outfit, then the boys from down south will have the added bonus of having 2 shots at the NRL title.

The loss of Billy Slater many weeks ago seemed to have shipwrecked the Storm, but to their credit that have put game plans in place to maximize the strengths in their team (mainly Marika Korobiete and Cameron Munster). Add to this the always reliable Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith and you have a very smart and consistent football team. Their 30-2 destruction of the Sharks in Cronulla 3 weeks ago was based all arpound defence, so don't be surprised if this game turns into a real war of attrition and points are at a premium. The Storm are one of the darkhorses of the competition. They have players that have played in Semi Final football before as well as Grand Finals so have the experience. Don't be surprised if they upset Brisbane in this clash.

Last meeting: Round 15 2015 - Melbourne Storm 12 Brisbane Broncos 14

Before their titanic win earlier in the year, Brisbane had lost 8 straight against the Storm, including 4 in a row at Lang Park (which still stands). Brisbane haven't beaten the Storm at Lang Park since 2009 and to make matter worse the Storm have a remarkable 9-3 record there in 12 games. Ominous signs...

Who to watch: Brisbane's Anthony Milford is going to go down as one of the buys of the 2015 season. Since his move up from Canberra (where in his own right he was an exceptional player) he has somehow found an extra gear. His Man of the match performance last week against Souths was an absolute masterclass. He ran for a phenomenal 257 metres from just 13 carries, two tries, two try assists, 8 tackle breaks, 3 line breaks and 3 offloads. The scary thing is this is not the first time this year that we have seen that from Milford. His ability to attract defenders to him before firing out a ball to open up space is a real attribute of his play. He also has immense speed and can race through a gap the size of a pin hole. Melbourne will need to be extremely tight with their defence otherwise Milford will hurt them big time.

For Melbourne if they are going to win this football match Cooper Cronk needs to play out of his skin. Cronk in my honest opinion has one of the best short kicking games in the NRL. He needs to lead his forwards around the park and provide some magic off the back of their go forward. His combination with Cameron Smith is also very important particularly around that left hand edge where Melbourne have a lot of success. Watch for his long cut out passes to Korobiete and his short kicks to get repeat sets and build pressure on the Broncos defence.

The favourite: Brisbane are on fire and at home deserve to be strong favourites.

My tip: Despite everything looking like it's going Brisbane's way, I am tipping the Storm. A possible top 4 spot beckons for them with a win and they have a tremendous record in Brisbane. Cronk and Smith are again looking dangerous at the right time of the year. Brisbane will be the ultimate test. Storm by 2.

1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. Jack Reed 4. Justin Hodges 5. Lachlan Maranta 6. Anthony Milford 7. Ben Hunt 8. Sam Thaiday 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Adam Blair 11. Jarrod Wallace 12. Matt Gillett 13. Corey Parker
Interchange: 14. David Stagg 15. Mitchell Dodds 16. Jo Ofanhengaue 17. Kodi Nikorima

1. Cameron Munster 2. Marika Koroibete 3. Will Chambers 4. Kurt Mann 5. Matt Duffie 6. Blake Green 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Cameron Smith 10. Tim Glasby 11. Kevin Proctor 12. Tohu Harris 13. Ryan Hinchcliffe
Interchange: 14. Kenneath Bromwich 15. Christian Welch 16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 17. Jordan McLean

Referees: Jared Maxwell, Grant Atkins; Sideline Officials: Steve Carrall, Chris Sutton; Video Referees: Steve Chiddy, Luke Phillips;

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