Wests Tigers will look to end a run of five straight defeats when they take on the high-flying Melbourne Storm in their Round 21 clash this Friday, July 31.
With a good recent record against the Storm at Leichhardt Oval — winning seven of the 10 fixtures played at the venue — Jason Taylor’s side will go into Friday’s game secretly confident of producing another strong performance against the Victorians. Wests Tigers are winless through their last five, but the return of Robbie Farah and a milestone for local Aaron Woods as he plays his 100th game will no doubt give the hosts a big boost.
Craig Bellamy’s side, on the other hand, come into the game with a contrasting run of form — winning their last two in impressive fashion against the Panthers and Dragons — and seemingly poised to launch a finals run over the last six weeks of the season.
Cameron Munster has been strong at the back in the absence of Billy Slater, while the likes of Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith ensure a tough fight week in and week out.
It’ll be interesting to see, however, how much travel plays a part for the visitors, who have a less than 50 percent winning record this year outside of Melbourne.
In the past three weeks, the Storm have traveled twice to New Zealand, and will head back to Sydney on a short preparation as they try to win just their third game there this year.
Whether that will affect one of the more professional sides in the competition remains to be seen, but it’s certainly shaping as an intriguing clash on Friday night between two sides that might be at different ends of the table but still with plenty to play for.
Be there as we take on the Storm in our Marvel jerseys this Friday at Leichhardt Oval!
Match Details
Date — Friday, July 31, 2015
Time — 7:45pm AEST
Venue — Leichhardt Oval
Match Officials
On-Field Referees — Adam Devcich and Chris Sutton
Touch Judges — Rick MacFarlane and Kasey Badger
Video Referees — Jared Maxwell and Luke Patten
TV, Live Stream and Radio Information
TV — Channel 9 (Delayed 9:30pm NSW & QLD), GO (Live 7:30pm VIC)
Live Stream — NRL Digital Pass (subscription required)
Radio — FM 104.9 Triple M (Sydney and Brisbane)
Confirmed Squads
Wests Tigers |
|
Melbourne Storm |
James Tedesco |
1 |
Cameron Munster |
David Nofoaluma |
2 |
Marika Koroibete |
Kevin Naiqama |
3 |
Will Chambers |
Tim Simona |
4 |
Tohu Harris |
Pat Richards |
5 |
Matt Duffie |
Mitchell Moses |
6 |
Blake Green |
Luke Brooks |
7 |
Cooper Cronk |
Aaron Woods |
8 |
Jesse Bromwich |
Robbie Farah (capt.) |
9 |
Cameron Smith (capt.) |
Keith Galloway |
10 |
Tim Glasby |
Curtis Sironen |
11 |
Kevin Proctor |
Dene Halatau |
12 |
Kenny Bromwich |
Sauaso Sue |
13 |
Ryan Hinchcliffe |
Kyle Lovett |
14 |
Dale Finucane |
Jack Buchanan |
15 |
Mahe Fonua |
Ava Seumanufagai |
16 |
Nelson Asofa-Solomona |
Brenden Santi |
17 |
Christian Welch |
Manaia Cherrington |
18 |
|
Jason Taylor |
Coach |
Craig Bellamy |
Robbie Farah returns at hooker for Wests Tigers, with Dene Halatau moving into the back row to cover for the injured Chris Lawrence (ankle). Martin Taupau's suspension sees Sauaso Sue move to lock, while Keith Galloway returns to the starting front row alongside 100-game man Aaron Woods. Ava Seumanufagai also returns from a knee injury, named on a five-man interchange bench along with young gun Manaia Cherrington.
For the Storm, they are unchanged from the side that defeated the Dragons in Napier last weekend, with Jesse Bromwich cleared to play following a biting allegation last week.
2015 Recent Results
Wests Tigers
R15 — Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 30 def. Wests Tigers 20
R16 — Penrith Panthers 35 def. Wests Tigers 12
R17 — Parramatta Eels 28 def. Wests Tigers 16
R19 — Brisbane Broncos 42 def. Wests Tigers 16
R20 — Sydney Roosters 33 def. Wests Tigers 8
Melbourne Storm
R15 — Brisbane Broncos 14 def. Melbourne Storm 12
R16 — Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 20 def. Melbourne Storm 4
R18 — New Zealand Warriors 28 def. Melbourne Storm 14
R19 — Melbourne Storm 52 def. Penrith Panthers 10
R20 — Melbourne Storm 22 def. St. George-Illawarra Dragons 4
Match History
· Against the Storm — Played 25, Won 9, Lost 16, Drawn 0
· At Leichhardt Oval — Played 10, Won 7, Lost 3
Numbers to Know
• 100 — Aaron Woods will play his 100th NRL game this weekend.
• 200 — Cameron Smith will captain the Storm for the 200th time this weekend.
• 567 — Melbourne Storm have completed 567 sets this year (2nd most in NRL), and have the highest completion rate (80%) in the competition.
• 313 — Jesse Bromwich ranks third in the competition for most runs with 313, and leads the competition with 153 decoy runs this year as well.
• 125 — James Tedesco leads the competition with 125 tackle breaks.
