As a football junkie, the Melbourne Storm deadset make me damp every single week.
The effort required to get up and produce the goods week after week, year after year, its astounding what they have managed to achieve. Just trying to stay motivated after so many Premierships, so many Grand Finals, and yet not team plays with the same desire as the Storm.
With all the experience they have, they know better than anyone else that Premierships are not won at this time of the year. You can see with everything they do, its all a learning experience for them.
They showed this during the ridiculous trip to England for the World Club Challenge. They went over, got the job done, and came back with the minimum of fuss.
They then kicked off their NRL season with three away games. No problem, three wins, and they didn’t really set the world on fire in any of them, but they are still at the pointy end of the ladder.
Right now the Storms big guns are keeping quiet.
While Cameron Smith has started the season very well, and Cooper Cronk returned last week in stunning form, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis have been quiet.
Inglis in particular shows the Storms attitude.
His normal playing weight amazingly is reported to be 115 kilograms. I’d bet money that right now, he is probably 120 kilos or more!
The thing is, getting into Origin time, he’ll have burned off that extra weight. He’ll start to look sharp and warm up to the task.
Right now the Storm are getting by on the form of their lesser known players. The guys they slot into their forward pack, some names are familiar, others are not, and yet they all do their job so well.
Their wins so far this season have been good too, just what you want to see from a club.
A tough win over the Cronulla Sharks, having just stepped off the plane from England. A gritty come from behind win up in Newcastle that didn’t get the coverage it really deserves, and an 80 minute slog at Penrith in what was one of Penriths most complete performances in years, and yet they still got beat.
This Friday afternoon though, its a big test. They take on the St George/Illawarra Dragons in Melbourne.
The Dragons are at their peak. They are carving teams up, they are sharp, they look outstanding. Too bad its still March really.
This is a real chance for the Storm to test themselves, see where they are against the top sides. I have to say, if they come out and thrash the Dragons, she’s all over for 2010 baring major injuries.
