Melbourne has stood up on the big occasion and stamp their authority with a dominating 22-0 win over the Cronulla Sharks.
The win puts Melbourne through to their third straight Grand Final and they will face off against the winner of tomorrow nights match between the Manly Sea Eagles and New Zealand Warriors.
The Sharks started the game off horribly, looking a step slow and making to many mistakes. Their plight wasn’t helped when an early break in the game by Cooper Cronk lead to a try and a 4 point lead to the Storm.
As the Sharks continued to struggle, the Storm continued to build, grinding away at the Sharks.
The Storm were absolutely outstanding in defense. I said in my last article that the best teams are have the best tackling technique, and if you watch the Storm, particularly in one-on-one defense, they are just amazing.
The Sharks fought back in the second half and looked like they wanted to make a game of things, but the Storm just kept coming up with the big plays when needed.
Even as the Storm looked out on their feet at one point, they just kept coming and refused to let the Sharks have anything.
As always, the Storm were lifted by unheralded bench players who just come on, do their job and are mistake free. They compliment the Storms star players perfectly and are the heart and soul of the club.
So the Storm are through and I think the long Grand Final buildup to next Sunday will do them well. They have had a tough run in and now can sit back and watch the Sea Eagles and Warriors bash each other up.
As for the Sharks, they did well and they will be better for the experience they have had in this years finals.
