Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy agrees with Penrith coach Ivan Cleary that his Storm side have been handed an ‘advantage’ after booking their spot in the NRL grand final. Bellamy’s men showed too much class for Cronulla in Friday night’s 22-14 preliminary final victory, as Jahrome Hughes made a successful return from a forearm fracture, and Cameron Munster and Stefano Utoikamanu also starred.
The eight-point win means Bellamy’s side have qualified for their 11th grand final in the past 20 years, in a remarkable achievement for the veteran coach. Crucially, it also gives Melbourne an extra two days’ rest compared to their grand final opponents, who will be determined on Sunday when the Broncos host the Panthers at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy agrees with Panthers counterpart Ivan Cleary that his side have an advantage over their NRL grand final opponents, with two extra days of rest. Pic: Getty
Penrith coach Cleary described the grand final situation as ‘definitely unfair’ when he addressed media on Friday. The NRL were keen to avoid a clash with the AFL grand final in Melbourne, hence the reason for the Friday night-Sunday afternoon prelim finals. But league bosses insist there is little difference in the impact of turnarounds once they reach seven days or beyond.
Speaking after his side’s win, Bellamy sided with his Panthers counterpart after admitting the situation does favour the Storm. “I think it is an advantage,” Bellamy admitted. “But we didn’t make that decision. I think people have been a bit critical, as if it’s been us saying we want to play Friday and put them on Sunday. At the end of the day, the NRL made the decision, not us.”
Melbourne got through the prelim final win over Cronulla unscathed, with Hughes making a successful 22-day return from a fractured arm. The Storm halfback’s superb display included a stunning solo try and he withstood plenty of attention from a Sharks forward pack that targeted the Dally M Medallist.
Craig Bellamy singles out Storm prop for stunning praise
Munster was also immense for Melbourne, running the show in tandem with Hughes and creating headaches for the Cronulla defence all game. But Bellamy was quick to hail the performance of Utoikamanu, whose offload set up Hughes’ try and damaging runs helped get Melbourne on the front foot. The NSW Origin star came in for plenty of criticism earlier this year, but Bellamy reckons he’s emerged as the NRL’s most in-form prop over the last few months.
Stefano Utoikamanu was huge for the Storm in their preliminary final win over Cronulla. Pic: Getty
“With all due respect, he’s been building probably the last eight or ten weeks,” Bellamy said about the former Wests Tigers prop. “I think when he first came here, we probably did things a little bit differently to what he’d been used to.
“Not saying it’s right or wrong, but he took a little while to, I suppose understand what his role was and how to do his role in this team. But the last eight or ten weeks, I don’t think I’ve seen a better front-rower in the competition to be quite honest. He was outstanding and he certainly led the way (against Cronulla).”
Panthers coach confident about ‘scary’ Broncos clash
Melbourne’s win sets up a potential grand final rematch against Penrith – if the Panthers can get past a red-hot Broncos side on Sunday. Despite hitting out over the ‘unfair’ nature of the preliminary finals draw, Penrith’s coach is proud his side have put themselves in a position to compete for an unprecedented fifth-straight premiership.
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Cleary accepts that figuring out a way to stop Reece Walsh and the electric Broncos attack is a ‘scary’ proposition. But he insists that ‘rookie’ left side combination Blaize Talagi and Casey McLean will be up to the task, following claims from Brisbane centre Kotoni Staggs that the Broncos would target that side.
The Panthers will have their work cut out trying to contain Reece Walsh and the star-studded Brisbane attack in Sunday’s NRL preliminary final. Pic: Getty
“I don’t think it’s a scoop that our left edge gets targeted, it’s been happening for probably 20 weeks in a row,” the four-time premiership coach said. “The good thing about those boys is they learn on the run and learn from each situation.
“I felt like our left edge was actually responsible for creating a lot of pressure in the first half last week… Putting two rookies next to each other probably wasn’t something in my mind early this season but they’ve grown together, Casey and Blaize. They are not afraid to make mistakes, learn from that.”
with AAP