Melbourne Storm winger Xavier Coates says he is ‘expecting’ the Broncos to try and nullify his aerial threat in Sunday’s NRL grand final with the same blocking tactics they employed the last two times the clubs met in the regular season. The NRL warned teams before the finals series kicked off that players risked being sin-binned if they deliberately took out opponents to prevent them leaping for high balls, following Brisbane’s use of the questionable tactic against the Storm.
It came after complaints from fans that Brisbane centre Kotoni Staggs wasn’t binned for blatantly grabbing Coates in their round 27 win over the Storm. The Broncos used a similar tactic against the towering Melbourne winger in round 23 but it backfired after he was tackled in mid-air in Brisbane’s in-goal area and the Storm were awarded a penalty try.
Storm winger Xavier Coates (L) expects the Broncos to use similar tactics against him in the NRL grand final as Kotoni Staggs (R) did the last time they played. Pic: Getty
Coates is one of the best fliers in the NRL and scores a large percentage of his tries from bombs. And there’s been suggestions the Storm are “exploiting a loophole” by kicking more to Coates this year, because defenders can’t tackle the attacking player in the air.
What was evident during the previous two clashes between the sides is that Brisbane had come up with a blueprint to blunt the Storm high-flyer. Coates admitted after Melbourne’s round 27 defeat that he ‘knew it was coming’ from the Broncos players but urged referees to provide better protection for attacking players.
League bosses listened and the NRL’s clubs liaison officer David Fairleigh made mention of the tactic in his weekly memo to teams after the final round. He indicated that the deliberate act of impeding players trying to contest a kick wouldn’t be tolerated in the finals series and could result in sin-bins for blatant offences.
The Broncos did concede two escort penalties against Penrith last week during their stirring preliminary final victory over the four-time reigning premiers. And Michael Maguire’s men will have to tread carefully in Sunday’s decider against the Storm, who will undoubtedly look to take advantage of Coates’ aerial prowess once more.
RELATED:
Xavier Coates expects Broncos to try and blunt his aerial threat
Speaking ahead of the grand final, Coates said he expected Brisbane’s defenders to once again target him during high-ball contests, but insisted Melbourne had plenty more strings to their bow in attack. Regardless, the Dally M winger of the year backed the grand final officials to police the issue fairly on Sunday after suggesting Melbourne would continue playing to his aerial strengths.
Storm winger Xavier Coates is seen here being tackled in the air during the NRL round 23 win over the Broncos. Pic: Getty
“There’s more to a game of rugby league than just me competing for a ball. I’ll just continue doing it and hopefully it pays off in the game,” Coates told News Corp. “The rules are the rules and I feel like it’s been the exact same. There’s no need to change what I’m doing. I’m going to keep competing, and whether it comes off, I don’t mind as long as I know I’m giving it my best shot.”
Coates and the Storm are confident they’ve learned the lessons from last year’s grand final defeat to Penrith, as they aim to deliver another premiership for Craig Bellamy in what will be a record 11th NRL decider for the master coach. Key to Melbourne’s hopes will be finding a way to limit the threat of Brisbane’s electrifying backline, particularly superstar No.1 Reece Walsh, who heads into the decider as arguably the NRL’s most in-form player across the last few months.