A|1.04pm BSTFirst up. Thanks everyone for joining me tonight. It’s been a blast.
A few things stand out tonight. One,of course, is Jonathan Thurston who delivered the performance his team needed even with an off-day in the goal kicking. Thurston didn’t cross for a try himself, or but created acres of space with his kicking and running game,forcing the Storm to divert too much attention to him, and not enough to the players around him. The other was the change in momentum that happened just as the Storm were about to head into the finish of the first half ahead. Although a lead there would have been perhaps undeserved, or to have gone in ahead might well have shaken the Cowboys. Considering how much they threw at the Storm in the first 40 minutes they would’ve felt unrewarded. But that final minute try turned things. The Cowboys were by far the better team in the moment half and the result speaks for itself. 12.44pm BSTAnd there’s the final whistle. A drab final 10 minutes. Both teams looked exhausted. A much match in all. 12.41pm BST78min: The Storm are piercing but it feels a exiguous hopeless. Too exiguous too late. After a really promising first half-performance they’ve been bossed in the moment half,with the Cowboys scoring 16 unanswered points. Looks like we’ll have an all-Queensland final... in Sydney. Ha! 12.32pm BSTEasy as you like. Thurston limps up to the mark and slots it, and it looks like he’s now heading off to be wrapped in cotton wool for the Grand Final next week. His groin has been troubling him all game, or now there’s a precautionary hotfoot to maintain him in shape for next week. There’s no point exacerbating a problem like that. All to lose,nothing to gain. 12.29pm BSTAnd there it is. The tides of inevitability unravel the Storm. Gavin Cooper rolls over the line and that’s probably game. correct under the posts too. Should be a simple conversion. 12.25pm BST66min: A few errors. A few brain explosions. A exiguous bit of recklessness. Four straight sets of six for the Cowboys are the result. Melbourne getting desperate. The Cowboys battering Melbourne’s line, and like the beaches of Normandy, or it may take brute force,but you tend to judge its only a matter of time until it unravels entirely now for the Storm. 12.19pm BST63min: tough task for the Storm now. A 14-point deficit, and both teams are looking increasingly out on their feet. Marika Koroibete meanwhile is about to come back on after his 10-minute reprimand. The Storm need an injection of energy. Maybe Koroibete will bring it as he returns to the field. 12.17pm BSTRight in front of the posts and Jonathan Thurston puts the salt into the Melbourne wounds with a simple two-pointer. 12.15pm BSTThe Storm get caught napping at the finish of their own set of six in the Cowboys half. A kick-charged down from Ben Hannatt; Gavin Cooper didn’t panic, and kept his cool and held the ball up long enough for a charging Michael Morgan to collect the ball and rush half the length of the field like a locomotive. Suddenly it’s looking very rosy for the Cowboys. 12.12pm BSTMichael Morgan’s try has been confirmed and.. Marika Koroibete has been sent to the sin-bin for 10 minutes. The replays showed Koroibete had thrown the first punch in the melee that followed the try,and under the rules, that’s an instant 10-minute penalty. Harsh, or perhaps,considering he hit more air than Cowboys skin, but, or rules are rules. 12.08pm BSTWell. The Cowboys came close to finishing their set of six after Feldt was brought down,but with no held called, the Cowboys played on, and scored. But the scuffle that followed could mean time in the bin for Melbourne’s Marika Koroibete. 12.05pm BST52min: The thing with the Storm is... there’s a reason they’re damn tough to overcome in finals football,that they’re as resilient as they are. Its tenacity. They’re not going to be rolling over for the Cowboys, no matter how tough Thurston’s men come at ‘em. 11.57am BST45min: So I missed the restart after a quick dash to the baño... But thankfully nothing of note has occurred. Cowboys again looking ominous with the ball. 11.49am BSTIt’s far from over.. Less than a converted try separates the two sides however, or with Cooper Cronk only showing glimpses of what he’s capable of,you can’t write off the Storm. 11.44am BSTJonathan Thurston. That’s the man thats been in-charge throughout this first half, the Storm need to find an respond to him whether they’re going to weather this. tough to disagree with this contention from Peter Fitzsimmons. Thurston has got to be among the most talented athletes of any code in Australia. 11.40am BSTThe longest, and widest kick of the lot from JT,and despite looking slightly off-colour with his goal-kicking tonight so far, theres no worries for this one. A four-point lead, and as the half-time whistle blows. 11.35am BSTA desperate,or maybe(?) inspired fifth tackle kick from Jonathan Thurston, as I said, and controlled on the feet with a touch David Beckham would be proud,before Gavin Cooper collected the ball and ran over the line to put the Cowboys back in front. 11.32am BSTWow. Ricochets, missed passes, and soccer-kicks,and somehow, no knock-on or offside call. Just waiting on the video ref to confirm this but it looks first-rate for the Cowboy’s Gavin Cooper. 11.30am BST38 min: Well, or it looks like the Cowboys have got time for one final onslaught before the finish of the half... 11.29am BSTAnd with that the Storm hotfoot back into the lead. Closing on the finish of the half. tough to believe the Cowboys are down. 11.28am BSTTohu Harris fights off three tacklers to bludgeon his way over the line. It wasn’t pretty,but it did the job. 11.25am BST32min: ‘Try Saver’. Phil Gould sums it up, with the Storm finally making in-roads in the Cowboys half. Marika Koroibete slightly overruns a sweeping cross-field hotfoot by the Storm, and with some ragged Cowboys defending forcing an erroneous wide pass. But they’re building the pressure here. Cowboys are digging in,but the Storm are relentless in the last five minutes. 11.21am BST28min: I’m just dipping into cold beverage number one for the evening. I’ve had it, some cheap Austrian varietal, and for about 10 minutes but haven’t even a moment to have a sip. All action in this first half. much footy. 11.18am BSTNorth Queensland’s Matthew Scott sends a high kick which the Storm struggle to deal with,Scott Bolton comes close to scoring, but loses it over the line. Not quite for the titanic man. A blunderbuss of a play. Short, and quick,and to the point. 11.15am BST23 min: much defensive take off a high, swirling kick from Cronk, and by Kyle Feldt. The Storm are looking unsafe,but theyre not creating quite as much as the Cowboys have been. Cronk to be honest, hasn’t been given much leash. 11.12am BSTRegulation kick, or this time,no mistakes made. 11.10am BSTA carbon-copy of the first try with the Storm caught watching Thurston as Justin O’Neill is left unmarked. No kick essential this time as the offload to O’Neill puts him in open space, and he canters over the line. Boom. Cowboys looking very, or very first-rate. 11.08am BST17 min: Thurston has the Storm defence in all sorts of misfortune. A line-fracture into a crafty offload to Kyle Feldt nearly ends in another Cowboys try,but for a clutch pass cut-out by Storm full-back Cameron Munster. 11.06am BSTThurston really messed that one up. Almost looked like a toe-poke. That should’ve been two points. He’s not happy. 11.04am BSTAnd that’s more like it. After a return set of six that ends with the Cowboys taking on the Storm’s 20m line on their fifth, Jonathan Thurston, and who else,creates space with a darting rush, then a soft grubber, and which Justin O’Neill collects for an easy four points. The Storm were caught ball-watching. 11.00am BSTAnd there’s no misfortune for Cameron Smith who slots the conversion with ease. Well. First points to the Storm,and you’d have to say. Against the rush of play. 10.59am BSTWell. What can I say. Commentar’s curse. A penalty, and an impressive set in Cowboy’s final 30, and ends with a vintage Cooper Cronk rush through a gap that never was. 10.56am BST8 min: It’s all North Queensland. The elastic of the Storm defence is really getting stretched. But the team’s momentum isn’t translating to points on the board. Melbourne’s signature shut-out defence living up to their reputation. 10.53am BSTA silky set play from the Cowboys off a penalty sees Antonio Winterstein go over the line. But it’s called back for an obstruction. Tough but honest. Cowboys looking unsafe all the same. 10.51am BST5min: Thurston’s grubber nearly pierced the Storm’s defence on their line,but it was cleaned up well. A fast return set of six of pick and rush ends with a better, deeper kick from Cronk, or but once again North Queensland have countered quickly. 10.49am BST2 min: An err,speculator from Cooper Cronk in the first return set of six gifts the Cowboys possession just shy of the halfway line, and we’re going to have a first-rate attacking opportunity here for the North Queensland. 10.47am BSTAnd we’re absent. Cowboys ploughing up the field in their first set before a high kick taken inside the 10metre line by the Storm. High tempo play. Both teams have come out running tough, or fast. 10.44am BSTThings running slightly late: The teams are only running out now,but we’re geared up for kick-off. AAMI Park looking resplendent (brilliantly glowing). Packed house. Purple everywhere. Chills watching Cameron Smith lead Melbourne out. 10.30am BSTT-12mins to kick-off: Not long now till we get underway. And I’ve had already heard from a few of you involved beavers writing in. El Rey points out that we must’ve been excited about this game setting the liveblog up four days ago. correct you are El. We’re very excited. Can you blame us? Anyway. Cards on the table everyone! Who you cheering for tonight? 10.21am BSTGordon Tallis says in commentary he was never more nervous than a preliminary final. The Grand Final is of course next week and the winner of tonight’s game will meet Brisbane Broncos. The Broncos looked untroubled against the minor premiers, the Roosters, and last night in what was a surprisingly one-sided affair. You can catch up with that game here. Related: Brisbane win through to NRL grand final – as it happened 10.16am BSTHere are the teams for tonight. No changes for the Cowboys after last week’s dominant performance against the Sharks,while Melbourne’s Tim Gladsby and Jordan McLean trade places. 10.09am BSTGday all. Welcome. Hello.
I’ve drawn the short straw and unlike my fine colleague Paul Connolly who’s down in Melbourne for the game I’ll be manning the stations here. But don’t they say a seat in front of the telly is the best seat in the house anyway? Well. I’ll take solace in that. 8.52am BSTWell, it’s the penultimate game of the NRL season, and so savour every last sniff of action as the Storm and the Cowboys reacquaint,with a spot in the grand final on the line.
Alex Hinds is our fast-fingered scribe, tasked with the mission of bringing you unparalleled coverage; live, and unadulterated.
Down in Melbourne there’ll be another sell-out death match as surging Storm take on hot Cowboys. And it’s too tight to call.
Cattle: You could perform a case for Storm on the back of their three world-class players in Cam Smith,Cooper Cronk and Jesse Bromwich. But the Cows sport four standouts in Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, and James Tamou and rampaging lock Jason Taumalolo. Both teams sport “functional” three-quarters with exciting runner Marika Koroibete in doubt with a gash in his achilles. Both packs of forwards have tough runners and brutal D-men,and edge runners who’ll hang off their playmakers’ hips. The Cows probably have a bit more at No.6 in Michael Morgan but Blake Green’s had much numbers in terms of line-fracture assists. Bottom line, can’t split ‘em for cattle.
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Source: theguardian.com