Needing a win to stay inside the eight Melbourne Storm are treating their clash with the Broncos as do or die
Melbourne’s Marika Koroibete gives away a penalty for this shoulder charge on Mitch Brown. Source: News Corp Australia
THE Storm have come with another controversial strategy before their must-win clash with the Broncos by deliberately conceding penalties.
Melbourne have borrowed the Roosters’ premiership playbook and become the most ill-disciplined team in the NRL.
The Storm concede the most penalties (7.7 a game) in the league and are averaging 1.5 more each game than last season.
They prefer to defend with a set line and are willing to concede field position to do so.
The Storm, who remain the NRL’s best wrestlers, also lead the league in sin-binnings, with three of their players benched this season.
The finals hopes of the Storm and Broncos will be decided in this game.
Marika Koroibete gave away a penalty with this shoulder charge on Mitch Brown. Source: News Corp Australia
The Broncos, who have never beaten the Storm under Anthony Griffin, are adamant they have the tactics to overcome the Storm’s slow ruck ploys.
In fact, Alex Glenn said the Broncos did not need to wrestle to win as they backed their fitness to set their line faster than most teams.
In the past month, the Storm’s penalty rate has rocketed to nine a game.
In their past five matches Melbourne have conceded 47 penalties.
The Roosters surged to the premiership last season while conceding the most penalties in the NRL, but that was only 8.3 a game.
Lara Pitt and Ben Ikin preview Saturday's NRL clash between the Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos
It could be argued that referees are cracking down on the Storm, who have always been pioneers in ruck tactics, but their increasing rate of penalties as the finals approach suggests otherwise.
There is a common feeling among NRL clubs that the Storm prefer to give away penalties in the ruck and when offside, rather than defend on the back foot.
Melbourne have three of the smartest men in rugby league in coach Craig Bellamy, captain Cameron Smith and playmaker Cooper Cronk. They would not concede so many penalties by accident.
The Titans are also conceding 7.7 penalties a game but their rate has increased as their best players joined their lengthy injury list.
Storm have come under scrutiny for their ill-disciplined approach. Source: News Corp Australia
Glenn said while the Storm were excellent at wrestling in the tackle, the Broncos also trained in the controversial area.
However, Glenn feels the Broncos do not rely on slowing down the ruck like other clubs do.
“We have not stepped back from the wrestle,’’ Glenn said. “We have done a lot of wrestle work, especially in the pre-season.
“The structure of the game is so fast, we have belief in our team that we can let teams get up a little bit quicker.’’
Broncos co-captain Corey Parker said Brisbane would unveil fresh tactics to end Melbourne’s seven-game win-streak against them.
“We will come up with our own tactics,” Parker said. “There are no surprises. It has been a battle for a decade with Melbourne. For whatever reason, they have had the wood over us.’’
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