Courageous Warriors eye off Storm

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

MELBOURNE Storm coach Craig Bellamy has accused his players of not being on the same page after another loss in last night's Anzac Day blockbuster at AAMI Park.

In front of record Storm home crowd of 28,716, the gutsy NZ Warriors survived an onslaught early in the second half to score a memorable win.

Melbourne remains outside the eight after dropping three out of its last four matches with the dreaded State of Origin period in sight.

Justin O'Neill leaves the field injured. Picture: Colleen Petch. Source: News Corp Australia

"We're struggling to all get out on the same page at the moment," Bellamy said.

"One week we have some players playing good and others not so good and the next week it spins around a bit.

"We're just sort of looking a bit foreign to each other at times."

Melbourne had plenty of chances in the second half to overrun the Warriors but just could not crack their strong defensive line.

Ironically, the Warriors came into last night's match as the worst defensive side in the NRL.

"They (the Warriors) defended really well (in the second half)," Bellamy said.

Tohu Harris tries to break the tackle of Feleti Mateo. pic: Colleen Petch. Source: News Corp Australia

"We made enough line breaks to win the game — we're just couldn't finish them off.

"You have to give the Warriors a wrap for the way they defended."

Warriors coach Andrew McFadden could not praise his players enough for the way they toughed it out.

"I am incredibly proud of them," he said.

"I thought it was a courageous effort."

The match was highly physical and played at a very high intensity right from the opening whistle.

Mahe Fonua gets tackled by Ben Henry. Source: News Corp Australia

Melbourne had good early field position but it then gave away two penalties in quick succession.

The visitors capitalised — working it out wide for the first try of the night to winger David Fusitua in the corner.

It sparked the Warriors, who were playing with freedom and looking dangerous every time they surged forward.

They went forward time and time again in the opening 40 minutes to open up a 10-point buffer.

But Storm were soon on the board through Kevin Proctor.

Kevin Proctor reaches out to score a try despite the tackle of Chad Townsend. Source: News Corp Australia

His combination with Cooper Cronk on the right side has been a winning one this season.

And so it was again last night when the Test halfback put him over late in the first half.

Melbourne were soon on level pegging when winger Young Tonumaipea crossed in the corner early in the second half.

But they could not cross again despite putting some strong pressure on the Warriors.

Then Shaun Johnson scored against the run of play to demoralise Melbourne and help his side to victory.

Sam Tomkins of the Warriors takes a high ball. Source: Getty Images

Meanwhile, the NRL's investigation into a possible concussion injury involving Ryan Hoffman in round six is now closed with no further action proposed.

The NRL had been investigating whether Hoffman was allowed to return to the field prematurely in the side's miraculous win over St George-Illawarra, just six-and-a-half minutes after he was taken for a concussion test.

WARRIORS 16 (D Fusitua S Johnson F Mateo tries S Johnson 2 goals) bt MELBOURNE 10 (K Proctor Y Tonumaipea tries C Smith goal) at AAMI Park. Referee: Ashley Klein, Adam Gee. Crowd: 28,716.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Courageous Warriors eye off Storm

Dengan url

http://sportifoclube.blogspot.com/2014/04/courageous-warriors-eye-off-storm.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Courageous Warriors eye off Storm

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Courageous Warriors eye off Storm

sebagai sumbernya