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Message: [QUOTE="Broncoman, post: 2784878, member: 7803"] [B]2007 Grand Final Melbourne Storm V Manly Sea Eagles [/B]In a shootout between 1st and 2nd the Storm power their way to the 2007 premiership with a dominant 34-8 victory over the Sea Eagles. [B]Road to Grand Final[/B] In a hotly contested season celebrating the 100th season of professional rugby league in Australia Melbourne powered their way to the minor premiership winning every game at Olympic Park and losing only 3 games finishing 6 points clear at the top. They destroyed a severely understrength Broncos team 40-0 in the first week of the finals to earn the week off before defeating a competitive Parramatta 26-10 to reach their 2nd straight grand final. After a struggle after the Northern Eagles debacle Manly enjoyed their best season since the 90's coming in 2nd with 18 wins from 24 games and finishing 6 points clear of their nearest rival. After beating South Sydney who made their first finals series for 18 years 30-6 in the first week they accounted for the Cowboys 28-6 to ensure the 2007 decider would be played between the best 2 teams all year. Would Des Hasler take home his first premiership or will the Storm have learnt their lesson from their crushing defeat in last year's decider? [B] Melbourne Storm [/B] 1: Billy Slater 2: Steve Turner 3: Matt King 4: Israel Folau 5: Anthony Quinn 6: Greg Inglis 7: Cooper Cronk 8: Ben Cross 9: Cameron Smith (captain) 10: Brett White 11: Clint Newton 12: Ryan Hoffman 13: Dallas Johnson 14: Matt Geyer 15: Jeremy Smith 16: Michael Croker 17: Jeff Lima Coach: Craig Bellamy [B]Manly Sea Eagles [/B]1: Brett Stewart 2: Michael Robertson 3: Steve Bell 4: Steve Matai 5: Chris Hicks 6: Jamie Lyon 7: Matt Orford (Captain) 8: Jason King 9: Michael Monaghan 10 Brent Kite 11: Anthony Watmough 12: Glenn Stewart 13: Luke Williamson 16: Mark Bryant 17: Steve Menzies 20: Jack Afamasaga 21: Adam Cuthbertson Coach: Des Hasler [B]The game [/B]Both teams got stuck into their work with hard chargers from the forwards and determined tackling playing a part in a big first 10 minutes. With Manly hanging deep in defence after Cronk had applied pressure a smart move on the left by using decoys allowed Inglis to send Quinn over in the corner untouched, with Smith's conversion Melbourne lead 6-0. The Storm lead by Ben Cross up front and Slater at the back continued their crusade but some desperate defence by Manly kept them at 6. After a superb set after a Slater line break and Cronk kick Inglis powered over to score brushing hardman Anthony Watmough aside. Smith's kick hit the post keeping the score at 10-0 after 24 minutes. Steve Matai got Manly back in the game with a try on the stroke of halftime but the game was all Melbourne. The lower profile storm players like Cross and Newton were working superbly with Slater who was running perfect lines at the back and GI's control in the halves was working wonders. Manly were hanging in but with almost no possession they would have to lift after halftime. Manly were dealt a major blow with star fullback Brett Stewart forced of after coping a hit from Slater and Croker after taking a bomb. 3 minutes later Croker powered over to score which lifted Melbourne who went on a blitz as Matt King crossed over to put the score out to 18-4 before a superb run by Inglis after an offload from White sealed the deal and Melbourne looked home with 25 minutes to go with a 22-4 lead. Only Smith's off day with the boot was keeping the score from looking more emphatic. Lyon who was one of the better Manly players on the night sent Chris Hicks over to score but that was all she wrote for Manly as Newton capped of a superb game with a try of his own and Quinn crossed for a double sending the final margin out to 34-8 delivering a 2nd premiership to the Storm and erasing memories of their 2006 grand final defeat to Brisbane. [B]Match Summary [/B]Totally dominant performance by the Storm and the scoreline certainly reflects that. They scored 7 tries to 2 but with Smith only landing 3/8 with the boot they could've scored a lot more points. The whole Storm team worked superbly on the night and everybody made a contribution which is what you need in grand finals. I can see why this grand final doesn't get mentioned often. With such a dominant performance by 1 team while the other offered little resistance compounded with the Storm scandal which was revealed in 2010 you can see why this never gets much coverage or mentions around grand final time. [B]Clive Churchill medal debate [/B]Greg Inglis was awarded the clive Churchill medal after a strong performance in the halves. His bombs had Manly guessing, his 70 meter solo effort pretty much ended all hope for Manly, he played a hand in a couple of the tries and came up with some important tackles as well. It was one of those awards where you could've given it to a fair few winning players. Ben Cross laid the platform up front, Newton ran some great lines tackled hard and scored a try to cap it off and even Croker and Lima drew the game Melbourne's way but GI deserved the award. This decision was a good one. [B]Observations - [/B]Still to this day not to many of the Storm players outside the big ones get the credit they deserve according to me. In this grand final Clint Newton who was transferred from Newcastle played a blinder as did Ben Cross and Jeff Lima played a strong part of the bench. Cronk, Slater and Smith off course played well but Slater went quit in the second half after a big first half, Cronk was good without being spectacular and Smith's bad goal kicking sort of turned me off him a little bit - Folau had such an amazing debut year but he was very quite in the grand final and made no impact. Didn't get many touches but did his job without making mistakes - Bit strange to see Matt Geyer on the bench, just find it a bit different having a back on the bench who isn't a utility player. - Some after the game said the Stewart hit was the decisive moment but even if Stewart stayed on I don't think he would've made any difference. The Storm were at their best in this game and after being denied in 06 they weren't going to let any slip through their fingers. - Orford had an absolute shocker apart from Lyon the Manly spine didn't offer any impact. - Manly's best were Matai, Lyon and Watmough who didn't stop trying the whole. Probably the best Sea Eagle was Lyon who came up with some great tackles and made the break and set up Hick's try. [B]Melbourne Storm 34: [/B]2 tries by Anthony Quinn 2 tries by Greg Inglis, tries by Michael Croker, Matt King and Clint Newton, 3 goals by Cameron Smith [B]Manly Sea Eagles 8: [/B]Tries by Steve Matai and Chris Hicks [/QUOTE]

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