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Early Season Momentum Hard to Come By for the Melbourne Storm

Dermott Banks

The Melbourne Storm were on another level in 2017. Arguably up there with the greatest club teams in NRL history, Melbourne romped to the title – Nathan Cleary and winger Suliasi Vunivalu finishing as the league’s top points scorer and top try scorer, respectively. It was plain sailing for the Storm last year and it was always going to be difficult but you won’t find too many fans who were backing Melbourne to finish outside of the playoff places.

Now much changed for the 2018 season, Melbourne have struggled to inspire confidence in the first six weeks of the campaign. With three defeats already this year, the Storm are just one loss away from equalling their total for the entire 2017 season and we aren’t halfway through the campaign yet. It was always going to be a tough, transitional period for the organisation but most expected Melbourne to be right in the mix at the top of the table.

The iconic Cooper Cronk stuck by his decision to leave Melbourne after 13 glorious years with the Storm and he is now shining for the Sydney Roosters. Another well-fancied team ahead of the 2018 campaign, the Roosters are playing some scintillating rugby and Cronk, a regular in many fantasy teams across Australia, is in fantastic form. With two tries and a goal in seven appearances, he has settled quickly to life at Allianz Stadium.

A large percentage of fantasy players opted for Vunivalu this year; based primarily on his try-scoring form in 2017. With four tries in six appearances, he has been solid enough but Storm supporters will be expecting him to kick on and perform at a higher level as Melbourne start to turn things around. Defensively, he has missed seven tackles this year – not good enough for a player of his calibre but he has the quality to get back to his brilliant best in the coming months.

Another player to consider picking up is Brodie Croft. The youngster hasn’t enjoyed the best of starts to the 2018 campaign but he has the talent and the mental strength to succeed on the big stage. Croft could mature as the season goes on and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see the Storm half-back shine in the second half of the year. Melbourne will need Croft to come of age to stand any chance of defending their NRL title.

From a fantasy perspective, a resurgent Melbourne should mean positive things for Croft – it may be worth picking the Storm star up now. Still relatively inexperienced, Melbourne will reap rewards from Croft’s skill set once he fully develops. Who knows, he might even turn out to be Melbourne’s main difference maker at the business end of the campaign. As of April 20th, the Storm are $6.00 in bet365’s NRL betting odds and it would take a brave man to write Croft’s side off.

The Melbourne Storm will put a run of form together at some point and they are still well in contention for NRL glory. A return to the Grand Final must be their primary objective this season – despite their early campaign woes. With Croft and Vunivalu on top form, the Storm can get back to the summit of Australian rugby league.

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Dermott Banks