Bulldogs vs Storm NRL Final Live Streaming kicks off at 5:15PM AEST on Sunday, September 30, 2012. Will Bulldogs vs Storm be a great NRL final?
Bulldogs vs Storm: Who will win?
The Storm and the Bulldogs are well deserved grand final participants and an an epic clash is expected between the most dominant teams of the 2012 season.
The Bulldogs, the minor premiers for 2012, are playing for their first premiership since 2004 having won 15 of their past 16 matches this year.
The Storm, who had their 2007 and 2009 titles stripped for salary breaches, have been just as impressive. They won their first nine matches, lost five in a row during the Origin period before regaining form to win their past seven.
If things go right for Canterbury in the first 20 minutes and it can turn pressure into points then, the minor premiers could run away with the match.
If Graham, Tolman, Kasiano and Pritchard start rampaging into the purple line it could be a famous victory.
But the stats favour experience in grand finals and the Storm have it in spades over the Dogs.
Canterbury has five players who have played in an NRL grand final – Sam Perrett (Roosters), Inu (Eels/Warriors), Tolman (Storm), David Stagg (Broncos) and Dene Halatau (Tigers). It equals six appearances in total.
The Storm boast 20 grand final appearances. Nine of the 17 Storm players taking the field have played in a grand final.
This will be the fifth for Slater and Cronk and fourth for Smith. Barring serious mishaps, their leadership and experience will most probably overwhelm the talent and enthusiasm of the Dogs.
Bulldogs vs Storm: At a glance
Rugby Event: Bulldogs vs Storm
Date: September 30, 2012
Starting Time: 5:15PM [AEST]
Competition: NRL Grand Final
Venue: ANZ Stadium
Live Coverage: FOX SPORTS
Head to head
It will be the 30th meeting between these two clubs. The ledger stands 15-14 in favour of the Bulldogs but the Storm have won all three at this venue and nine of the last 12.
The last time they met at the Olympic stadium was in 2008 and the Storm won 46-0. But it was the last meeting between the two sides in Mackay that will give Canterbury confidence.
The Dogs beat the Storm, who were without Billy Slater, 20-4.
Aiden Tolman, James Graham, Krisnan Inu and particularly Ben Barba had great games.
The Dogs won on the back of their ability to break Melbourne’s tackles and defensive line.
The Dogs particularly targeted Dane Nielsen, Matt Duffie and Maurice Blair to great effect in that game. Of those three only Nielsen will feature in the grand final.
In the round 7 fixture in Melbourne, the Storm won a tight contest 12-6. Despite making 300 more metres and 40 fewer tackles, the Dogs’ finishing was poor and they made a massive 15 errors.
Key statistics
Going into this match it looks like very little separates these sides statistically.
However, if you look at the team stats from the beginning of August onwards you can see a distinct divide.
The Storm have been scoring six more points, gaining 80 more metres, making 1.5 more line breaks, conceding four fewer points and conceding 262 fewer metres per match.
This means the Storm are 10 points and 342 metres better a match than the Dogs right now. Their form seems to be peaking at the right time.
How they will play it
The Bulldogs will look for their bigger pack to get on top in the middle and also attack the Storm players a bit wider out.
Frank Pritchard and Sam Kasiano will look for off-loads and once they get a roll on look for halves Josh Reynolds and Kris Keating to put Barba, Josh Morris and the other backs through the line.
They will target defensive weak links Gareth Widdop, Justin O’Neill and Will Chambers. They may also choose to spin the ball wide early to get around Melbourne’s defensive umbrella and attack the weaker defenders out wide.
The Storm will try to play no-error footy with the ball and look to gain field position through the boot of Cooper Cronk.
They will then put the Dogs under pressure to turn the ball over. Extreme pressure will be applied on Reynolds – who has made 26 errors this season – by Ryan Hoffman, Cameron Smith and Ryan Hinchcliffe.
The Storm – mostly through Widdop, Slater and Hoffman – will try to isolate Reynolds, Inu and Kasiano one-on-one in defence, as they all miss tackles regularly.
Barba and winger Jonathan Wright are both suspect under high balls. You can expect Cronk to target them.
The stats show when Canterbury wins, they score plenty of points in the first half. The Dogs’ quietest time for scoring is in the first 20 minutes of the second half, which is also the period they concede the most points.
The Storm wear sides down. While they do score well in the first 40 minutes, it is the second half where they really accumulate points and concede very few.
Both sides will kick away from the full-backs as both specialise in line breaks from kick returns.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Starting Line-Up:
1. Ben Barba1, 2. Sam Perrett2, 3. Josh Morris3, 4. Krisnan Inu4, 5. Jonathan Wright5, 6. Josh Reynolds6, 7. Kris Keating7, 8. Aiden Tolman8, 9. Michael Ennis9, 10. Sam Kasiano10, 11. Frank Pritchard11, 12. Josh Jackson12, 13. Greg Eastwood13
Interchange:
14. James Graham14, 15. Dale Finucane15, 16. Corey Payne16, 17. David Stagg17, 19. Dene Halatau
Melbourne Storm Starting Line-Up:
1. Billy Slater1, 2. Sisa Waqa2, 3. Dane Nielsen3, 4. Will Chambers4, 5. Justin O’Neill5, 6. Gareth Widdop6, 7. Cooper Cronk7, 8. Jesse Bromwich8, 9. Cameron Smith9, 10. Bryan Norrie10, 11. Sika Manu11, 12. Ryan Hoffman12, 13. Todd Lowrie13
Interchange:
14. Ryan Hinchcliffe14, 15. Kevin Proctor15, 16. Jaiman Lowe16, 17. Richard Fa’aoso17, 18. Rory Kostjasyn18, 19. Mahe Fonua19, 20. Siosaia Vave20, 21. Anthony Quinn
Watch Bulldogs vs Storm >>> FOX SPORTS
