Cameron Smith will be what gets Melbourne Storm over the line
RUGBY league fans are going to see a very special grand final, but Greg Inglis believes Cameron Smith will be the difference between the Storm and the Cowboys.
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I HAVE never played alongside a footballer so consistently great as Melbourne Storm captain Cameron Smith — and I expect him to cap an exceptional season in the 2017 NRL grand final at ANZ Stadium.
I think rugby league fans are going to see a very special grand final, but I believe Dally M Medallist Cameron Smith is the difference between the Storm and the Cowboys.
I’ve played a lot of football alongside Cameron, and I do not expect to see another player like him in my lifetime. That is how highly I rate him — and he just keeps improving his level of performance.
His consistency is a tribute to how hard he works on his game, and also the fact he has been blessed in a long career that has largely been free of injury. Cameron is the first player on to the field and he is usually the last player off it, both at training and on game days, such is his commitment to the game.
People often ask me what is the Melbourne Storm’s secret? How have they been so consistently good for so long?
I played more than 100 games for the Storm from 2005-2010 and I can tell you the strong winning-culture was built in the early years of the club and has been nurtured by a group of very special people.
Like any successful business, it all starts with the administration and the football department of that club, and that culture feeds into the playing group.
Today, that culture continues with coach Craig Bellamy and Cameron Smith.
League fans will see in this grand final one of the greatest spines in rugby league history, with Smith at 9, Cooper Cronk at 7 and Billy Slater at 1.
Sure we can expect to see these three great footballers for the Kangaroos later this year, but it will be the last time we see them as a trio in Storm colours and at the one club.
It is a big task for North Queensland but surely no one would be prepared to write them off after their magnificent performances in this year’s NRL finals series.
Maybe it’s the Queenslander in me, but I thought they were a definite winning chance in each elimination game they played — because I knew that even without Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott they had players who had been on the big stage before, and because they simply had nothing to lose.
The Cowboys will go in to the decider again as rank outsiders, but the Storm will know what they are capable of.
Big Jason Taumalolo has run 230 metres in every game of the finals and has been a human wrecking ball. Gavin Cooper has grown into a fine player. Ethan Lowe has obviously been getting kicking tips from JT and has also grown as a player, as has Shaun Fensom.
Michael Morgan and Jake Granville have shown great skill and creativity. Another player who has really impressed me is Scott Bolton, who I played alongside many years ago for Queensland Schoolboys.
It’s not quite the all-Queensland grand final of 2015, but the clear majority of players at ANZ Stadium will be Queenslanders, so there will be plenty of support north of the border.
One thing every player should know is that anything can happen on grand final day.
There’s nothing quite like a grand final at ANZ Stadium, when 80,000 fans pack in to the stadium.
The atmosphere will be electric and I expect to see a fitting end to a great footy season.
Enjoy it!
Greg Inglis will be at the grand final ANZ Stadium with the South Sydney Rabbitohs and as an ANZ Stadium Ambassador.
The NRL Grand Final official kick off time is 7.15pm at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, October 1.
Originally published as Cameron Smith will be what gets Melbourne Storm over the line