Melbourne Storm side of 2017 is best ever seen, writes Paul Crawley
PAUL CRAWLEY: My two standout league teams before now were Canberra in 1994 and Brisbane in 1998 but this Melbourne side of 2017 is the best I’ve seen.
SIT back and enjoy this because we are about to witness history in this NRL finals series.
I can’t talk about what happened before the 1970s.
But in my life watching the game, and 25 years covering the sport, this Melbourne side of 2017 is the best I’ve seen.
My two standouts before now were Canberra in 1994 and Brisbane in 1998.
Around those years both clubs, like the Storm, won multiple grand finals.
But the Raiders and the Broncos were at their most awesome those years.
Canberra’s team that belted Canterbury in ’94 was ridiculous.
Just look at the names in that grand final line up.
From one to 13 they were pretty much legends of their time.
And Brisbane’s side that also smashed the Bulldogs in ’98 was equally impressive.
Lockyer, Renouf, Kevin Walters, Langer, Tallis, Thorn, Webcke.
Man for man, you’d argue this Melbourne side doesn’t have the wall-to-wall talent.
It’s still pretty bloody good across the park, with seven Origin players and as many internationals.
But the real advantage the Storm has is the “Big Four”.
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That’s been the difference all year. I reckon it would be the same any era.
Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Craig Bellamy.
For most of the finals teams heading into this weekend, the biggest question relates to experience, both with their coach and their players.
With the Storm, it’s the exact opposite.
Big stage coach.
Biggest stage players.
But it’s not the big things that are always necessarily most important in the finals.
It’s the way Melbourne do the little things that will get them home in 2017.
They say rugby league is a game of inches.
Melbourne Storm have been collecting those inches for so long now they have built a well-worn highway that leads from AAMI Park to ANZ Stadium.
What we know about the Storm from the evidence presented over time is this:
•They won’t be overawed
•They will start fast
•They will defend with resilience
•They will kick pin point
•And this Storm side will attack with precision.
While other teams will have to hope they can reach the premiership standard to attain greatness, the Storm have been doing it all season, and for over a decade.
Yes, they had titles stripped for salary cap cheating (2007 and 2009).
But you can’t argue the Storm’s continued success directly relates back to four key individuals.
Bellamy is a coach who demands perfection and knows exactly how to get the best out of every player.
And with Slater, Cronk and Smith all turning 34 this year, they are showing no signs of slowing down.
If anything, their experience has only enhanced their ability to identify weakness in opposition teams.
You see it every week.
We saw it in Origin.
While the Raiders and Broncos had some of the greatest players of their time, Slater and Smith will go down as the greatest in their key positions of any era.
And Cronk is right up there.
He wasn’t born great, hard work got him there, and attention to detail.
A player like Shaun Johnson has more talent in his little finger but he doesn’t have Cronk’s consistency.
Cronk has developed his game to the point where every backrower who plays outside him looks like a world-beater.
When it was Kevin Proctor, everyone thought Proctor was one of the game’s best ball-running forwards.
Now it’s Felise Kaufusi.
What it has shown is that it is not so much the line runner, but the bloke throwing the ball.
Or the man standing at dummy half, managing a game like no one else is history.
You can rely on Smith coming out every week and having two or three legitimate 40/20 shots.
Straight away it makes the wingers stay back, which gives the Storm the opportunity to attack.
You see opposition teams try and pressure Smith but as the game goes on he leaves them second guessing, going at them with Cronk outside, Slater inside.
Every rival coach has tried every way possible to stop him, yet this year is probably his greatest season.
It defies logic.
And people, me included, get dirty on Smith for the way he controls referees.
But that’s all part of what makes him so good.
The same with how Slater is always fighting for any advantage he can get and pushing boundaries in the process.
There aren’t too many people who have much bad to say about Cronk because he doesn’t go on with any antics, except making players around him better.
All season they have only lost four games, two of those where when the Origin players were missing.
No, you can’t guarantee they’ll win the grand final from here.
But I can’t see anything beating them, aside from bad luck.
Originally published as Melbourne Storm side of 2017 is best ever seen, writes Paul Crawley