Melbourne Storm built unbelievable success on two pillars of discipline and science

MANY teams ponder form, confidence, luck and injuries when assessing their title chances. The Storm only believe in two things, writes MATTHEW JOHNS.

While many teams ponder form, confidence, luck and injuries when assessing their title chances, the Melbourne Storm only believe in two things. Science and discipline.

And that’s why they’re the team to beat this year.

All that science and discipline was on display in their 48-6 annihilation of the Brisbane Broncos last Friday night.

The Broncos had an enormous amount of possession in the first period of the match, but crucially couldn’t crack the disciplined Storm defence. Then suddenly the Storm turned the contest, and it was typically Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk.

Smith on the fourth tackle jumped out of dummy half and smashed the ball 70 metres downfield, Cronk tore downfield and complimented the great kick with a super chase, and from that play the Storm took control.

Smith and Cronk have long been the beating heart of the Storm.

While the Broncos turned up desperate to win, their desperation was no match for the science and know-how of the Melbourne attack.

Before each match coach Craig Bellamy and his men identify weaknesses and tendencies in an opposition and they exploit them ruthlessly.

Last Friday night they clearly identified Anthony Milford’s tendency to slide outward when under pressure defensively, and took advantage of it.

The Storm set up orchestrated set pieces, which saw Milford’s inside space exposed continually and they just kept going there.

Likewise the Broncos, losing left-winger Corey Oates, resulted in a dramatic mismatch where the Storm’s newest sensation, Suliasi Vunivalu was allowed to contest high kicks against Kodi Nikorima.

No sooner did Nikorima move to the left wing than Cronk started landing pinpoint kicks for Vunivalu to score.

That’s the Storm way. They are ruthless and relentless when the vulnerability is exposed.

The Storm were ruthless in their targeting of Kodi Nikorima.

What was amazing on Friday night was that at the end of the 80 minutes, the stats showed the Broncos had dominant share in possession.

I can’t remember a game when a title contender, playing at home, dominated possession yet were hammered so significantly.

The Storm pack was too big and energised, their backs too fast and physical and their playmakers simply too smart. Smith and Cronk toyed with the Broncos. Every thing these two players did was deliberate and served the game plan perfectly.

It’s been interesting watching how the Storm have played over the past month in that they appear to have reverted to the style of football which saw them start to dominate in the mid 2000s.

It’s a style they call flat and fast. It’s designed to make the opposition’s middle defence overwork.

The Storm keep the ball in the middle third of the field and with Smith as the attacking focal point, they roll down the field, continually putting questions to the middle defence, bodies in motion, always getting one on one tackles.

They avoid unnecessary sideways ball movement, content to play the middle, keeping the opposition big men working and working and working.

Before you know it, the opposition forwards are out on their feet, and being picked apart by Cronk and co.

It’s the most effective way to build on a game, made even more effective by the fact it’s a style built around the halfback and hooker. It was a style the Storm mastered in the mid to late 2000s, but then ventured away from to play a more expansive game.

However in 2016 they have recognised, with the reduction in interchange, an opportunity to move back toward this style of game plan and it’s having an incredible effect on their football.

If you watched Fox Sports in the lead up to last Friday night’s game you would have had an insight into why the Storm are able to play the kind of football they do.

Cronk has one of the great rugby league minds.

Greg Alexander sat down with Cronk in the Fox Sports Theatre. Brandy wanted his thoughts on the Broncos fullback Darius Boyd and the aspects that made up Boyd’s game.

When the Fox Sports producers asked Cronk whether he would do this, Cooper said he would, but he wanted them to dig up some moments on Boyd, which he believed would support his commentary on the Queensland fullback.

The producers were amazed when Cronk sent through three pages worth of clips they needed to find, and the camera angles he was after, so as to best illustrate his points.

Cronk then walked into the theatre and effortlessly explained Boyd, his strengths, weaknesses, where he likes to attack, where he gets caught up in defence and how they can exploit that.

It was fascinating. It was as big an insight into Cronk as it was Boyd.

For Cronk and his Storm, nothing is an accident, nothing is by chance. They believe in two things; science and discipline.