NRL Finals 2021: Des Hasler lashes dumb Sea Eagles, Storm’s Smith cleared of injury
The Melbourne Storm revealed the formula for stopping Tom Trbojevic on Friday night and Des Hasler was far from pleased about it.
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Brandon Smith has taken to social media to declare he has been cleared of a facial fracture.
The Melbourne Storm hooker was taken from the field and failed to return after a heavy first-half head clash with the Sea Eagles’ prop Josh Aloiai.
Smith has declared he will be fit for Melbourne’s grand final qualifier in a fortnight.
“Great result last night, even greater result from the doctor that there was no facial fractures. Bring on the Pre Lim,” Smith wrote on Instagram.
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HASLER: “WE SHOT OURSELVES IN THE FOOT”
Des Hasler insists Manly will bounce back from their 40-12 qualifying final loss to the Storm but the secret formula of how to stop Tom Trbojevic has been discovered and implemented by Melbourne.
For the first time this year Trbojevic did not have either a line break assist or a line break in a game. In his previous 15 matches this year the Manly fullback had at least one of those attacking statistics to his credit in a season where he’s had 29 line breaks and 44 line break assists.
The Storm did a fantastic job of kicking to corners and swarming around Trbojevic when he had the ball. Instead of being untouchable, as he has been nearly all year, he was confronted by a purple wall and ran for 118m, his lowest return since the 94m he clocked up in 28-18 loss in round 21 loss, also to Melbourne.
Hasler was quick to answer when asked how well the Storm had done at finding the blueprint for containing Trbojevic and stopping Manly.
“People are probably going to reflect on it that way, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance,” Hasler said.
“Look at where our possession was. They made us come out of the corners the whole time and we didn’t make them chew up any gas. We weren’t smart enough.
“Melbourne played very well but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot.
“We will turn it around. [The players] are disappointed. That is not a reflection of how we have been playing and we need to make an adjustment to it. From that point of view it is a bit of a [reality] check for us. We did ourselves a real disservice.”
One saving grace for Manly is that if they meet the Storm again this year the draw ensures that it won’t be until the grand final. Manly will play the Roosters or Titans in an elimination final next week, neither of whom have the defensive clout of the Storm.
Luckily for Manly they will have the services of Josh Schuster in that game with the young edge forward escaping a match ban for his dangerous throw tackle.
Schuster has been hit with a grade one dangerous throw charge but will pay just $1150 for the offence.
He was placed on report for the tackle on Jahrome Hughes in the 55th minute.
The Manly back-rower was the only player charged by the match review committee.
The Sea Eagles were poor all-round and must improve and find a way of reigniting the Trbojevic effect. Stopping Turbo Tom was no easy feat, as Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy confirmed.
“We put plenty of work in. Everyone can see what Tom does,” Bellamy said.
“There was a great example last week [against the Cowboys], and the week before against the Bulldogs. He just got them home.
“Their wingers and centres do a great job coming out of their own half. That was a real emphasis for us and I thought we did a really good job.
“The players spoke at halftime that they had done a really good job in the first half on Tom, but when he really flourishes is in the second half, so they were really determined to do the same job in the second half.”
STORM CRASH TRBOJEVIC PARTY
The power and precision of a rampant Storm blew the disjointed Sea Eagles off the park in a master blaster opening to the qualifying final before Ryan Papenhuyzen cut loose.
Melbourne won 40-12 on the Sunshine Coast and fired a warning shot to the rest of the premiership contenders after taking control by halftime with a 24-6 lead.
The Storm completely nullified the threat of Manly superstar Tom Trbojevic who for once did not make an impact and was forced into desperation plays when the game was slipping away.
Back-rower Josh Schuster was put on report for an innocuous lifting tackle on Jahrome Hughes in the second half but that was the least of Manly’s worries with their premiership hopes now on the rocks.
Brandon Smith was a runaway block of cheese in 18 minutes of mayhem before failing an HIA.
“They think he might have a facial fracture,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said.
“It doesn’t look like it is displaced. We will have to get the scan and see what happens from there but knowing Brandon, he’ll do everything he can to play [in the preliminary final].”
The stage was set for fullback Papenhuyzen to unleash and he did exactly that with two scintillating tries either side of the break.
Trbojevic was hardly sighted in open play by the time the Storm had shot to a 16-0 lead in as many minutes with tries to Isaac Lumelume, Kenny Bromwich and Christian Welch.
The Sea Eagles were given an absolute footballing lesson and were on their knees when Papenhuyzen put the foot down to reveal that he well and truly has his mojo back.
Manly winger Jason Saab scored two tries from kicks to take his season tally to 25 but the Sea Eagles have plenty to fix before the sudden death semi-final against the winner of the Roosters v Titans clash.
“We did ourselves a real disservice. The things you can’t do against the Melbourne side, we did,” Manly coach Des Hasler said.
Captain Daly Cherry-Evans had an off night but of more concern was the way Welch, Dale Finucane and Nelson Asofa-Solomona manhandled the pack.
The Storm are sitting pretty to defend their title and now have a fortnight’s break to give winger Josh Addo-Carr time to recover from a hamstring complaint.
Bellamy said he would be fit to play in a fortnight and was also stoked with his side’s display against Manly. “You could feel there was energy in our side this week and we played like that tonight,” he said.
TURBO CONTAINED
Trbojevic did not make a line break and had just one tackle break. The Storm defenders sliced him down around the boots and made sure when he got the ball he was surrounded, and kept it up for the entirety.
Never has the hopes of one team seemingly rested so much in the palm of one man’s hand. Before the game Melbourne co-captain Dale Finucane said his side had detailed plans to stop Trbojevic. Those plans worked a treat.
“The players spoke at halftime that we’d did a good job in the first half but it is in the second half that he flourishes and they did a good job in the second half,” Bellamy said.
CHEESE CHIMES
Smith’s opening salvo was as powerful and productive as any that he’s had this year. He was simply dynamite. He swooped on a loose ball early to send Lumelume away. His sleight of hand pass to put a barnstorming Welch over was one Cam Smith would have been proud of. Throw in his energy and scything defence on Trbojevic early. His cameo set the scene for what followed.
MUNSTER MILESTONE
In Cameron Munster’s 150th NRL game for the Storm the talismanic five-eighth showed no signs of the knee wound that led to him spending a night in hospital.
This was Munster at his most unselfish and as the ultimate team player. He had two try assists by halftime when the game was on the line and assumed the role of on-field general with aplomb.
“He came up with some big plays and I couldn’t have been happier with him,” Bellamy said.
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Originally published as NRL Finals 2021: Des Hasler lashes dumb Sea Eagles, Storm’s Smith cleared of injury
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