Round 14, 2015: Parramatta 26 Melbourne 22

NRL.com

Melbourne Storm v Parramatta Eels
AAMI Park
Monday 7pm

Melbourne will play Monday night's game without their captain, champion fullback, two leading try-scorers and key playmaker. Surely they can't win, can they?

Then again they are coming up against a side that is about as consistent as the Melbourne weather.

Parramatta's Jekyll and Hyde persona was on full display last Monday when they raced out to a 30-6 lead against the Cowboys, only to concede five tries in 11 minutes and lose by six.

Now they must take the southern road trip, where they have won just one time in their past nine visits.

Melbourne bounced back emphatically from their horror showing against the Roosters with a shutout 20-0 victory over Penrith.

However this week marks that time of the year again for the Storm, who must do without their four Queensland Origin stars on Monday night.

The last time they played without the Big Three was in Round 14 last season and that actually ended in a memorable four-point win over the Gold Coast. The young brigade has been called upon to do the job yet again.

Kurt Mann will stand in for Will Chambers, Young Tonumaipea slots into the bench for his first game since Round 4 while Ryan Hinchcliffe will assume captaincy duties from Cameron Smith and turn back the clock to his junior days when he shifts to hooker.

Will Hopoate is the sole Origin player missing for the Eels who have called upon Bureta Faraimo to fill the void as Ryan Morgan moves to the centres and Daniel Alvaro makes way for Darcy Lussick on the bench.

Watch Out Storm: With Origin taking its toll, even blind Freddy would be able to figure out why Storm fans are concerned ahead of Monday night. Their side will enter the game without their captain and top points scorer Cameron Smith, try assists leader Billy Slater, joint leading try scorers Will Chambers and Marika Koroibete and mercurial kicker Cooper Cronk. That mean 983 games of first grade experience will be absent from this Melbourne team, with their replacements of Mann, Tonuamaipea, Richie Kennar and Cameron Munster having just 57 games to their name between them. It is a daunting gap in experience and one that has thrown a significant curveball to this 3rd v 15th matchup.

Watch Out Eels: Right side, weak side. It is like we beat the same drum every week about the Eels' defence which ranks as the worst in the competition, conceding more than 24 points per game. Their right side is the leakiest rudder in this ship. Four of the Cowboys' five second-half tries came through this area last Monday and with no Will Hopoate it becomes an even greater concern heading into this game against the Storm. Parra will be counting their lucky stars they don't have to face Marika Koroibete but they must find a way to patch up what has been a significant hole this season.

Key Match-Up: Jesse Bromwich v Junior Paulo. When Melbourne were without the Big Three in Round 14 last year it was Bromwich who stepped up and carried the Storm on his back. With 184 metres he was unstoppable that night and will need to be again if his are to record another famous win. Paulo is the main entrusted with making sure that does not happen. He did not play when these two teams met earlier in the season, a game that Bromwich was again a difference maker with 174 metres. This Kiwi matchup will be a critical one and could well decide the fortunes of their respective sides.

The History: Played 29; Storm 18, Eels 11. The Storm have won five of the last six games between these two teams by an average margin of 29.2 points.

What Are The Odds: Sportsbet has received 50 per cent more money on the Storm and 13+ is the most popular in margin betting. If the Eels scoot out to a big lead, punters might not be able to resist the urge to 'Cash Out' after the Eels' capitulation on Monday night. Latest odds at Sportsbet.com.au

Match Officials: Referee: Ashley Klein. Assistant Referee: Adam Devcich. Touch Judges: David Ryan & Kasey Badger. Video Referees: Steve Chiddy & Ben Galea.

Televised: Fox Sports – LIVE from 7pm AEDT

The Way We See It: The Eels have been very poor this year but given the outs for the Storm they have arrived in Melbourne town just in time. Eels by six.

NRL.com

By William Botoulas, Melbourne Correspondent
Mon, Jun 15, 2015 - 08:50PM

It was not pretty but the Parramatta Eels have escaped with a 26-22 win against an undermanned Storm side at AAMI Park on Monday night.

Tepai Moeroa was the hero, scoring a try with three minutes to play giving the Eels their first win on Victorian soil since 2005.

Melbourne very nearly snatched victory in the final minute only for winger Mahe Fonua to fall centimeters short of the line.

It was a brave Storm outfit who were without their Origin stars and several other key personnel but this was a win Parramatta simply had to get.

Chris Sandow was the everywhere man, filing in at fullback after Reece Robinson left the field early with a fractured jaw and then bobbing up at halfback with three try assists.

Semi Radradra again showed his worth with 185 metres and two first half tries.

With the star-studded names absent from the Storm side it was easy to overlook the quality that remained, but it took only five minutes for that reminder to kick in.

Blake Green played the ball outside to stand-in centre Tohu Harris and the Kiwi international waltzed through a half-hearted Eels defence to open the scores. He then stepped up to convert for an early 6-0 lead.

Ben Hampton, in his first game of 2015 soon doubled the lead, as he broke clean through the Eels line to score under the post to show there is some halfback talent ready to replace the injury Cooper Cronk.

Whether it was complacency or a hangover from last week's capitulation, the Eels started horribly. The opening 12 minutes saw them give up 366 metres, two errors two penalties and as many converted tries.

When Reece Robinson left the game and sent Sandow to fullback, there was a sense that was going to be that kind of night for the visitors.

However after 27 minutes the visitors finally awoke from their slumber.

A clever offload by 300-gamer Anthony Watmough kick started a move out wide with Sandow playing a looping left field pass to Semi Radradra to score his 10th try of the season.

The Eels had a case to think they had cut the deficit further eight minutes from the break when Radradra crossed again, only for it to be controversially overturned because of obstruction

A 40-20 kick by Sandow soon after had the Eels in prime position to level scores and they nearly did, only for Radradra to be denied his second from a dubious obstruction call.

However the scintillating Fijian had the Melbourne right edge on toast and would not be denied three minutes later when he caught a Sandow high ball virtually unopposed to cut the halftime deficit to two points.

The Eels carries their momentum into the second half and were rewarded with the lead just two minutes after the restart.

Sandow, who seemed to be alternating between fullback and halfback, placed a precision high ball on the line and Corey Norman obliged by snatching the ball out of Cameron Munster's hands in mid-air to put the visitors into a 16-12 lead.

For as good as Sandow was in patches he was found out several times at fullback, scuffing a high ball then knocking on a grubber kick by Green that founds its way back into the hands of the Storm five-eighth who leveled the scores.

Melbourne controlled the next 15 minutes but without the their big three of Cam Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater, their lack of attacking prowess was on show as they failed to make their field position count.

They needed a bit of help and Norman was happy to lend a hand as he threw a wayward pass out left to no one but Fonua who pounced and offloaded to Storm debutant Hymel Hunt for a six-point lead with 13 minutes to play.

However true to their unpredictable form the Eels bounced back on 70 minutes as Sandow broke through the Storm line to find Ryan Morgan. The erratic playmaker would fail to convert though as the home side clung to a 22-20 lead.

But it was Tepai Moeroa who stepped up as the hero as the Eels hero, bulldozing his way over for the match-winner in the 77th minute.

Parramatta 26 (Semi Radradra 2, Corey Norman, Ryan Morgan, Tepai Moeroa tries; Chris Sandow 3 goals) defeated Melbourne Storm 22 (Tohu Harris, Ben Hampton, Blake Green, Hymel Hunt tries; Tohu Harris 3 goals) at AAMI Park. Crowd: 10,128.

Anthony Watmough takes on the Storm defence.

Pauli Pauli is tackled.