Have the Storm lost their aura?

[OMR]

This may be classified as not Roosters related, but as the Storm ( along with Canberra) are regarded as the biggest hurdle to our 3peat, I wonder if they have lost that special aura they had about them.
Playing Melbourne at home was a dead set loss 90% of the time. This year they don’t look to have that killer KO blow and the ability to choke teams . It could be a bit early to judge , but they have been the least impressive of the teams favoured to win the comp.

[Johnny73]

Cameron Smith is 36. Even Gods can die.

[QWERTY]

Ever since the rule change they haven’t been able to dominate as they usually do. Smith looked real tired. Wouldn’t be surprised that if in a few weeks they will be back up to speed

[Fairfax]

Gee last night was a stinker of a game. Cody Walker and James Roberts will make Souffs better, but their forward pack is not strong enough. Melbourne don't have a seven and it shows.

[ism22]

Ever since the rule change they haven’t been able to dominate as they usually do. Smith looked real tired. Wouldn’t be surprised that if in a few weeks they will be back up to speed

Their roster has changed too.

Spine's not as good (Munster's short-termpered, Shyzenhouzen's not Slater, Hughes is meh...etc). Yes they still have Cam Smith's organisational skills but IMO it was never actually Cam Smith doing all the work. They always had quality forwards, Billy Slater breaking lines and Cronk taking on a massive organisational load (like he did with us).

Forwards are similar. Bromwich brothers, Finucane, Kaufusi and Brandon Smith are all quality forwards. Also they still have Vunivalu and Ado-Carr who have the speed to score from anywhere if they find a gap.

Maybe the rule change was a subtle stab at the 'strip' tactic? (It's totally a hack that made the Storm able to get themselves outta trouble + slow down the ruck in situations where they totally didn't deserve it). I haven't seen used yet! Are teams scared to use it because the ref has the power to call 6 more against them if any part of it is deemed to be slowing down the ruck? Be interesting to know whether it's a direct response to it...

6 Again could also hurt the Storm as their tactic has always been to slow down the ruck? They're not used to being super fit and playing positive footy. I can see it hurting their style.

Edit:
Could hurt the Raiders too! They've only played the Titans, Warriors and Storm. They could be absolute shyte this team just they haven't played any proper teams yet for all we know...

[zac]

no sign of an aura last night. souths don't make so many errors and they win it. Latrell has a beautiful passing game but he's a way off of being a top fb. not fit enough, all at sea in defence.

[Headless Chook]

Gee last night was a stinker of a game. Cody Walker and James Roberts will make Souffs better, but their forward pack is not strong enough. Melbourne don't have a seven and it shows.

Only caught the last half hour on 9, Gus kept going on about how good the Bunnies had been and how they would have beaten most other teams. All I saw was a lot of mistakes from both sides and a couple of bombed chances from Souths. How did Gagai not pin his ears back and go for the corner when held up by Smith? Both our wingers would have iced that chance every time.

[Serenader]

I don’t think so. Storm have been making very rookie errors The last few weeks. Bellamy will get em sorted and they will still be there at the end. Are they as good as years past? No. Am I confident we can lap them? You betya!!

[ism22]

no sign of an aura last night. souths don't make so many errors and they win it. Latrell has a beautiful passing game but he's a way off of being a top fb. not fit enough, all at sea in defence.

IMO that's why we were never gonna use him at FB. Aged 33, Brett Morris can do significantly more metres at FB (last minute notice without even training in that position...etc). You've gotta do better than that if you wanna be a top notch FB.

PS - 4887 is the passcode to my local cafe's cookie/pastry storage cupboard (just overheard it). Get onto it 'Trell!!!

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Yes.

As bad as Souths were last night , the Storm were barely any better.

[Johnny Tobin]

They are done. No threat at all. Can’t adapt to the new rules. No attack. Holes in defence.

The aura had evaporated by half time in the 2018 GF. In hindsight losing Cronk finished them off.

When we lost to them late in 2018 someone asked Robbo whether Storm should be runaway favourites. He smiled and said there was still a finals series to play. He knew we had their measure when it mattered.

The only serious threat is Canberra and now Bateman has packed it in. I strongly believe that only injuries and suspensions can stop us winning it again.

[Fairfax]

no sign of an aura last night. souths don't make so many errors and they win it. Latrell has a beautiful passing game but he's a way off of being a top fb. not fit enough, all at sea in defence.

Trell's passing and hands are great. He was not where he should be in defense... which for a fullback is key.

[Johnny Tobin]

Trell's passing and hands are great. He was not where he should be in defense... which for a fullback is key.

He will come up with moments of brilliance but his lack of involvement and laziness at fullback murders his team. I am pleased to say.

Robbo saw it all. Even when our fullback was out he put Manu there instead.

[dice]

Short memories. It took one of the most amazing defensive efforts that I have ever seen to deny them a spot in the grand final.

Storm have a few months to get their forwards into shape to suit the new rules. They are at no risk of dropping out of finals contention in the meantime.

[Johnny Tobin]

Look at their side. Most of them wouldn’t make our top 17.