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Blog log from R1 of 2015: St George-Illawarra v Melbourne

Storm grinds it out against Dragons

The first MNF on FanLeague! (Pre-match)
And we’re away! Storm to kick off. (Pre-match)
Slater takes a high mark from the first kick 15m out, he is full of confidence early.
Nabuli’s first tackle forces a turnover by Tonumaipea at midfield.
An obvious forward pass by Widdop 30m out kills that attack. (1H 0:53)
A penalty against Gray just the Storm’s side of midfield gives Melbourne their first attacking position. (1H 1:34)
Cronk gets the ball 15m out and puts a chip kick over the Dragons line for what turns out to be an incredibly easy try to Tonumaipea. St George all way too flat. (1H 2:42)
That kick seems to float in slow motion with no Dragon within cooee. (1H 2:42)
Smith has a kick midway to the sideline, and splits the middle for the conversion. (1H 3:50)
Crowd is silent as a mouse at Kogarah, understandably. (1H 3:50)
Dugan cleans up the next Storm kick in goal but runs out to 5m without incident. (1H 5:37)
Marshall delivers a 40-20 to the left wing with a big breeze behind him, covering 65m on the fly! (1H 5:37)
Penalty against Melbourne for being in front of the goal line in defence early in the tackle count. Six more. (1H 6:46)
The Dragons keep attacking up the middle, then right, then left, but Chambers knocks on on last tackle so it’s a scrum then another six for St George. (1H 7:18)
Another penalty on the Storm for being outside the goal line. (1H 8:43)
The Dragons are standing up in tackles and getting some good offloads. (1H 9:31)
Eventually Dugan, who is limping, drops it 15m out on the left wing. (1H 10:33)
A bomb to the right wing is easily cut out by the Dragons. (1H 12:24)
Marshall kicks over the sideline just near the corner post. (1H 15:28)
Some kicking from the 30s of both teams, not much goal line action at the moment. (1H 16:21)
Slater passes to Mann on sixth tackle and he is wrapped up 15m out for a changeover. (1H 19:46)
Tonumaipea has a lot of traffic in front of him late in the count on the right wing, he kicks from 20m but it’s out on the full. (1H 21:33)
Penalty against the Storm on their 40m, Green the culprit with a hold in the tackle. (1H 21:33)
Merrin on for his first run. (1H 22:26)
Marshall bombs to the left wing, it floats in the air and Tonumaipea marks it… but there’s a penalty to release the pressure. (1H 24:37)
Cronk chips from 15m but Widdop catches it and plays on with speed. (1H 24:37)
Dugan stays down after a triple tackle at the Storm 40m, holding his head. Bromwich with a late high shot from behind was the cause. (1H 26:51)
Another forward pass 20m out by the Dragons, this time by Rein. (1H 27:22)
On the first play off the restart, Chambers is under pressure and tries a quick pass that goes forward at his own 15m. (1H 27:42)
Korobeite slaps a Widdop grubber to the right wing over the dead ball line with Nightingale lurking. (1H 28:27)
Marshall kicks from 25m, Kaufusi flies from the line at his boot and catches him, big hit! Both clubs converge… (1H 30:46)
Marshall on the deck with a training looking at his left knee and shin. (1H 30:46)
The kick went nowhere, but it’s only a penalty. (1H 31:40)
Marshall is still on the field, looking a bit subdued but otherwise okay. (1H 31:43)
Widdop bombs to the left wing, it lands 10m out and Nabuli flie, it’s off Chambers and forward. (1H 31:43)
Correction, it’s the Storm’s ball. (1H 31:43)
Green tries a 40/20 but the ball just floats out of bounds on the full, only a few inches in it. (1H 33:53)
Widdop grubbers from 15m, it bounces up but SLater saw it early and got across to clean it up. He’s tackled over the sideline in goal. (1H 33:53)
Finucane is penalised on his own 20m for holding on in the tackle. Yet more red zone opportunities for the Dragons. (1H 34:49)
Frizell goes from dummy half 5m out and dives but he’s just short. Next play is the last, changeover 10m out. (1H 36:03)
A penalty to the Storm puts them 30m out for the last play before half time, a field goal attempt at the buzzer goes is short. (1H 38:22)
The Dragons had the majority of the red zone possession, particularly after the first five minutes, but they have zero points to show for it. (1H 39:36)
It’s round 1, and the Dragons are attacking from different positions this year. So far, it hasn’t clicked. (Half Time)
Well, at least it’s not a blowout! 🙂 (Half Time)
de Belin falls into a Kaufusi tackle, he gets a penalty but no report. (2H 40:47)
Merrin skips past Green 30m out but is caught, nothing comes of it though. (2H 41:33)
Slater drops a high bomb 15m out but it goes backwards and is cleaned up, luckily. (2H 42:28)
A penalty on the Dragons 30 gives them good field position. (2H 43:33)
Nightingale forces a fumble by Mann at midfield on a nice looking left side move. (2H 45:08)
Marshall spook the Storm defence with a sideways run 15m out then grubbers with a quick kick to the left corner, Nabuli is first there to touch it down for the try! (2H 46:40)
Widdop’s conversion attempt just drifts right of the far goalpost. (2H 48:26)
Marshall kicks low from midfield, it carroms off Smith who puts his arms up to indicate he didn’t play at it, the ref agrees. (2H 50:07)
Storm ball after it had ricocheted over the sideline. (2H 50:07)
O’Brien comes up with the ball after it is knocked loose in a double tackle on Bromwich , but it’s ruled a Dragon knock on. (2H 51:29)
The Storm get a rare red zone opportunity but McLean makes the error. (2H 54:27)
Dugan just manages to save what could have been a disastrous pass across the Dragons’ goal line. (2H 55:36)
Chambers beats three Dragons to fall over the line on the right wing, something out of nothing! (2H 57:44)
Video ref to decide it… (2H 57:44)
The ref called it as a try and it’s a close run thing on the replay… (2H 58:47)
Confirmed as a try. (2H 58:47)
Widdop and Nielsen were the last two defenders who should have done better to stop Chambers’ lunge. (2H 58:58)
You could hear a pin drop at Kogarah. (2H 58:58)
Smith has a tough conversion attempt from near the sideline but he uses the wind to perfection, 12-4 to Melbourne! (2H 58:58)
Farrell’s kick on the restart is over the sideline on the full. (2H 59:09)
The hill is like a graveyard. (2H 59:09)
Slater bursts up the guts with an energetic run and is stopped 5m out, but he uses the ball to leverage himself up and the ref rules a knock on. (2H 59:09)
Smith grubbers from 20m to the right side but Widdop is wise to it and gathers with ease. (2H 65:03)
Cronk chips from 5m to the left wing, Korobeite contests but two Dragons conspire to tap it behind. (2H 65:03)
Dugan carried off with a left ankle injury and down the race. (2H 65:03)
Finucane drops a Smith pass at midfield to give St George some good field position to start a set. (2H 65:03)
Korobeite marks a Widdop bomb 15m out and runs 15m afterwards to boot. (2H 65:03)
Hinchcliff runs from dummy half 5m out to a big hole and over under the posts! But the ref pays a penalty against Slater for taking out a defender! (2H 65:03)
Not much red zone action for the past ten minutes. (2H 65:03)
Four minutes left, the Dragons need to score twice to win. (2H 65:03)
Widdop grubbers to the left wing from 30m but Nabuli had blown up after making a run to get the Dragons to that point, it dribbles harmlessly out of bounds. (2H 75:45)
Merrin gives away a penalty on defence, that will kill the game off for good you’d think. (2H 76:54)
Cronk grubbers from 5m, Nabuli gathers and is tackled in goal. (2H 78:16)
The kick off is short and goes to Korobeite on the left. The Storm play it out, no more scoring. Storm wins! (2H 78:30)

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