The Biased Call — Round 6 — Sydney Roosters vs Melbourne Storm
I said to myself I would do these every week, without fail. I failed. Dear sporadic reader, I failed to give you something that you did not ask for. Though, there is always room for second (or third) chances, so I shall take that. And what a week to make a comeback! While I was born and raised in the great state of New South Wales, circumstances have dictated that I should have the misfortune to live in the city of our enemy this week, Melbourne.
I envy you Sydneysider with your flash new stadium and the up close and personal view of our lads every week. I, on the other hand have been relegated to sitting in a leaky stadium once a year, in the rain, in the cold, with 15 layers of clothes barely warming my shivering body. That’s exactly where I shall be tonight.
To the footy.
It’s been a good start to the year for the boys, though not perfect. We’re known for starting slow but that game against the Dolphins had us looking like we’d just woken up from a nap, and we hadn’t had our morning cup of brown.
From there we steadily improved until last week against Parramatta where we gave our most dominant showing yet. 3rd place is something we should be proud of, but not let that get to our heads. It’s a long season. There are seven teams within one win of jumping us and we could easily find ourselves in 8th by the end of the weekend if we don’t make a showing tonight.
It’s going to be a tough one. As I’m writing this, the clouds are low and dark and rain threatens to put our fast attack at a standstill. With Melbourne’s courages defensive showing last week, we’re going to have to come out with a mindset to win this thing 8–6. The middle is going to be key, possibly more so than any other game of Rugby League. With our outside backs diminished through Teddy’s absence, I’m predicting our points to come from within the tramlines. Brandon Smith could be a hot tip for first try-scorer, with our second rowers coming in a close second and third.
We’ve been labelled outsiders by most sports-betting companies and that should piss us off. The Storm have been playing like my Nan is coaching them while the Roosters have been flying. I hope this gives us a kick in the arse and screams that nothing is given to us, no matter how star studded our team is.
We’re in for a bloody good show. I tip the Roosters to win 14–8.
#EastsToWin
