Hall of Fame pair say Storm’s ‘Big Four’ have another gear to reach in grand final

1 week ago 4

Rugby league Hall of Fame pair Brad Fittler and Billy Slater have backed Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy’s claim that the Storm’s “Big Four” can have a greater impact in the NRL grand final than they did in qualifying for the decider.

Harry Grant, Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes, and Ryan Papenhuyzen, largely seen as the best spine in the NRL, led the way in last Friday’s 22-14 win over Cronulla. But, with one hurdle conquered, the pursuit of a grand final win and increased output from that quartet now takes centre stage.

Fittler said on the Sunday Footy Show that Melbourne’s playmakers made a conscious effort to impose themselves on the game last Friday.

“Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes, Ryan Papenhuzen, they got tackled a lot,” Fittler said.

“They ran a lot. They threw a lot of dummies. One of the biggest differences in the stats that I looked through is that there were 55 dummies for Melbourne, while seven for Cronulla.

“That just tells you that the Melbourne ball-players, instead of passing, they ran.

Jahrome Hughes celebrates a try in the win over Cronulla.

“Munster ran for 200 metres. Jahrome Hughes for 100 and something. They were very impressive.”

Slater said the manner in which the Storm stars upped their involvement would have pleased Bellamy.

“The great players in the big games - the Munsters, the Clearys, Ryan Papenhuyzen - they just increase their involvement,” he said.

Bellamy, speaking after Friday’s win, said his spine remained a work in progress. It was only the ninth time the quartet had played together this season. It was also the first appearance for Hughes since breaking his arm 22 days earlier.

Harry Grant’s Melbourne Storm are the first team into the 2025 NRL grand final.

“We’ve still got a bit of improvement in our combination, but the whole four of them, the thing that stood out for me is how well they played individually,” Bellamy said.

“That’s not being uncomplimentary. I just thought they did their jobs really well without probably linking together too well overall, and that will certainly come.

“‘Hughesy’ has been out for a bit, and ‘Paps’ has been out for a bit, so our combinations will hopefully improve during the week.”

Bellamy was relieved that Melbourne appeared to be peaking at the right time. For much of the season, he appeared frustrated with their ability to put together an 80-minute performance.

“The thing I was happiest with most was our form,” he said.

“I thought we were a lot more consistent than we have been, probably the last month or five weeks, and that’s probably the reason we won the game, to be quite honest.

“It’s a sense of relief that we’ve found nearly a consistent 80 minutes, which we probably haven’t produced in the last five or six weeks. That’s a bit of a relief.”

After qualifying for the 11th grand final of his illustrious career, Bellamy admitted it was a bonus to have a 48-hour head-start to prepare for the decider, given that the other preliminary final was scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

“Yeah, I think it is an advantage, but with all due respect, we didn’t make that decision … the NRL made the decision, not us,” he said.

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