To even compete for 80 minutes with Melbourne Storm we had to have pretty much a full squad of players to select, we don't have near the depth of player quality to pick from that they have so saying they had one or two missing as well means nothing in this case as it is my belief they could have had 4 or 5 regulars missing from their pack and replaced them with players good enough to mix it against us where we were left scraping the barrel, no disrespect intended to the lad but Ormondroyd would be seen as a part time club player over in Australia at this point.

Anyway, we didn't disgrace ourselves. For me i'm of the view we are not close enough to the Aussie clubs to go over and take them on head to head like this as i watch enough NRL to know we are a fair way away in standards but fair play to the lads for having a go, time to move on.

Good post Biff. SL squads are much smaller than NRL ones, so missing 4/5 players has a bigger impact on us, particularly when they are mainly bigger forwards. Most NRL sides have a reserve team plus U20s and access to other feeder teams if required.

Basically the game showed that the Storm are a very good side and Leeds are not at that level, even taking into account players missing. The Storm have shown in the past two years that their strategy in the NRL is to get a fast start to the season and rack up points early. They get hit hard in Origin period and like a buffer to take into the back end of the year. So they'll be closer to full match readiness than some NRL sides.

I also thought BM's comments were very true - Leeds won't play more than 2/3 games against teams anywhere near that good all year. If the Leeds squad was exposed to that higher standard week in week out we'd be a much better team after half a season. That's not to say we could beat the Storm by then, but that I'd expect we'd see most of our players playing at NRL level at least in terms of intensity if not class.

Good points made there BR.
Out of interest how did the Australian press report the game?
Did they take into account we had some of our bigger forwards missing and that we lost Walker and Ward who were making a difference?
Or did they do their usual pommie bashing and say we were crap?

Storm are acknowledged as the best side in world RL and its interesting because they are an expansion club . I wonder have they got a decent crowd average compared with the clubs in the traditional RL areas ?

And on the expansion point, this is something I've mentioned a few times to those who question expansion teams relying on imports and not adding value because there are no hometown players.... In Melbourne's entire history, they've only had 1 player from the entire Victoria State, let alone Melbourne as a city to play for them. It's not about new players coming from that area (though that should happen in time).

Just home. Absolutely fantastic occasion.

I want to go back.

The press here didn't mention Leeds having players out at all as far as I could see, OTOH there does seem to be the view that as far as NRL sides go, the Storm are top class ATM. There's little commentary that Leeds did much worse than an average NRL side would.

Me too. Absolutely amazing experience and what a fantastic credit to our club the players are both on and off the field. Leeds were superb all week in promotung the game. The stmosphere was superb and i just thought the whole week was sensational. Ive watched Leeds for 37 years and i never dreamed i would get to watch them play in Australia.

Loved the city of Melbourne. Great to meet past players like Matt Adamson and Martin Masella who genuinely remembered me from his time at Leeds which was a real highlight for me.

After the game all the players attended an evenr at a pub in the City centre with the fans and spent as much time as they could with everyone and the Toronto Wolfpack owner made it a free bar for every Leeds fan due to being the best fans in world rugby. A great night had by everyone.

I will say tho the prices in Aus are ridiculous. What a bloody expensive place!!! Jeez.

Only downside to whole week was losing my phone in Brunei airport on way back so thats gone forever now ffs.

All in all an amazing experience. One i can see being repeated by the club on a regular occassion. Brisbane would do me nicely next year Mr Hetherington!!

Yeah, the price of stuff is quite alarming. Even in supermarkets it's expensive.

All hail the god of Happy hour!

www.skysports.com/rugby-league/n ... kable-club Food for thought.

www.skysports.com/rugby-league/n ... kable-club Food for thought.

Wow. Interesting thing for me is how much of that work is on the mental strength.

Seems to be on another level.

Like a day at school in Donny.

Just to go back to the game a little.

I don't actually think on the telly you got a true reflection of just how good a side Melbourne are. They speed at which the try to play the game is absolutely frightening. And comparing them to SGI and Souths at ANZ the night after they were a couple of yards quicker than them. Yeah, it's only pre-season for them as well but Melbourne were more than ready for the game and were well drilled.

It was a great event to be at, well worth the trip over. I wasn't in the Leeds specific bay as I bought $60 tickets on half way but the noise coming from down there was absolutely fantastic for all those who travelled over. The fact the fans were able to mingle with the players at the Duke of Wellington afterwards was great as well. I wasn't actually there when they arrived as I had to get back to the hotel because of an early flight back to Sydney the morning after.

The full 10 day trip has been absolutely fantastic. If you've read this month's 40-20 I was lucky enough to be down in Wollongong as well for the Wigan v Hull game as well so I won't elaborate on that part of it. Sydney is a wonderful city with lots to do, after a day up in the Blue Mountains called at Penrith on the way back to see the Leagues Club. What a place, never seen anything like it. So many poker machines, restaurants and a real community hub for the people of the town. I can't wait to go back!