If Melbourne had been at full strength they'd have Murdered you.

Don't be ridiculous.

Cooper Cronk out which put the best 9 in the world at 7 for most of the game...Brett White out at prop. 32 of the best in the world at their positions out.

Who did Leeds have out?

I'd love to see the SL Champions go over to Aus next.

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apart from donald being out and losing sinfield in the first half (100 times more disruptive than anything melbourne had to deal with) no one.

It was a tremendously competitive game, do you seriously believe 2 players would make the difference between such a close game and a murdering?

I thought wigan fans were more knowledgable.

More fool me.

To be fair, the monsoon at Elland Rd was a great leveller.

We do have experience in winning in Australia however.

Getting a bit worried, are we, pal?

Never seen you before, but suddenly you're all over his message board like a rash.

can't believe you seriously wrote that. In cronk and Smith Melboune have two of the best players on the planet. Being without 1 is bad enough but having to play the best hooker in the world at 7 gave you a saving grace around the rook. Leeds are the best team in the comp over here but to even try and compare them to a Melbourne team, who have played one warm up game, with stars out of position and missing is ridiculous. Now who believes there own hype. Whether its rugby of football, leeds have the most fickle fans in the world

You need to think about what you are putting before running away with yourself.

Cameron Smith is not just the best hooker in the world, he is one of the best players in the world. He is that because he can adapt to other positions, and has played scrum half quite a few times before.

The Melbourne back up hooker actually played more games than Cameron Smith last year, and is rated in the top 4 in the NRL. That is hardly a disadvantage to them is it?

By contrast Leeds played a centre out of position on the wing, a relatively untried player at that. He was there because 1st choice Scott Donald was out. That said player then went on to blow 3 chances, two of which should have been cast iron tries for an half decent winger. That alone would have given a different result.

On top of this Leeds were also missing arguably one of the top 3 consistent backrowers in this country in Ablett. Then they had to contend with losing the single most influential player in Super League for two thirds of the match.

I will give you Melbourne only had one warm up game, although you forget to take into account the fact that due to this match they actually started training for this long before the Leeds players started. I will also give you they travelled along way and had to adapt. But don't give us any 5h1te about them been depleted in comparison.

did you watch the same game as every1 else? all that the storm did was lie on in a tackle for about 20 mins!

and how did leeds not break them down? they went over the line about 4 times but that ty winger dropped the ball!

No Problem

Compare the two team lineups from the respective Grand Finals & see who's missing from where.Then factor in injuries & players out of position.Think you might find Leeds had the edge even before we get to Home field - distance travelled - weather - games played.
But it's irrelevant isn't it really.
Storm Won - Leeds Lost again.
At least last year you had the soothing excuse that Manly played Leeds in good weather & came with an almost full strength team

Good luck against Quins