NRL Finals: 3 Things From Storm v Bulldogs

It didn’t all go entirely to plan for the Melbourne Storm, but their 26-18 win over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs has earned them a much-needed week off.

Cameron Munster will need it after being caught in an awkward tackle. Meanwhile, Stephen Crichton and Viliame Kikau will be racing against the clock to be ready to take on the winner of the New Zealand Warriors v Penrith Panthers on Saturday evening.

3 things from Storm v Bulldogs

• Bulldogs Defending The Edges

• The Yardage Game

• Rotations & The Week Off

Bulldogs Defending The Edges

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs defence plays with incredible line speed. They work hard through the middle to force early passes from halves and buy time for the edges. If they’re beaten to the edge, their scramble defence is among the best in the NRL. It’s one of the perks of having a relatively small and mobile forward pack.

However, like every system, it has its downsides. That linespeed in the middle can create triangles in the line and put a lot of pressure on the three-man. It can see one carry cause chaos to the line, the sort that can’t be scrambled away in one play.

It looked like the Melbourne Storm scripted something up early on Friday night to test those downsides.

As Jacob Preston works to get off his lead and into Cameron Munster, Lachlan Galvin cheats off his.

That’s enough to create the angle for Joe Chan to bust through and generate the momentum required to get the Bulldogs on the next play.