Melbourne Storm vs Sydney Roosters Preview & Prediction | NRL 2024 | Preliminary Final

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The first preliminary final takes place at AAMI Park in a repeat of last year’s semi-final which saw the Storm edge a tight match 18-13

START DATE/TIME: Friday 27th September, 2024 - 10:50am / AUS - 7:50pm / US EST - 05:50am / US PST - 02:50am

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK - This match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports + / This match will be broadcast live on Fox League in Australia / This match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports in the US

HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: This match will be streamed live on Watch NRL in the UK / This match will be streamed live on Kayo Sports in Australia / This match will be streamed live on Watch NRL in the US

MELBOURNE STORM FORM: BELLAMY’S MEN FRESH AND READY TO GO

The Melbourne Storm return to action after earning the bye last week following their dominant 37-10 win over the Sharks two weeks ago. Their eyes are firmly on the end goal this season and they have firm expectations of going all the way this year. They were impressive against the Sharks and they will be just as confident up against the Roosters here.

LAST FIVE: WWLWW

SYDNEY ROOSTERS FORM: ROOSTERS NEED TO SNAP POOR RUN AGAINST STORM

The Roosters come into this preliminary final against the Melbourne Storm with the unenviable task of having to snap a five-match losing streak against their opponents. They can take good confidence from the way they overwhelmed the Sea Eagles by 40 points to 16 and they will be looking for a fast start here too.

LAST FIVE: WLWLW

MELBOURNE STORM TEAM NEWS: FA’ALOGO CLOSING ON RETURN BUT NO CHANGES EXPECTED

The Storm will go with the same squad that dominated the Sharks but they do have utility player Sua Fa’alogo available again and he is in the extended squad after recovering from a hamstring injury. Otherwise, no surprises are expected with how they will line-up here.

Squad: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. William Warbrick 3. Jack Howarth 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Trent Loiero 14. Tyran Wishart 15. Christian Welch 16. Tui Kamikamica 17. Alec MacDonald 18. Grant Anderson 19. Kane Bradley 20. Lazarus Vaalepu 21. Joe Chan 22. Sualauvi Faalogo

SYDNEY ROOSTERS TEAM NEWS: ROBINSON GOES WITH SAME SQUAD FROM MANLY WIN

Trent Robinson was delighted with his men last week after they overwhelmed the Manly Sea Eagles scoring four tries in the first 19 minutes. Victor Radley came through that match unscathed and will be fit to play once again.

Squad: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 4. Joseph Manu 5. Dominic Young 6. Luke Keary 7. Sandon Smith 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Connor Watson 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Angus Crichton 12. Sitili Tupouniua 13. Victor Radley 14. Spencer Leniu 15. Naufahu Whyte 16. Nat Butcher 17. Terrell May 18. Zach Dockar-Clay 19. Siua Wong 20. Fetalaiga Pauga 21. Jake Elliott 22. Michael Jennings

MELBOURNE STORM VS SYDNEY ROOSTERS PREDICTION

The first preliminary final sees the Storm face off against the Roosters and this will be a classic high-intensity affair. The Storm will be extremely confident of progressing given their dominance over the Roosters in recent meetings. While a couple of their meetings have been relatively close, they have won the last five matches and they will be supremely confident of making it six here.

The Roosters will be buoyed following their win last week but this is a different proposition for them. They are unquestionably among the best of the rest, but as shown in the match against the Panthers two weeks ago and their matches with Storm this season, they are just lacking that extra tough of quality against the best teams in the NRL.

The Storm have that quality in abundance and while the Roosters can make this competitive, it is hard to make a case for them winning. Expect the Storm to win and make it through to the showpiece finale but we’d lean more towards the Roosters to keep it within the 9.5 handicap.

MELBOURNE STORM VS SYDNEY ROOSTERS TIP: MELBOURNE STORM TO WIN