Round 4 - Match Preview

Melbourne Storm v Cronulla Sharks
Monday March 28, 7pm
Shark Park

Storm will make just their second trip to Shark Park since 2012 when the venture to the Shire on Monday night.
Sunday’s win over the Warriors marked the fourth time in five years the Club has started a season with a 3-0 record.
They will face a Sharks team that has shown plenty of promise in the opening rounds despite coming up short against Manly in Brookvale on Monday night.
Melbourne enjoys a good record against Cronulla, winning the past five meetings by an average of 24 points. However as the Sharks showed in their Round 2 demolition of the Dragons, they are now a side that now possesses plenty of firepower.
Both clubs have named unchanged line-ups with Storm given an eight-day turnaround as they brace of back-to-back road trips.
 

Key Matchups:

Jesse Bromwich v Andrew Fifita

Both players are among the elite props of the competition, making their battle in the middle of the park a mouthwatering one to watch. Fifita has run for 475 metres this season (5^th in the NRL) which Bromwich averages 8.6m per run, slightly higher than the 7.9m averaged by his Sharks counterpart.

Cameron Smith v Michael Ennis

These hookers have met on the big stage of grand final day and have enjoyed many a fierce contest over the years. Each will play a pivotal role in directing their sides around the park on Monday night and as such their respective performances will go a long way to deciding the outcome of this game.

Kenny Bromwich v Wade Graham

The younger Bromwich brother has been a standout performer for Storm this season, scoring two tries and averaging 22 tackles in the opening three games. Graham has added responsibility as the Sharks leader in the absence of Paul Gallen. They are big shoes to fill but Graham has proven he can be up to the task, sitting second behind Fifita for metres gained at Cronulla with an average of 109m per game.

History: Played 29; Storm 20, Sharks 9. Storm have won nine of their last 10 games against the Shark and have scored an average of 34 points in their last five meetings.

What we’ve said:

“In tough games the forwards really have to stand up and the boys are really doing that at the moment, it is really good to see” – Tim Glasby

“(The Sharks) strength has always been their forwards and I think that is still the case but they have built up their outside backs this year” – Craig Bellamy
 

What they’ve said:

“I was on the sideline watching, pretty upset that we were losing … I just wanted to get out there and play" – Jack Bird

“We're focussing on what we want to do this week, not Melbourne, and doing that as best as possible" – Ben Barba
 

Match Officials: Referee – Matt Cecchin; Assistant – Dave Munro; Touch Judges – Ricky Macfarlane & Adam Reid; Review Officials – Ben Galea & Ashley Klein; Senior Review Official – Bernard Sutton.

Broadcast: TV – Fox Sports 1, Radio - Triple M, Online – NRL Digital Pass.

Squads: