World News – AU – LIVE FINALS: Storm vs Raiders

Welcome to Billy Slater’s live blog of tonight’s NRL action as Melbourne Storm and the Canberra Raiders face off in the Suncorp Stadium Preliminary Final

« It looks like consecutive weeks of finals have taken their toll It would have been a huge emotional clash last week against the Roosters in a rematch of that 2019 grand final You add travel to the back of everything this it looks like displayed at the start of this game

« But don’t take the storm away, they suffocate them When the Raiders have the football, the storm suffocates them When they don’t have the football, the storm just asks so many questions to the whole court

« I’ve been really impressed with the speed of Brandon Smith’s legs since he arrived, so keep an eye out for him for some damage just before half-time

« Just completely different mindsets to start the game The Storm is ready to use football as Canberra stays right in the middle of the field The Raiders are going to have to start really using football when they get it back if they are to stay in this match

« It’s no surprise that they send a lot of traffic to the edge of Jordan Rapana He made some bad decisions last week and he’s not a reputable cross So you can see what the storm tries to make it on this edge thanks to Josh Addo-Carr

« The Raiders really need to just get the ball back and they have to use the ball They can’t finish their way to victory tonight, they have to use the football and attack »

« For the Storm it’s really important to have a good start It’s the challenge of having the week off, it’s to be mentally left in the blocks – they have to be aware

They had huge inclusions though, with Cameron Munster back and Dale Finucane Dale going through a mountain of work and Cameron creating so many opportunities on the left side of the pitch which is Melbourne’s privileged side. So pay attention to this edge to pull

But they have to be wary as the Raiders will be confident They’ve beaten the storm three of the last four chances They beat them in the semifinals last year and their halves are playing really well in the combination Jack and George are in the best form of the season, they will be looking to start really aggressive and physical against the storm « 

Welcome to Wide World of Sports live coverage of tonight’s NRL Preliminary Final between the Melbourne Storm and the Canberra Raiders

Tonight we’re going to feast on Storm legend Billy Slater leading the commentary here for tonight’s live blog, starting at 7:45 p.m.

It should be an exciting night of action with former archers Craig Bellamy and Ricky Stuart going all out for a spot in the 2020 NRL Grand Final

Storm will undoubtedly have the upper hand at Suncorp Stadium after winning a very important week off

It’s a different story for the Raiders who had to give up every final round of football only to end up with perhaps another blow to a first NRL post

Stay tuned for all the live action coming here with Billy Slater starting at 7:45 PM!

Storm vs Raiders, Raiders vs Storm, Melbourne Storm