|
Sports |
Bai for Storm
FORMER Kumul and Melbourne winger
Marcus Bai has warned the Storm it’s now or never in their chase
for an NRL premiership after two years of domination.
Bai, who played in Melbourne’s
1999 premiership triumph, said the players would struggle to
mount another run at the title if forced to deal with a second
consecutive grand final loss, AAP reports from Sydney.
The Storm take on Manly at Telstra Stadium on Sunday, where they
will look to atone for the disappointment of losing to Brisbane
in the 2006 decider.
“This one is the year they should win, they must win this one,”
Bai said.
“They can’t go and lose this one and go back to Melbourne.
“To be two years up in the grand final, you ask the players,
it’s very tough to get back for the pre-season and to do it
again and go all the way, 28 or 29 games, it is very, very
tough.”
The Storm recovered from the disappointment of last year’s grand
final defeat to have a remarkable season, losing just three
games.
Bai said while the Storm were to be commended on the achievement
of back-to-back minor premierships, a third could prove a tough
ask without the benefit of a grand final victory.
But he admitted the pressure on them to perform on Sunday night
would be massive.
“It plays a part in the players’ mind,” said Bai, now based on
the Gold Coast after finishing his career in the English Super
League.
“But I know the Melbourne coaching staff would have talked about
this, that it’s not going to happen that way again, it’s not
time to relax.”
The Storm freely admit their two-year dominance of the NRL will
count for little if they don’t win on Sunday night.
Melbourne were presented with the $100,000 prize for winning the
minor premiership at yesterday’s grand final breakfast, the last
official engagement for both teams before Sunday night.
On receiving the cash booty, Storm skipper Cameron Smith said he
and his squad had their eyes on a greater prize.
“Obviously it’s a huge achievement to get the minor premiership
two years in a row and the boys are very aware of that,” Smith
said.
“We’ve learnt some lessons from last year and while this is
great, winning the minor premiership, it doesn’t really mean
much this week.”
For Melbourne it’s the premiership or nothing, the pain of last
year’s grand final defeat still burning strong within the
players.
“It was probably the worst feeling I ever had in my career and
I’m sure I’m speaking for all the boys,” Smith said.
“You still get pretty bad memories of that night.
“We couldn’t control what happened last year, we got beaten by a
better team on the night.”
One man who knows all about getting beaten by a better team is
Manly five-eighth Jamie Lyon.
Lyon was part of a red-hot Parramatta side which scored an NRL
record 839 points en-route to the 2001 grand final.
There they came up against a Newcastle side inspired by a
rampant Andrew Johns and Ben Kennedy - the Knights running up a
24-0 lead by the break before holding on for a 30-24 win.
“It’s the one that got away I think,” Lyon said.
“We had a very good team, probably similar to Melbourne last
year, they had a crash hot team as well and got beat.
“It still burns for me six years ago so I’m sure it’s hurting
them a little bit from last year as well.” ń AAP
 
|
