Melbourne Storm the Team to Beat in 2016

In pre-season I predicted Melbourne would beat North Queensland in this year’s decider. Nothing I have seen to date has made me change my mind.  Whilst North Queensland remain incredibly strong, going back to back has proved a near impossible task for many reigning premiers. Other contenders - Cronulla, Canterbury and Brisbane - remain a genuine threat in what shapes as an intriguing finals series.
 
Melbourne and Craig Bellamy are truly a team to be admired. Whilst previous Premiers Manly, St George Illawarra, Sydney Roosters and Souths have all fallen on hard times recently, the Storm juggernaut rolls on. In a sport where climbing to the top of the mountain is tough, but staying there even harder, the Storm are a cut above their rivals.
 
The Storm have relied on a grinding style of football for much of their success over the past decade. Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk are like on field robots, meticulously marching their troops around the paddock, praying on opponents’ weaknesses and waiting for them to beat themselves. Craig Bellamy is the best in the business at finding "journeymen" or "castaways" and turning their careers around. He did it with Bryan Norrie who was all set to captain coach Wagga, and he has done again with Chase Blair and Ryan Morgan in the centres.
 
The difference this year is the Storm have genuine strike power to go with their rock-solid defence. In the two wingers, Vunivalu and Koribete, they have explosive pace, power, a high catching threat and wingers who can march them out of their own end. In the back row they have a few wrecking balls that make their set plays a double threat. The way they picked apart the Broncos at Suncorp was as stunning a mid-season performance as I have seen from a side in some time. It was a mixture of power, precision and ruthlessly taking their opportunities.
 
Whilst there is a long way to go and ultimately luck and injuries can derail a team’s campaign, Melbourne are a team that has rebooted and has every base covered at present. With their finals experience and extra artillery I expect them to hold off North Queensland and Cronulla to write another chapter in their memorable past decade.