BY ROB

The final game of round nine, hosted entirely within the confines of Suncorp stadium, is arguably the clash of the week. The Raiders recorded their fourth straight win on Sunday, chasing down a Dolphins side that should’ve won the game purely off their first half platform of 28 points. The Storm meanwhile also have four on the trot three in four (eerp thanks to Adam Bishop for pointing out we missed the ‘Phins debacle), their 24-16 victory over the Bunnies being their lowest scoring output since they lost to the Dragons back in round 4.

There was a time when mention of the Storm would leave Raiders fans in a cold sweat, and while they still rank as one of the toughest opponents in the NRL they no longer seem so invincible. The Raiders have trounced them several times in the last decade, the most famous encounter their underdog victory at AAMI park in the qualifying final of 2019.

It isn’t always a close encounter – Ethan Strange’s debut game in round 24 of the 2023 season saw the Raiders cop an absolute pasting from Melbourne, a dispiriting 48-2 loss on the enemy’s turf.

The Storm of 2025 are not perfect. Sure, they’ve been beating up other top 8 teams with big totals, but the Dragons proved that the Melbourne machinery can be derailed. They’re also currently battling through injuries – namely Harry Grant, Tui Kamikamica (now listed as in and on the bench), Will Warbrick and Jack Howarth. Grant is the biggest loss for them, his craft and guile at the ruck key to the Storm getting on the front foot in attack.

The Raiders thankfully have no injury concerns and will field the 17 that got the job done against the ‘Phins on Sunday. Sticky will have spent the week making it abundantly clear to his troops that they cannot afford to chase down a 16+ point gap like they have in the previous two rounds. The Storm are much less likely to clock off, and on the slight chance they do they’re also capable of regaining the lead.

Indeed the structuring of the team list speaks to the need to not only start strong but stay strong through rotations. Stuart has clearly decided that Taps and Papa work best when paired with a younger forward – Taps is partnered by Horse, while Papa has his mini-me in Mariota. Smithies returns to the lock position, a good place for him to reside rather than in one of the prop pockets.

The battle of the interchange rakes will be a compelling one. Pattie’s directional work around the ruck was key to getting the Raiders home against Redcliffe, and Wishart will be equally instrumental to the Storm. So far this season Sticky has been reserving Pattie’s prowess for the final 20 minutes of the game, relying on Starling’s sneaky scooting and brick wall defence to keep the longship pointed the right way in the first 60 minutes. This might change in round 9 if Stick feels that the Milk need a bit more in the ruck early on.

The battle of the halves will also be a thriller. Fogarty now has his future bedded down, which should help relieve some of the pressure (not that he’s actually exhibited any on-field these last few weeks). He and Hughes are two of the best kickers in the league, particularly when it comes to tricky high-balls that shift in the air.

Defensively we can only pray that the right edge has addressed the issues that have plagued them this far – Timoko and Savage need to be very vocal with each other about who’s going where and tackling whom. The Storm will be fully aware of how easily the ‘Phins harvested points through this area.

In last week’s Rumble I mused how a 1-2 result from the Dolphins/Storm/Bulldogs gauntlet would be a positive result. Given the somewhat surprising outcome of round 8 there’s every chance that the win/loss ratio could become 2-1. There’d be no shame in losing to either the Storm or the Dogs, provided the effort and intent are on display for the full 80 minutes.

In Conclusion

It’ll be the toughest game so far, and there’s every chance it can go terribly wrong if the Green Machine doesn’t stay focussed. If we’ve learned anything in 2025 it’s that strange things do happen, in fact in this bizarre season they happen with a frequency bordering on routine. Let’s lean into that in the best way possible.

Raiders by 4!

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