Why Melbourne’s injury crisis could be a blessing in disguise come finals

The Melbourne Storm reasserted themselves atop of the NRL ladder with a thrilling 30-24 win over the Dolphins on Friday night.

Melbourne leading the league at this stage of the season is a considerable feat with the injury concerns of two of the teams’ stars in Cameron Munster and Ryan Papenhuyzen.

The pair have missed an extended period of the season already and despite Papenhuyzen making his return on Friday, Melbourne has surprisingly continued to lead the way in the 2024 season.

Key to this ongoing success is the development of Tyran Wishart and Sua Fa’alogo, with the pair of emerging stars filling in the void left by the injured duo.

With Munster’s return to the halves imminent and Papenhuyzen already earning his No.1 jersey back, SEN’s Justin Horo revealed how the injury crisis may have been a positive for the Storm in the run into finals

“I think the Munster and Papenhuyzen injuries have been a blessing in disguise if they are to both be fit at the backend of the season,” Horo said on SEN 1170 Mower’s Club.

“They can’t win without Munster and Papenhuyzen at fullback and five-eighth, respectively, in my opinion, just like most teams can’t without their stars.

“They’ve unearthed Sua Fa’alogo, who is going to be a proper x-factor… if he was to come off the bench, whilst also carrying a guy like Tyran Wishart, who has during this period just gained so much confidence.”

Wishart displayed his strong running game in the win on Friday night, notching up 151 metres and scoring a pivotal try for his side in a notable runaway effort.

“(Wishart) is your perfect 14, he can play six or seven, they’ve put him at fullback before, they’ve put him on the wing, he wouldn’t look out of place playing 13 if they needed to,” Horo added.

“Wishy will be their 14, I think they’ve got enough power and enough middles that can play big minutes like Loiero, King, Welch, all these guys can play big minutes.

“Then you’ve got big Nelson on the bench as well, he’s your X-Factor, then you can even keep Fa’alogo on the 17 in my opinion.

“So, you have two forwards, Wishart and Fa’alogo in their best 17, very dangerous, they can cover everything.

“If you can afford to have a versatile bench like that for the Melbourne Storm, you are very dangerous when it comes to finals time.”

Storm coach Craig Bellamy confirmed Munster is expected to return much earlier than expected and could feature for the side in the Round 20 clash against the Sydney Roosters.