Match Details
Match Date	22nd Jun, 2003
Opponent	Melbourne
Result	Win 26-12
Coach	Steven Folkes
Captain	Braith Anasta
Venue	Melbourne (Olympic Park)
Crowd	10,782
Referee	Paul Simpkins

The Bulldogs played the role of home-wrecker at Melbourne's Olympic Park yesterday, becoming the only away team to win in a round in which State of Origin stars were rested and players such as Bulldogs prop Mark O'Meley seized the initiative.

With Bulldogs prop and captain Steve Price sidelined with Queensland and Storm veteran Robbie Kearns on duty with NSW, Origin discard O'Meley launched himself on an inspirational run six minutes from full-time, blowing away the Storm and earning the possibility of a recall to the NSW team should the Blues lose the second Origin game on Wednesday.

Playing the role of No.1 hound in a relatively docile Bulldogs pack, O'Meley charged 10 metres, carrying five Melbourne players at various stages in a strong surge to the tryline.

His run set the platform for a kick by halfback Brett Sherwin which rolled into the in-goal for centre Nigel Vagana to force. Hazem El Masri's conversion gave the Bulldogs an eight-point lead and a mortgage on the match.

Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes said of O'Meley, nicknamed "Shrek" after the movie character of a similarly domed shaven head: "He played terrific. He had two 25-minute stints and was very strong, full on. Very competitive."

O'Meley also figured in a try nine minutes earlier when he stood wide, receiving a pass from fellow prop Willie Mason before deftly slipping the ball to Vagana, whose try edged the Bulldogs ahead.

Folkes said there was nothing profound about the round mound's presence in the backline.

"Shrek didn't follow the ball, so he was still standing out wide when it came back," Folkes said.

Told that the same could be said for Mason, whose performance could not be classed as busy, Folkes preferred not to answer, saying obliquely: "We haven't got one [a nickname] for him yet."

Vagana's first try came when the Bulldogs had 12 men after the sin-binning of second-rower Steve Reardon for felling Melbourne's Billy Slater while the fullback chased a kick and seemed certain to score. The penalty goal by Melbourne half Matt Orford gave the Storm a four-point lead (12-8) but, almost on cue, the home team lost direction and enthusiasm.

Melbourne have suffered the same fate against most top teams this season, mystifying coach Craig Bellamy.

"It's past the point of hurting," he said, admitting he is at wits' end trying to solve Melbourne's failure to deliver a killing blow to the elite teams. "We just can't seem to go on with it. It's a mental problem.

"We lost today when the Bulldogs lost a bloke to the sin bin. We lost the plot at that stage. The next three sets, we didn't complete."

Still, a dubious ruling by referee Paul Simpkins gave the Bulldogs possession for the killer blow from O'Meley.

Melbourne hooker Cameron Smith was impeded in dummy half by Bulldogs second-rower Andrew Ryan lying in the ruck, the ball bouncing off his leg while Smith attempted to control it.

Bellamy said: "I found a few play-the-ball infringements a bit hard to understand."

Both teams had bad starts; the Bulldogs scored a try to begin the first half and Melbourne two minutes into the second.

Apart from Vagana's second try following O'Meley's surging run, all the tries came when least expected, including an intercept effort in the 80th minute when Sherwin seized a flat pass from his opposite, Orford.

O'Meley damaged more than the Melbourne defence: one of his charging runs also resulted in Melbourne five-eighth Scott Hill leaving the field with a partially dislocated right shoulder. Hill recently signed for five years. A reconstruction of his right shoulder kept him out of the '99 grand final. He recently returned following a rotator cuff injury to his left shoulder. He will have a scan today to determine how long he will be unavailable.

The crowd of 10,782 was disappointing considering the perfect weather and that there were no Australian Football League matches played in Melbourne at the weekend.

Nor did supporters of the England rugby union team find a Storm home game sufficient motivation to fill an otherwise vacant Sunday afternoon.

Folkes could find no reason his team was the only home-wrecker in round 15, nor why the Bulldogs have beaten Melbourne in the past six starts. "We've had reasonably good success down here," he said.

"It's funny how some teams have the wood on other teams for a long time. There is no apparent reason for it."

Just as Bellamy is perplexed about the Storm's psychological barrier. As Benny Elias might have said: "Half the game is 90 per cent mental."

Source: www.smh.com.au

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