mate how can you say the storm were not impressive against the dragons. Their defence, as per usual, was damn near impenetrable, the dragons just could not break the line all night and the storm just wore them down until they were wrecked (much like a 10-4 i remember this season), before spreading it to the likes of turner, king, inglis etc. to create havoc. i don't think the broncs experience will be a telling factor at all. the storm's success this year has been partly driven by the fact that they ARE a young side, playing with a carefree yet detertmined attitude and thus not letting the pressure get to them in the big games. The storm are deceptively physical and will be able to match with the big guns of brisbane

hodges vs slater - both have been good of late, i'm still worried about them both under pressure but can spark pieces of brilliance - tie

boyd vs turner - two young guys facing up, i think turner has the edge, he is always effective especially out of dummy half without getting recognition and hes a great finisher - storm

tate vs king - i think this is equal, king is the national selection but tate is awesome despite suspect hands. he will be picked on the wing for aus anyway - tie

stagg vs inglis - an absolute no contest. i wondered if stagg actually turned up to aussie stadium on friday night when i was watching because i don't think i saw him the entire match - storm

hunt vs geyer - both haven't been great lately. hunt isn't a winger, geyer is ******** - broncos

lockyer vs hill - lockyer easy - broncos

perry vs cronk - cronk is in line for the aussie halfback job, and should easily account for perry - storm

civoniceva vs kaufusi - both in great form but petrol 7 cents a litre is the proven performer - broncos

berrigan vs smith - berrigan conceded about 3 penalties and lost the ball about as many times last game but no one remembers that. smith is obviously in career best form and could be the difference - storm

webke vs white - brett white is very underrated but webke just - broncos

thaiday vs kidwell - qld rep vs nz rep i think thaiday has been poor of late - tie

thorn vs hoffman - i think hoffman has scored about 12 tries this year and has been good of late. thorn seems to disappear now and again. tie

carroll vs johnson - both tackling machines but carrol just - broncos

so that makes it 5-4 broncos with 4 ties. a very slight margin, and remembering that a champion team will always beat a team of champions - and that the storm work well together and have done all year i think its about equal player for player. and we have a kicker

storm 13+ awesome value he he