AAMI Park will play host to Saturday's Round 3 NRL game between Melbourne Storm and Parramatta Eels. The game kicks off at 5:30 pm with Melbourne Storm heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Melbourne Storm vs. Parramatta Eels game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Saturday March 26, 2022 at 5:30 pm

Where: AAMI Park

Bet: Bet On This Match HERE

Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels Odds

Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels Preview

The Melbourne Storm cruised to an early first-half lead before falling asleep in the second half. They did, however, show their class in the end to beat the Rabbitohs 15-14 in golden point. It looked as though the Eels had done enough to beat the Sharks but a late Teig Wilton try handed Brad Arthur’s side their first defeat of the 2022 NRL season.

Harry Grant has been named in the #9 jersey but has since been ruled out with Covid. Brandon Smith has been named in the reserves and is a possible replacement for the Storm hooker. Nathan Brown will start at lock for the Eels with Oregon Kaufusi back to the bench. Jakob Arthur is out allowing Wiremu Greig to join the bench.

The Storm are dealing with a handful of injuries but still present as deserving favourites following a tough win last week. Grant is a significant loss behind the ruck but Melbourne still has plenty of creativity and scoring in the form of Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Jahrome Hughes. Their backline offers a lot more reliability than that of the Eels, too. Parramatta looked excellent in Round 1 but Ryan Matterson had a lot to do with that form. Without him in Round 2, the ball didn’t move quite as well through the middle. They were beaten in the yardage battle with Cronulla’s 49.1 metres per set also worth noting. Surprisingly, the Storm are 15th in the NRL in yardage but we can expect that to turn around sooner rather than later. The Eels have proven to be somewhat of a bogey side for the Storm. They always seem to grow legs in this fixture and the last-minute defeat last week will only fuel them further. However, at home and with Munster and Hughes showing dangerous signs with the ball last week, the Storm should be able to get the job done despite the injury issues.

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