How speed killed the Bulldogs and the Storm

April 29, 2026 — 5:00am

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It’s incredible how fast it has happened.

Expanding the use of set-restarts, which can now be awarded from the attacking 20-metre line instead of the 40-metre, has made teams which build their games on defence uncompetitive.

At the top of the list is the mighty Melbourne Storm, the kings of the wrestle, whose sustained excellence has been brought down by that 20-metre change.

Defence isn’t king any more. Speed is. And in the NRL in 2026, speed kills.

To be fair, other factors have contributed to the Storm’s poor start to the season. The loss of Eli Katoa for the year, and possibly for good, was out of their hands after he suffered a brain bleed from head knocks in the warm-up and match for Tonga against New Zealand in November. Then Tui Kamikamica suffered a stroke, an awful thing for such a young man.

But before those twin blows, something was awry at the Storm late last year – despite their charge to the grand final.

Fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen walked away from the game aged 27 and Nelson Afosa-Solomona’s relationship with the club deteriorated to the point of no return and he was gone, too.

The desperation in the text messages from Storm........

© Brisbane Times