Going getting tougher for Storm: Tandy - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Going getting tougher for Storm: Tandy

By Melissa Woods 09/07/2010 04:04:03 PM Comments (0)

Ex-Melbourne forward Ryan Tandy says he can't provide insider knowledge on the Storm because even they don't know how they're going to perform each NRL match.

Less than a month ago Tandy, one of the first victims of the salary cap scandal, left Melbourne and joined the Bulldogs and will line up against his old side on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval.

Cemented to the bottom of the table after being stripped of all competition points for 2010, the Storm have lost three of their past four games, with the absence of their stars due to Origin commitments not helping.

Tandy planned to meet up with his former teammates before the match, but it was far from a spying mission.

He said with only pride to play for this season, the Storm were unpredictable.

"I don't think it really helps, me coming from Melbourne, thinking I know what to expect because it's different every week," the 28-year-old said.

"It's getting harder and harder as the year goes on, especially with the rep boys not having so much to play for.

"I went down a few week ago and things were still running as normal down there and they were still turning up and beating the good teams but it's going to get harder so I'm fortunate to be out of the predicament they're in."

Now with his fifth NRL club, Tandy admits he's relieved to have his future secured and feels for the Melbourne players who are in limbo.

An NRL-commissioned forensic audit of the Storm's books is expected to be completed next week which will determine which players the club can afford to keep.

"I feel relieved but I'm still feeling for the players and the situation they're in.

"My future is now more certain than a lot of players down there because they don't know what's going on."

Recording back-to-back wins for just the second time this season with victory over the Sharks, the Bulldogs remain outside the eight but Tandy felt they were finding some good form.

"With the talent in the team, and they were one game away from the grand final (in 2009), it was only a matter of time before they started to turn things around.

"When I came here (coach) Kevin Moore said they weren't too far from it and hopefully we've done that and can build on it with a third consecutive win against Melbourne."

Although they have lost exciting young winger Justin O'Neill to an ankle injury, with Chase Stanley his replacement, the Storm Origin contingent will play.

Bulldogs hooker Michael Ennis, who was heavily criticised for his role in the NSW loss, will also back up.

Tandy said he thought Ennis would be disappointed by the defeat but believed the criticism was "very harsh".

"I don't think he cost them the game, I thought he was outstanding for them.

"Mick's a professional and I think he realises that he didn't cost the team the game, they were just unlucky on the night and unlucky to be playing probably the greatest Queensland team of all time.

"Hopefully a few of them - like Smithy (Cameron Smith) and Bill (Slater), GI (Greg Inglis) and Cooper (Cronk) don't back up, that'd be great."

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