Melbourne Storm flex premiership muscle with 44-10 win over Canberra Raiders in wet conditions
THEY all spoke about improvement during the week and on Saturday night Melbourne Storm delivered in emphatic style with a 44-10 win over the Canberra Raiders.
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THEY all spoke about improvement during the week and on Saturday night Melbourne Storm delivered in emphatic style.
Such is the breathtaking brilliance of the Melbourne Machine in full flight.
When not controlling the ball with deft a passing and kicking game, the reigning premier almost makes a point of punishing rivals for every mistake.
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Like the tax man, Storm collects in July as heads begin to turn towards NRL finals.
Therein laid the problem Saturday night, the beleaguered Canberra Raiders unable to keep any momentum as Storm surged to 44-10 victory at AAMI Park.
Three of the first four Melbourne tries came off the back of Canberra errors.
The fourth was courtesy of back-to-back penalties, including one for dissent at the referee.
Canberra needed everything to go right to challenge a Melbourne outfit in this sort of mood and the visitors were their own worst enemies with shoddy carries and poor completions.
Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr described the upside left in Melbourne as “scary” in the build-up to the crunch game against the Raiders, who before Saturday night led the competition in points and tries.
Seven Storm tries in 63 minutes last night franked Addo-Carr’s words.
The scariest part is this might actually only be the tip of the iceberg — barring injury and suspension.
After eight successive wins the minor premiership is back on the agenda as Storm sits on top of the ladder — on point’s differential — ahead of South Sydney.
And with that piece of coveted silverware also comes the possibility of two finals at AAMI Park.
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It may well be one of the closest competitions in recent memory, with two games separating the top seven teams, but what separate Storm from pack is often doing the little things right.
Storm prop Jesse Bromwich set the tone Saturday night with barnstorming carries into the Raiders line.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona followed suit, while Felise Kaufusi and Joe Stimson tackled tirelessly.
Cameron Smith directed traffic by hand and foot, while Cameron Munster manufactured attacking shapes with daring runs at and or across the defensive line.
Munster and Billy Slater shared the spoils, assisting four of the seven tries, while Curtis Scott, Josh Addo-Carr and Suliasi Vunivalu kept finding dangerous spots.
MELBOURNE 44 (C Scott 2 J Addo-Carr N Asofa-Solomona F Kaufusi C Munster S Vunivalu tries C Smith 8 goals) bt CANBERRA 10 (J Leilua I Soliola tries S Williams goal) at AAMI Park. Referee: Adam Gee, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski. Crowd: 15,298.
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Originally published as Melbourne Storm flex premiership muscle with 44-10 win over Canberra Raiders in wet conditions
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