NRL 2021: Melbourne Storm beat Canterbury Bulldogs 52-18 | Match Report

The good news: For the first time in three weeks, the Bulldogs grabbed tries, three to be precise. The (really) bad news: The Storm notched a half century against them.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 02: Dylan Napa of the Bulldogs and team mates look dejected during the round four NRL match between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Stadium Australia, on April 02, 2021, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Ofahiki Ogden and Nelson Asofa-Solomona spent 10 minutes in the sin bin for an ugly brawl late in the first half, but it’s Melbourne’s one-two punch out of dummy-half that will have the rest of the competition running scared after Harry Grant made his season debut for the defending premiers.

The 2020 Dally M Rookie of the Year missed the opening month with a knee injury suffered in the trials, but showed no signs of rust as Melbourne heaped more pain on the winless Bulldogs who at least showed something in attack.

Grant came off the bench after 27 minutes and made an immediate impact when he spotted no markers, skipped to his right and then fired the perfect pass to set Tui Kamikamica up for a rare try.

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The Bulldogs shows some positive signs as they broke their run of three games without scoring any points. Picture: Getty Images.

Scarily, both Grant and Brandon Smith hardly trained this week, with the latter battling the flu.

“After our Tuesday session, we didn’t think Harry was going to play,” Craig Bellamy said.

“He looked proppy and he wasn’t overly happy with it himself. He trained the next day and looked a whole heap better, so going from ruling him out, we went 50-50, had a day off and then came in for our last session and he was keen to play.

“There’s a lot of work and improvement left in the combinations with the other players, so we can look forward to him being even more effective as he gets used to those.”

With Cameron Smith retired and Brandon Smith set to leave the club as early as next season, Grant is the man to take the Storm into the future.

He seems a class above when he is on the field, and his partnership with Brandon Smith for the rest of the year seems scary given the way they complement each other.

Smith started Saturday’s game and set up a try before he came off and apparently vomited in the sheds, but his nuggety frame and ability to dominate the middle will be nightmarish come September when he and Grant are on song.

Papenhuyzen has continued his impressive run of form, scoring one try and playing a hand in several others. Picture: Getty Images.

The Storm leadership group will meet early next week to discuss the roles moving forward, with Bellamy open to starting Grant off the bench again next week against the Roosters.

“I don’t mind the idea of starting with Brandon and then going with Harry to finish the game, but one of Harry’s great strengths is being able t play 80 minutes,” he said.

FLYIN’ RYAN

Next week’s battle of the No.1s between Ryan Papenhuyzen and James Tedesco cannot come soon enough after the Storm fullback put in his contender for try of the season.

What looked like an overcooked kick by George Jennings turned into an assist of the rarest calibre thanks to Melbourne’s little genius who chased like one of his greyhounds to somehow plant the ball before it went dead.

He didn’t have the same space he was afforded last week, but his ability to make something happen out of nothing is why some in the game are starting to call him the best fullback in the NRL right now.

“I didn’t think he was any chance at all when George first kicked it, and thought it was going dead. But typical Paps, he doesn’t give up. He’s got a great nose to sniff out an opportunity and he kept competing,” Bellamy said.

“He’s turned into a consistent player, and his consistency is at the highest level.”

SIGNS OF LIFE

They celebrated like they’d backed the trifecta in the Doncaster Mile at Randwick when the returning Luke Thompson scored their first try in 265 minutes, and the points flowed like the proverbial champagne as the Bulldogs finally showed some enterprise in attack.

Their attack has been as threatening as a pug in a local park this year, but they were much better against one of the league’s staunchest defences, scoring a season-high 18 points.

Thompson was massive for the blue and whites, running for 117 metres and laying a strong platform with every carry, while Jake Averillo scored a try, kicked a 40/20 and was a constant menace on the left edge.

They still lack creativity in the red zone, but at least the shackles have come off. Their next assignment is to fix their leaky defence which was again torn to shreds by a Melbourne side that never left first gear.

“Attack wasn’t our problem,” Trent Barrett said. “That first half, we had some defensive efforts on our goal-line that just weren’t up to scratch. While I can sugarcoat them, I’m not going to cop that.”

Originally published as NRL 2021: Melbourne Storm beat Canterbury Bulldogs 52-18 | Match Report