The five moments that mattered in Melbourne’s grand final victory over North Queensland

THE Storm have done the job, dispatching the Cowboys fairytale in devastating fashion via a 34-6 rout. Here are the five moments that mattered in Melbourne’s victory.

Dale Finucane’s 63rd minute try sealed the Storm’s premiership victory

THE Storm have done the job, dispatching the Cowboys fairytale in devastating fashion via a 34-6 rout.

All the magic left the Cowboys as they were coldly dissected by a clinical, physical and truly brilliant Storm outfit.

Here are the moments that mattered, the crucial seconds where the game was won and lost.

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Shaun Fensom went down in the fourth minute leaving the Cowboys’ bench short the entire game

1) 4TH minute – Bromwich bombs it, Cows busted.

Melbourne prop Jesse Bromwich busted through down the Storm’s left after just three minutes and while he bombed a certain try, the run was significant for two reasons. On the same play the Cowboys lost Shaun Fensom to a gruesome knee injury, robbing them of an important cog of their forward rotation just three minutes in – given the match began as such a gruelling battle, losing a man so early was a hammer blow. It also limited the impact Coen Hess could have had in his first stint, with the dynamic young tyro forced to play a lot more of the opening stages than Paul Green would have liked. They felt the loss of Hess early in the second half when Jason Taumalolo left the field.

Josh Addo-Carr and Will Chambers combined for a stunning opening try. Picture: Brett Costello

2) 19th minute – Slick Willie lets the fox out

Last year, the pass Will Chambers decided not to throw cost the Storm the premiership. This year, he got them off to a dream of a start after a fast and frenetic opening 20 minutes. Chambers threw a brilliant offload 35 metres out from his own line to Josh Addo-Carr and once “The Fox” finds the clear there isn’t a man in the game who can catch him. It was a virtuoso performance all round from Chambers – in attack he worked hard, in defense he was punishing and there can be no doubt he’s the game’s best centre.

Te Maire Martin was targeted in defence by Melbourne all night

3) 38th minute – Storm have a Te party

The second and third Melbourne tries were well-constructed and well-executed, with the Storm unleashing their potent left edge, Billy Slater’s touchdown just before halftime felt like a dagger – North Queensland only made one handling error in the entire half and it came back to bite them in the worst possible fashion. Te Maire Martin was attacked in clinical and ruthless fashion, with both powerful runners and complex formations. The former Panther has come a long way this season and stood up under similarly heavy pressure last week, but the Storm cut him to pieces. Their work on the other edge was more brutish but no less impressive – Tohu Harris had a blinder in his last game for the Storm and his pass for Josh Addo-Carr’s second try was as fine a ball as had been thrown all year.

Te Maire Martin capitalised on a Cameron Smith error for the Cowboys’ only try of the game

4) 48th minute – North Queensland change it up

It took that rarest of beasts, a Cameron Smith error, for North Queensland to open the scoring. The Storm hooker charged out of the line to shut down Michael Morgan on the last after the Cowboys had enjoyed a lengthy period of possession on the Melbourne line but Morgan exploited the ensuing gap in the defensive line with a sharp pass for Martin to score. After trying to attack the Storm edges in the first half, North Queensland found joy attacking with their speed through the middle and they embraced that tactic for their best period of the match. Morgan did his best to stay involved through the match and had some good touches but his early kick for Antonio Winterstein, which was swallowed up by Suliasi Vunivalu, when the Cowboys were on the attack proved to be a turning point.

Dale Finucane’s 63rd minute try sealed the Storm’s premiership victory

5) 63rd minute – A well-earned meat pie

Dale Finucane’s try with 15 minutes to go sealed the premiership for Melbourne but it was the hard-working lock’s work on the other side of the ball that paved the way for the victory. Finucane led the line up every single time, making it his mission to go after Taumalolo whenever he could. Taumalolo still had a good game because he cannot be truly stopped; only slowed. But he wasn’t allowed to take over the match as he as done in the past and it gave Melbourne the upper hand. After three defeats, Finucane can rest assured his best grand final performance came in his first victory.

Originally published as The five moments that mattered in Melbourne’s grand final victory over North Queensland