‘Never seen that’: Storm go berserk in record-shattering performance

The NRL has never seen anything like the case of whoop-ass the Storm opened up on the Warriors to leave TV commentators staggered.

Jahrome Hughes celebrates scoring a try with Ryan Papenhuyzen. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images.

The NRL has never seen anything like the beatdown the Storm put on the hapless Warriors in an Anzac Day demolition job.

The Storm scored 54 points in 32 minutes as part of the most unstoppable half of football the league has ever seen.

The 70-10 point thumping was the Storm’s 12th consecutive win over the Warriors — and it left league historians reaching for the record books.

According to the Fox Sports Lab, the 54-point second half avalanche was the most points by a team in one half of football in the NRL era.

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It was men against boys.

The Storm’s performance was highlighted by Ryan Papenhuyzen’s man-of-the-match effort with 22 points and winger Xavier Coates’ haul of four tries.

Coates scored a second half hat-trick in just eight minutes as the Warriors disappeared in the final 30 minutes.

The Storm led 16-10 at half time before all hell was unleashed.

The Warriors lost Josh Curran and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak to serious injuries early in the second half and it appeared to break the visitors.

It was party time. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images.

The Storm’s second half mauling is something that left Fox League commentators, including Cooper Cronk, absolutely staggered.

Panthers great Greg Alexander couldn’t believe what he was seeing after looking at the stats sheet that showed the Warriors had completed just one set of six in the second half with just seven minutes left before full time.

At the time of his comments, the Storm had enjoyed 81 per cent of possession in the second half.

#NRLStormWarriors 2nd half set flow pic.twitter.com/aIe0bUnEV8

— Fox Sports Lab (@FoxSportsLab) April 25, 2022

When the match finished the Storm had completed 19 of 21 sets in the second half compared to the Warriors completing just two of their six sets.

“I’ve never seen that. I have never seen those numbers,” Alexander said.

“They have completed one set the Warriors. That’s unbelievable. It’s off the charts.”

The haul is the biggest points tally a Melbourne side have ever scored at their home ground AAMI Park and it’s also the Warriors’ biggest ever loss.

Jahrome Hughes and Ryan Papenhuyzen. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images.

Xavier Coates and the Storm weren’t even celebrating tries by the end. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images.

It was the first time the Storm had scored 70 points since they did it against the Dragons in 2000 — Warriors coach Nathan Brown was playing for the Dragons in that game.

Papenhuyzen was having such a hot night that coach Craig Bellamy gave him an early mark with 12 minutes remaining.

He finished with two tries, three try assists, 158 running metres and seven goals.

After looking at the Storm’s second half scoring frenzy, Cronk said: “They’re just astronomical numbers that the Melbourne Storm put together.”

Broncos great Corey Parker said the Storm’s performance was “ridiculous”.

Brown said after the game his team’s performance was not acceptable.

When asked if some of his players gave up, Brown responded: “Some people did. I’ve got no doubt about that. I’ve been in this game a long time and it’s disappointing to actually sit here and say that.

“Some people looked for the easiest way out they could. That’s sad. That’s not a reflection of all the players. We had players that worked extremely hard.”