Addo-Carr delivers six of the best to humiliate Rabbitohs
Josh Addo-Carr grabbed a slice of history at Stadium Australia on Thursday night. South Sydney will need to defy it to win the premiership.
Josh Addo-Carr grabbed a slice of history at Stadium Australia on Thursday night. South Sydney will need to defy it to win the premiership.
Addo-Carr became the first player since Newtown winger Jack Troy in 1950 — and the first Storm player full stop — to score six tries in a premiership game as Melbourne embarrassed the Rabbitohs 50-0 on a wet and miserable night.
Even more miserable if you were a Rabbitohs supporter. Undermanned they may have been, but there was no excuse for the way they capitulated.
They must now find a way to defy the sobering statistic that no club in history has conceded 50 points in a game and gone on to win a premiership.
Seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett will require all his nous to rebuild his team’s psyche after this. They were battered by the brilliant Storm.
“We probably got what we deserved,” Souths coach Wayne Bennett said.
“We have been getting that way in the last couple of weeks, having to pull games out of the fire. We’re better than that.”
Remarkably, it was the 10th game in succession that Storm coach Craig Bellamy had enjoyed victory over sides led by Bennett.
The pupil continues to teach the master lessons. Few have been as dominant or devastating as this. It was a bloodbath. A beatdown.
Addo-Carr relished the carnage. Souths were undermanned – Latrell Mitchell, Campbell Graham, Adam Reynolds and Cameron Murray were among the absentees – but there were still no excuses for the way they fell apart in the opening half.
Addo-Carr had a night to remember, although most of his six tries were on a platter. His fellow winger George Jennings added a pair of his own as the Storm made a blistering start to the match and went on with the job in the second stanza.
“Speed,” Bellamy replied when asked how he would sum up Addo-Carr’s performance.
“That is great for him and the whole team. There is a lot of work done before Josh can use his pace to get in the corner.
“It goes to show how good a tryscorer he is.”
Bellamy is yet to announce whether he will coach next season. Bennett will no doubt be hoping he goes away given the way his record against his former assistant.
The likelihood is that Bellamy will return for at least one more season and who could blame him for coming back given the attacking artillery he has at his disposal.
They turned it on in miserable conditions. They made only one error in the first half, completing at 95 per cent. With possession in their favour, they punched holes in Souths’ defensive line. Cameron Munster was rampant.
Hooker Harry Grant came off the bench and picked them apart. Addo-Carr enjoyed the spoils, his speed too much for Souths to handle.
The only negative for the Storm was Brandon Smith being placed on report for a late hit on Damien Cook. He made up for it moments later as he capitalised on a quick play the ball from Munster and raced over.
“It was easily our best performance of the season,” Bellamy said.
“I don’t think we have put together a good consistent 80 minutes this year. I thought tonight we did that. I know Souths were down in strength a bit but my players can only play the team that is put out there.”
Bennett added: “We have a lot of players missing. So it’s a different team when they come back. The team that was here tonight was better than that. That is the issue right now.”
In truth, the game was put to bed in the opening half as Addo-Carr grabbed a hat-trick inside the opening half hour. The first try arrived in the 12th minute as Jacob Olam put through a short kick and Addo-Carr dived on it to score.
It took the Storm another 11 minutes to score their next, Nico Hynes slicing through and Addo-Carr looming in support. That try started a procession.
The Storm scored three tries in the next eight minutes as they cut Souths to shreds. Bennett was forced to hook centre Steven Marsters as Melbourne laid siege to the South Sydney defensive line.
It didn’t help.
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