NRL Round 23: Melbourne Storm win 28-16 over South Sydney Rabbitohs | SuperCoach scores & analysis
While Melbourne secured the much needed two-points, it was a disastrous night for SuperCoaches, as a host of popular players flopped. See all the Winners & Losers from Thursday night footy.
Melbourne looked to be in for a big night after running off to an early lead, but struggled in the second half as Souths bravely fought back, before having their finals dream officially come to an end for 2024.
And while Melbourne secured a much needed two-points with their minor premiership campaign under threat, it was a disastrous night for SuperCoaches as a handful of popular players flopped, while not a single player cracked triple digits.
See all the SuperCoach Winners & Losers from Thursday night footy.
SUPERCOACH WINNERS
-Cameron Murray (90pts) – The South Sydney workhorse made 42 tackles and scored a late try to claim the highest score of Thursday night’s game. Murray was one of the Rabbitohs’ best.
-Nelson Asofa-Solomona (61pts) – A season-high 68 minutes from the giant Melbourne forward must surely attract a few second glances from SuperCoaches. Entering the round with a $323,900 price tag and dual FRF/2RF, Asofa-Solomona might be a great cheap pick up for the final rounds if his work rate remains this high.
-Fletcher Myers (76pts) – The rookie Rabbitoh scored 12 points with two tries and two goals in his second game in the NRL. Myers is lightning fast and has good size – at 21 he looks like a great prospect.
-Will Warbrick (79pts) – Warbrick came close to scoring a hat-trick but dropped the ball in the in-goal. The tall Kiwi is a classy finisher and aerial threat that countryman Jahrome Hughes loves to target.
-Nick Meaney (79pts) – Meaney continues to be a solid POD with his dual position FLB/CTW and goalkicking. He would have cracked triple digits if the Storm had kept their foot on the gas.
SUPERCOACH LOSERS
-Keaon Koloamatangi (35pts) – The Rabbitohs lock matched his lowest score of 2024 with a quiet performance by his standards. He appeared to pick up a painful injury early in the game and only played 55 minutes with a short stint at the end.
-Jacob Gagai (20pts) – When the South Sydney backs are cold, they’re ice cold. Gagai broke three tackles on seven runs, racking up 45 run metres.
-Cameron Munster (44pts) – Munster is still taking some time to settle back into the side and his attack is proving to be clunky at times. No doubt he’ll hit his stride just in time for finals, but anyone who snatched him up as soon as he returned may be regretting the decision.
-Sean Keppie (18pts) – Only managed seven runs in 32 minutes on the field. Not enough time to make an impact for SuperCoach but when he missed six of his 17 tackle attempts you can see why he didn’t return.
-Jack Wighton (35pts) – South Sydney rarely had good attacking opportunities and as a result Wighton didn’t register many positive statistics. He brought plenty in defence but you don’t get extra SuperCoach points for big hits.
MATCH REPORT: OUT OF SORTS STORM BREATHE SIGH OF RELIEF AFTER UGLY WIN
The Storm have fired an early warning shot ahead of next week’s potential grand final preview with superstar fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen producing his biggest play of the year in a scrappy 28-16 win over Souths.
This felt like a midweek provincial race played in front of a tiny crowd at Accor Stadium, but it’ll be a massive step up in class when they take on Penrith in a game that could decide the minor premiership.
The Storm have moved four points clear for now but that could be halved by the time they travel west next Thursday, with their sloppy second half hurting their for and against which should have received a big boost when they led by 22 in the second half.
That was on the back of some Papenhuyzen brilliance when the 2020 Clive Churchill Medal winner combined with Grant Anderson on a kick return, with the flashy fullback burning the defence for 45 metres before he found his winger to score.
“I’m not quite sure if he was at top pace,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said.
“With all due respect, he’s had a lot of bad injuries and he’s never going to be at that pace because they’ve all been leg injuries so he’s not going to have that pace that he had four or five years ago.
“With his footy smarts and his experience, that makes up for it. It was nice to see him striding out again, and hopefully he can continue on that line.”
It was the best he’s looked in open space since coming back from a serious ankle injury, with Papenhuyzen also backing up a Tyran Wishart break late in the first half to score a try of his own.
This was far from a perfect Storm, but they picked up the two points they desperately needed after last week’s shock loss to the Dragons loosened their grip on top spot.
But they’ll need to be a lot better next against the Panthers, with Will Warbrick placed on report while Taane Milne is also in trouble for a trip on Papenhuyzen.
FINAL CHAPTER
Not even the world’s strongest calculator can give Souths a mathematical chance of making the finals, with the Bunnies officially out of the race for the top eight.
It’s been a rough old year for the Rabbitohs who sacked their coach and have lost their biggest stars to injury at different times.
They saved their season with five-straight wins during the Origin period, but they’re six points behind eighth spot with four games left which means they can’t sneak in.
They failed to lift in front of a dismal crowd on Thursday night, but there was one nice moment when Taane Milne flicked a pass through his legs to set up Fletcher Myers’ second try.
NATURAL JUSTICE
It’s a good thing the Storm won because it looked like they were denied a fairly clear try midway through the first half.
Grant Anderson looked to have crashed over but Todd Smith sent it upstairs as a no try, with the Bunker unable to find any conclusive evidence because Tom Burgess was about to enter the game and was standing in the way.
The footy gods clicked into gear with Nelson Asofa-Solomona barging over a minute later after a dominant performance on the right edge.
RELIVE OUR LIVE COVERAGE OF THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTY BELOW
FULL TIME – Storm 30-16
It was a much better performance from South Sydney in the second half but in reality it was the Storm’s chunkiness that kept the score from blowing out.
Either way, the Melbourne juggernaut rolls on despite none of its stars scoring well in SuperCoach.
71ST MINUTE – Storm 26-16
Poor attack has turned to bad defence for Melbourne as Harry Grant gets steamrolled by Cameron Murray close to the line.
Murray has been tackling his heart out all game and gets a much deserved try.
65TH MINUTE – Storm 26-10
Melbourne have the game under control but clunky attack has hampered the performance.
Three tries in 15 minutes isn’t impossible but it’s hard to see South Sydney pulling it off.
54TH MINUTE – Storm 26-10
That’s more like it from the Rabbitohs.
Playing catch up footy allowed them to throw caution to the wind with a bit of razzle dazzle passing, including a tunnel ball try assist from Richard Kennar, putting Fletcher Myer over for a double.
Myer’s second conversion attempt was a bit better than his first, sailing over the black dot.
42ND MINUTE – Storm 26-4
The Storm picked up where they left off after the break, scoring early when Ryan Papenhuyzen broke the line with a kick return and put Grant Anderson into the backfield for a runaway try.
The result was probably already sealed but South Sydney need to find something if they want to keep this score line respectable.
HALFTIME – Storm 22-4
It’s already a big scoreline but it feels like the Melbourne Storm are only just beginning to hit their stride.
They’re looking dangerous across the park but aren’t quite clicking.
On the other side of the park Souths have barely fired a shot and their only points came from a long-range intercept.
Will Warbrick is leading SuperCoach scoring and if things keep going down his edge he could easily crack 100 points.
35TH MINUTE – Storm 22-4
The Storm are in again after a matter of minutes, breaking the line inside their own half and racing downfield.
Ryan Papenhuyzen finished the move under the posts to give Nick Meaney an easy conversion.
31ST MINUTE – Storm 16-4
More Jahrome Hughes magic has guided Melbourne to back-to-back tries and their premiership credentials are starting to show.
This time a deft kick into the in-goal was claimed by Will Warbrick for the tall winger’s second try of the game.
The Rabbitohs can co set for set with them, but one error or penalty and the Storm are right on their throat.
23RD MINUTE – Storm 12-4
A quick answer from Melbourne as Nelson Asofa-Solomona couldn’t be stopped at speed from close range.
The giant Storm forward left four Rabbitohs in his wake before slamming the ball down emphatically.
For how good Melbourne has looked, it’s still only an eight-point lead.
19TH MINUTE – Storm 6-4
What a way to open your NRL account.
Rabbitohs speedster Fletcher Myers has his first try in his second appearance and it’s a beauty.
Myers, 21, pounced on a Ryan Papenhuyzen pass and raced the full field to score in the left corner.
However he missed the attempt to convert his own try.
8TH MINUTE – Storm 6-0
South Sydney let the Storm off the hook after five minutes of sustained pressure, launching a kick over the dead-ball line and inviting Melbourne to attack for the first time.
The Storm’s first play-the-ball inside the 20m line resulted in a try as Jahrome Hughes threw a perfect pass to Nick Meaney, who put Will Warbrick over in the corner.
It doesn’t get much easier than that.
The Melbourne Storm are sure to be smarting after a shock loss to the Dragons last week and many a SuperCoach is hoping they take out their frustrations on the 15th placed Rabbitohs tonight.
Melbourne’s Jahrome Hughes (51.3%) and Harry Grant (39.4%) were well owned among the top 10% of SuperCoach teams heading into the round while Cameron Munster is the most purchased player from any team this week.
Bothe teams will enter the game 1-17 with no late changes.
And much is expected from the Storm spine with the Rabbitohs leaking almost 30 points per game over the past four matches.
It’s not all upside though, in a major blow to SuperCoaches the most owned player at the Storm, Eli Katoa, has been rested due to a minor knee injury – word is there will be more restings to come so beware.
There is positive news for the Rabbitohs with Cody Walker training well on Wednesday and is set to take the field against the Storm on Thursday night.Walker missed last week with a calf injury and failed to train earlier this week as the Rabbitohs battle a tight five-day turnaround.
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