NRL Round 5: Melbourne Storm beat Canterbury Bulldogs 52-18, Sydney Roosters beat Cronulla Sharks 26-18, Gold Coast Titans beat Newcastle Knights 42-16

The Storm have sent the Bulldogs to their fifth straight loss in a 52-18 thrashing, while the Roosters and Titans were also winners.

Harry Grant of the Melbourne Storm during the round-5 NRL match against the Canterbury Bulldogs at Stadium Australia on Saturday. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

It wasn’t all pretty, but the Canterbury Bulldogs had their moments against the Melbourne Storm, avoiding an unwanted record of four straight games without points.

The Bulldogs slumped to their fifth straight loss after the Storm thrashed them 52-18 at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Saturday — but the good news is there were signs of life from coach Trent Barrett’s men.

The damage started just three minutes into the game when Felise Kaufusi crashed over for an easy try from dummy half.

Melbourne halves Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes then linked up to score the Storm’s second and five minutes later Christian Welch barged his way over.

It didn’t dampen the Dogs’ spirits though as British import Luke Thompson crossed to score Canterbury’s first points since Round 1.

Canterbury’s Ofahiki Ogden and Melbourne’s Nelson Asofa-Solomona spent 10 minutes in the sin bin for an ugly brawl late in the first half, but it is 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.

The celebrations were put on hold for a moment after Ogden violently reacted to a pat on the head by Munster, prompting Asofa-Solomona to retaliate with a swinging arm of his own.

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.

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Sydney Roosters defeat Cronulla Sharks 26-18

Cronulla skipper Wade Graham has suffered his second concussion in just three matches in a week where concussion dominated headlines.

The Sharks skipper failed to finish the match after another head-knock. He came from the field in the 14th minute on Saturday after collecting the hip of Roosters prop Isaac Liu.

A crazy final 10 minutes saw Sam Walker deliver a performance for the ages in just his second NRL game, setting up two tries and scoring one himself to hand the Roosters a 26-18 win over the Sharks at Sydney Cricket ground.

The Roosters trailed after tries from Will Kennedy, Mawene Hiroti and Jack Williams had them on track for an unlikely win.

Graham started strongly helping lay on the opening try combining with Josh Dugan before Mawene Hiroti scored.

The Sharks play the Knights on Friday night. Given the short turnaround it has placed Graham’s immediate playing future in doubt.

Graham came to his feet and walked off the field. He was last concussed during Cronulla’s round three clash against the Eels, where Cronulla’s casualty ward grew significantly. Graham recovered in time to take his spot in Cronulla’s side to play the Cowboys last week

Just when it looked like the Sharks had finally claimed a top eight scalp for the first time since 2019 they capitulated. This time to the hands of teenage star Walker.

The Sharks led 18-4 after 52 minutes but stumbled and fumbled their way to lose. The Roosters raced in four tries in 14 minutes with Walker leading the side to victory in just his second game.

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Gold Coast Titans defeat Newcastle Knights 42-16

David Fifita is earning every cent of his record $3.5 million contract, as the Titans took a hammer to Newcastle’s premiership credentials on Saturday.

Meanwhile Knights coach Adam O’Brien admitted his side were guilty of some schoolboy errors and poor concentration in their loss at the hands of the Titans.

The Knights were guilty of some glaring defensive lapses in a game in which they missed 28 tackles and made 10 errors to continually shoot themselves in the foot.

“It is hard to defend some of that performance,” O’Brien said post match.

Fifita proved he is the most destructive player in the NRL with a stunning hat-trick as Gold Coast took a hammer to Newcastle’s premiership credentials.

Fifita bagged three tries for the first time in his NRL career as the Titans racked up a 42-16 thrashing of the hapless Knights at Cbus Super Stadium at the Gold Coast.

Fifita was the star of the show with a brutal performance.

He brushed aside Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga, playing his first game of the year, twice as Newcastle’s premiership hopes were left shattered with a third straight loss to a bottom eight team from 2020.

The Titans were too fast and ferocious for Newcastle, with Patrick Herbert and Corey Thompson scoring doubles in the eight – try rout to move the Gold Coast back into the NRL’s top eight.

Fifita has now scored six tries in only five games for the Titans and finished the match with 150m and seven tackle busts to prove he is the most dangerous player in the game.

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FULL REPORTS are here and here.