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The Melbourne Storm have claimed a crucial two points after defeating the Penrith Panthers 24-6 in wet conditions at AAMI Park in Melbourne.
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With Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith late inclusions for the Storm, many believed this would result in a big win for Melbourne but the Panthers stepped up and scored the first try through Josh Mansour in the corner.
This seemed to kick the Storm into gear as Cronk and Smith took over the game. Jesse Bromwich got the Storm on the board in the 18th minute, but a missed conversion meant the Panthers kept a two-point lead.
With the Melbourne forwards beginning to dominate, it wasn’t long before Kevin Proctor scored to give the Storm the lead. A deft kick by Cronk would result in a try to Ryan Morgan that saw Melbourne take a 10-point lead into half time.
With a handy 10-point lead up their sleave, the Storm didn’t rest on their laurels in the second half. After 24 minutes of back and forth football, a penalty goal by Smith extended the lead to 12 points in favour of the Storm.
True to form the Storm went into game management mode and despite some flashes of attacking brilliance by Dallin Watene-Zalezniak and Bryce Cartwright, the home side hung tough in defence.
A late try to Cronk after a barnstorming run and offload by Nelson Asofa-Solomona sealed an 18-point win for Melbourne.
The win sees the Storm go top of the ladder temporarily, while the Panthers continue to languish in the middle the table.
Final score
Melbourne Storm 24
Penrith Panthers 6
The Roar’s NRL MVP votes
The votes from this contest were tough to pick with a number of Storm players putting their hands up aft big games.
All three of these men could have been put in any order whatsoever but for the sake of this match summary I have gone with the votes in this order.
After making a miracle recovery from injury to get up for Wednesday night, there was doubt over Cooper Conk backing up tonight, but he did and he was at his best with tree try assists, a try of his own and a great display of kicking sees him get the nod just ahead of a couple of his forwards.
The two votes go to Tohu Harris who was a dominant force up front for the Storm as he racked up 200 metres and 29 tackles.
Only just missing out on more votes was Jesse Bromwich whose firs half helped set up the win and he finished wit 192 metres and a try.
3 – Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm)
2 – Tohu Harris (Melbourne Storm)
1 – Jesse Bromwich (Melbourne Storm)
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