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The Melbourne Storm have dominated the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium on Saturday Night, holding them scoreless and running on eight tries in a 44-point thrashing.
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While the Roosters could not be faulted on their effort, they just didn’t have the talent or skill to go with the Storm who were absolutely fantastic all game long.
Melbourne never changed from their game plan which worked to great effect. Even in the closing stages, they were still looking to attack, score points and stick to their structures.
The Roosters were forced to make almost 100 more tackles than the Storm, who had 60 per cent of the ball throughout the contest and, compounded with a number of errors from the Roosters – many of which were forced by the excellent defence – they simply never had a chance.
Ryan Matterson and Jackson Hastings simply were not able to insert themselves into the game, and Latrell Mitchell appeared to be a little uninterested, constantly looking to pass the ball and not popping up in the rare times they found themselves on the attack.
Undoubtedly the two best for the Roosters where Blake Ferguson and Jared Waerea Hargreaves, but against 17 men who were all playing straight out of the same manual their efforts were futile.
The Storm’s big win was led by unlikely hero Cameron Munster, reducing Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith to supporting roles as he took over the game. At every opportunity he looked to create, and he was ridiculously good at the back although never under a great deal of pressure making 214 metres.
Even though they didn’t lead the charge, Cronk and Smith played big roles and benefited from the Storm’s domination of the forwards.
Kevin Proctor, Jesse Bromwich and Dale Finucane were all fantastic while Nelson Asofa Solomona added a lot from the interchange bench.
The first try was for Suliasi Vinivalu from long range with a wonderful spread and then a strong run all the way to the line, straight around Latrell Mitchell.
The second was also for Vinivalu, who benefited from a great bit of work through Cronk and Munster, then a lovely flick pass from Ryan Morgan. The Fijian winger then somehow found his way through the cover defence to score, before one of the greatest goalkicks you will ever see as Cameron Smith slipped over and managed to put get it from the sideline.
Kevin Proctor then got his name on the scoresheet with a couple of flat balls from Cronk and Munster, and a poor defensive read.
At halftime it was 18-0.
It took a little while for the Storm to get going in the second half, but when they did they laid on five tries in 20 minutes with the Roosters simply not being able to answer.
Cameron Munster continued his dominant performance, while the forwards continued to roll up the middle and the team, after being under pressure for quarter of an hour managed to see it all off with some fantastic defence.
Cheyse Blair would be the first to score in the second half with Finucane taking on the line, getting rid of an offload and allowing Blair to run through a hole and score.
The very next set, after making a mountain of metres Cooper Cronk switched from right to left with a wonderful ball for Munster who then passed back to Cronk and he scored under the posts.
Cronk would then cross for a double after Cameron Smith passed out of dummy half before Munster himself scored out wide after there was a bit of push and shove in the background and some quick thinking from Cameron Smith.
Vinivalu would then finish things off with his third try for the evening off a Munster cut out ball.
So, a dominant performance from the Storm as they win their seventh straight and the Roosters stay glued in the bottom 2 on the ladder.
Final Score
Sydney Roosters 0
Melbourne Storm 46
Stats
Tries: Roosters (0), Storm (8)
Goals: Roosters (0), Storm (7/8)
Possession: Roosters (40%), Storm (60%)
Completions: Roosters (24/33), Storm (37/39)
All Runs: Roosters (142), Storm (204)
All Run Metres: Roosters (1203), Storm (2014)
Line breaks: Roosters (0), Storm (11)
Offloads: Roosters (10), Storm (12)
Tackles: Roosters (397), Storm (293)
Missed Tackles: Roosters (32), Storm (14)
Penalties: Roosters (5), Storm (4)
Errors: Roosters (10), Storm (3)
The Roar’s NRL MVP votes
3 – Cameron Munster
2 – Cooper Cronk
1 – Kevin Proctor