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St George have won a tough battle in slippery conditions in Wollongong tonight against a depleted Melbourne team. They Dragons scored three tries to two to run out 20-10 winners, after leading 8-2 at halftime.
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The Storm were forced to field a makeshift line-up. In addition to the expected absences of Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk, they had to deal with the late withdrawals of both Cameron Munster and Blake Green. 18-year-old halfback Brodie Croft was called into the team for his NRL debut, and showed promise.
Coach Craig Bellamy will be happy with the effort of his understrength team, but not their discipline. At one stage, the Storm conceded seven penalties in a row. St George had the majority of possession throughout the match, but both slides struggled with their completion rates in the conditions.
New signing Tariq Sims was a late inclusion for the Dragons on the bench, and was enthusiastic when he came on.
Just one first half try was scored, with Dragons’ five-eighth Gareth Widdop scoring after his chip kick bounced off Tohu Harris’ back and into his arms for him to race over.
The Storm scored the first second half try through prolific winger Suliasi Vunivalu, who crossed for the first of his two tries early in the second half to make the score 10-6. The Dragons responded with tries to Kurt Mann and hard-working hooker Mitch Rein, before Vunivalu scored his second on full-time.
20 year-old Vunivalu has now scored 13 tries in just eight matches to be the leading tryscorer in the NRL this season. What a find he has been for the Storm.
The loss brings to an end the Storm’s eight game winning streak, and sees Cronulla overtake them at the top of the ladder. The Dragons’ victory sees them move into the top eight .
Final score
St George 20
Melbourne 12
Stats
Try scorers (St George): Gareth Widdop, Kurt Mann, Mitch Rein
Top metres gained (St George): Jason Nightingale (160), Euan Aitken (141), Mike Cooper (140)
Top tacklers (St George): Mitch Rein (43), Joel Thompson (37)
Try scorers (Melbourne): Suliasi Vunivalu (2)
Top metres gained (Melbourne): Jesse Bromwich (172), Young Tonumaipea (145)
Top tacklers (Melbourne): Kevin Proctor (43), Dale Finucane (38), Kenny Bromwich (36)
The Roar’s NRL MVP votes
3 – Mitch Rein (St George). The hard-working hooker topped the tackle count with 43 and was rewarded with a try out of dummy half in the second half to seal the match for the Dragons.
2 – Jesse Bromwich (Storm). Captaining the team in the absence of Cameron Smith, he led from the front, making the most metres in attack (172), as well as coming up with 35 tackles.
1 – Gareth Widdop (St George). Tried hard to get the stuttering Dragons attack going, scored a try, was busy in defence, and his kicking game was solid.
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