The Melbourne Storm have at least temporarily taken top spot on the ladder with a hard-fought but clinical 16-8 victory over the Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday night. It was the Cowboys’ first defeat in Townsville this season.
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The Storm will retain the No.1 spot if the Titans can break Cronulla’s 15-match winning streak on Monday night, as they have a superior-for-and against to the Sharks.
The Cowboys tried hard, but missed Johnathan Thurston who was out with a hamstring injury. They lacked the execution and polish to really test the Storm’s rock solid defence. Melbourne showed again tonight why they have the best defensive record in the NRL in 2016.
The Cowboys put on first points through a penalty goal but it was the Storm that dominated field position early, with their forwards making easy metres. Melbourne crossed for the first two tries of the match in the space of three minutes, with Kevin Proctor and Marika Koroibete both going over inside the first 15 minutes.
The Cowboys hit back with a try of their own to winger Antonio Winterstein, but the Storm scored again just before half-time with Glasby ruled to have grounded a Cronk grubber kick.
The second half was a scoreless arm wrestle, with the Storm’s kicking game and defence strangling the Cowboys out of the match. Cooper Cronk’s game management skills and the Storm’s composure were on display yet again, with the No.7’s kicking game putting the Cowboys under constant pressure.
Ethan Lowe and Jason Taumalolo both got through a mountain of work in both attack and defence for the Cowboys, but the Storm deserved their victory.
Final score
Melbourne Storm 16
North Queensland Cowboys 8
Stats
Try scorers (Melbourne): Kevin Proctor, Marika Koroibete, Tim Glasby
Top metres gained (Melbourne): Marika Koroibete 176, Jesse Bromwich 161, Kevin Proctor 129
Top tacklers (Melbourne): Tohu Harris 44, Cameron Smith 43, Blake Green 34, Dale Finucane 34
Try scorer (Cowboys): Antonio Winterstein
Top metres gained (Cowboys): Ethan Lowe 194, Antonio Winterstein 151, Jason Taumalolo 139
Top tacklers (Cowboys): Jason Taumalolo 41, Ethan Lowe 34, Jake Granville 32
The Roar’s NRL MVP votes
3 – Cooper Cronk (Melbourne). Showed the difference a top quality number 7 can make in a big game between two evenly matched teams. His kicking game was superb and he had two try assists.
2 – Ethan Lowe (Cowboys). The Cowboys’ workhorse made a game high 194 metres in attack, and came up with 34 tackles in attack. He also did a great JT goal-kicking impersonation, bending a conversion between the posts from the touchline.
1 – Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys). The second hardest working forward on the field behind Lowe, with 139 metres in attack and 41 tackles.
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