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Melbourne capitalised on a glut of possession and winger Suliasi Vunivalu scored four first-half tries as the Storm ran out 38-18 winners over Manly at Brookvale Oval tonight.
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Vunivalu entered the match as the NRL’s equal leading tryscorer on 17, with Cronulla winger Valentine Holmes, but has raced clear with his first half effort tonight. It needs to be remembered that he’s only played in 16 of the Storm’s 22 games this season.
Cameron Munster laid on two of Vunivalu’s tries with deft passes, and the flying winger also capitalised on Manly’s problems at the back in handling the towering bombs of Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith.
Kenny Bromwich scored the other first half try for Melbourne, with rookie winger Brad Parker crossing for Manly’s only try in the first forty minutes. The Storm headed into the sheds leading 26-6.
Both sides scored two tries in the second half, including one by Manly winger Jorge Taufua who crossed in his 100th NRL match.
The win consolidates Melbourne’s spot on the top of the ladder with just two rounds to go before the finals.
Final score
Melbourne 38
Manly 18
Try scorers (Melbourne): Suliasi Vunivalu (4), Kenny Bromwich, Cameron Smith, Felise Kaufusi
Top metres gained (Melbourne): Dale Finucane 189, Tohu Harris 149, Jesse Bromwich 133
Top tacklers (Melbourne): Tohu Harris 41, Cameron Smith 39, Jesse Bromwich 30
Try scorers (Manly): Brad Parker (2), Jorge Taufua.
Top metres gained (Manly): Jamie Buhrer 152, Martin Taupau 122, Tom Trbojevic 119
Top tacklers (Manly): Jamie Buhrer 42, Jake Trbojevic 35, Matt Parcell 31
The Roar’s NRL MVP points
3 – Cooper Cronk (Melbourne): For try assists to go with the overall game management and kicking game that we’ve come to expect from him.
2 – Jamie Buhrer (Manly): Tried his heart out in a beaten Manly side. Topped the tackle count with 42, and made the most metres of any Manly player in attack with 152.
1 – Tohu Harris (Melbourne): He may not have scored 4 tries like Vunivalu, but he laid the platform for Melbourne’s win with his usual workhorse performance in both attack (149 metres) and defence (41 tackles).
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