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Match Result: The Melbourne Storm have celebrated Cameron Smith’s 300th game in style by defeating the Penrith Panthers 52-10 in Melbourne on Friday night.
MELBOURNE 52
PENRITH 10
In a match that was over by half time, the Storm sent out a message to the competition, with the biggest win over a team this season.
They would run in 10 tries to 2 to give Smith the perfect send off in his 300th match.
It all started in the opening ten minutes with two crucial Penrith knock ons.
On each occasion, after a scrum, Melbourne would score and quickly race to a 10-0 lead.
Cooper Cronk would score the first, before Tohu Harris barged over for the second.
Cronk would then kick a 40/20, in the 14th minute, which led to a Kevin Proctor try one minute later.
When Marika Koroibete scored his first try in the 24th minute, the Storm led 20-0.
At half time, after a Penrith player was sin binned for holding down Cronk in a try scoring position, the Storm led 26-0.
The Storm would get to 36-0, after a brilliant 75 metre running try to Koroibete, before the Panthers scored.
Two tries in five minutes, to Tyrone Peachey and Waqa Blake, would reduce the margin to 26 points.
That would be as close as they got though as the Storm added three more tries.
The last try, scored by Richard Kennar, would be a fitting end to the match for Smith.
In a play from his text book, he placed a wonderful chip kick in the direction of Kennar, who did the rest.
It capped off a memorable night for Melbourne, and Smith, who remain in the top 8 with the win.
As for Penrith? They have a lot of soul searching after that loss.
Finals look a long way away for a team that struggled to match the momentum of the Storm.
They were embarrassed tonight.
The Panthers now face the Raiders at home in a must win clash.
The Storm, after the win, face the Dragons at home.
They have a fantastic record against St George at home.
Match Preview: The Melbourne Storm will be looking to celebrate a milestone match for Cameron Smith in style with a win over the Penrith Panthers on Friday night at AAMI Park. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match from 7:35pm (AEST).
Tonight will be a celebration as Cameron Smith brings up his 300th NRL game against the Panthers.
Since debuting in 2002, Smith has played all of his 299 games with the Storm, and will be the first player from the club to bring up the milestone.
In that time Smith has won one Premiership – three including the ones that were stripped from the Storm – one Dally M in 2006, and the golden boot award as the best international player in 2007.
Smith, with his form in 2015, could easily play for another two to three seasons and bring up 350 games.
He becomes just the 23rd player in rugby league history to play 300 games in the premier competition in Australia.
Smith will also be 56 games behind Darren Lockyer for the most games played overall.
While Melbourne will be looking to play well for Smith, they will also be looking to improve after losing to the Warriors 28-14 last week. They never recovered after going 16-0 down after 35 minutes.
The Storm had plenty of possession but missed too many tackles.
Tonight they face a team who also lost last week. Penrith got beaten comfortably by the Roosters 24-4 at home at Pepper Stadium.
It was a similar problem for the Panthers with plenty of missed tackles (46) and a poor completion rate of 72 per cent. They will also be looking to respond this week and ruin the celebrations of Smith.
In 11th position, and one game out of the eight, they need a win this week.
The same can be said for Melbourne, who could fall outside of the top eight if they lose this week.
This fixture, since Melbourne became a club, has been dominated by the Storm. They have won 22 of the 29 matches between the two, and all four at AAMI Park.
It has been ten years since the Panthers last won at Melbourne at the now demolished Olympic Park. They have already met this year as well with Melbourne winning 20-0 at Pepper Stadium. The Storm increased their record to 13 wins out of 14 against the Panthers with a double to Blake Green in that game.
Surprisingly, after both teams lost, little change has been made to the sides. Penrith remain unchanged with Melbourne switching Tim Glasby and Felise Kaufusi from the bench to prop.
It’s hard to go past Melbourne with their record against Penrith, and their record at home against them.
They will also want to play well to give their champion a great send off in his 300th match.
Prediction: Melbourne by 4.
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