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.
Bulldog
Guest
I can live with the 50/50 calls on those tries as long as they are consistent for rest of season. My biggest gripe is how 4 on field officials and the bunker missed the storm player kicking ball out of Bowens hands when he played the ball. It was at a crucial point of the game with Cows on attack.
Vivalasvegan
Guest
Ref should be Sir, and treated like God's representative on earth. Cam should be 'number nine' . I'm a Storm fan so shoot me but, was there a ref howler in this match, going either way?
Muzz
Guest
Trent Robinson was fined after the Anzac Day clash for confronting Cummins in the tunnel and requesting that he does not talk to his players with such disrespect. Good on Robbo i say! As a fan, i am outraged that a referee would talk to the captain of my team like they are a piece of rubbish.
Muzz
Guest
It's not so much the debating and time wasting that's the issue that bothers players and coaches. It's the different approach in which Cummins speaks to the captains. With Sports Ears, you can clearly hear Cummins say " Yes Cam" or "Nows not the right time, Cam" When Matt Scott approaches Cummins and requests some clarification he get's "I've made my decision" or "go away you"
Jimmmy
Guest
Muzz, I am a big Cows fan but I couldn't agree with Green. I don't want the Ref debating a ruling with a captain . It is a useless waste of time. You could waste 5 minutes debating some rulings for what gain. The ruling will never be changed. I think we coped a couple of poor decisions but the final result was not affected. The Storm were better. I have a personal hate of coaches mentioning the ref in the post match. Totally counterproductive to provide your side with an external excuse for losing.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Cummins basically came under the spotlight for not discussing a couple of calls: a 50/50 bunker decision that was out of his control, and a pretty flagrant infringement by James Tamou. At least he kept the game flowing instead of having a 3 week long chat like some referees would.
Muzz
Guest
We all know Paul Green has the utmost of respect from his peers and those who follow our great game. He touches on a very interesting subject during last nights presser. Once again, referee Ben Cummin$ comes under the spotlight. When you need a desired outcome, who you gonna call? Ben Cummin$
Wow
Guest
Hey Scott while the Storm dictated terms they didn't score a clean try all night. They were tries but only by the smallest of margins. The Cowboys only try was a bit of a wonky set play that still opened the Storm up enough for an untouched Run to the line. JT completely changes the middle battle. Kicking, game plan but mostly fluency in ball movement for their entire sets. JT tells a lot of players what to do the whole game and with the amount of good ball and middle dominance the Storm had they should have belted the Cowboys. I can't see Bellamy being thrilled with that one.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Yes, definitely a lot to take out of that game even though there was no JT they were playing in Townsville and the first game was in Brisbane so they should be pretty confident if they meet up again in a neutral venue or in Melbourne. The return of Mclean and Nelson will definitely provide more power in the forwards as they are two of the biggest that the Storm have. The fact that they handled the Cowboys pack on their home turf with those two out will be a boost to their confidence. Hopefully they're back soon so they can get a couple of games under their belt before the finals series to blow out the cobwebs.
Benedict Arnold
Guest
I got the feeling last night that the cowboys really tried their hardest without JT there. It was an interesting game, I just feel like the storm defended their way to victory doing enough to get the points. From what I saw, I feel the storm definitely have another gear as the cows body language when the fatigue set in was worse than the storm's. Come finals time when the storm get NAS and mcclean back I think they may start to steamroll the other forward packs. Just my 2 cents..
Ganders
Guest
It's happening again...
Jimmmy
Guest
The Storm do not get Billy back. We do get JT. In the first game we played them in Brisbane we were desperately unlucky. I thought we came home over the top of them by a margin. We were beaten fair and square last night but take Cronk out of their team as a fair swap for JT and the result is ? I agree playing them in a final in Melbourne is a task but underestimate the Cows at your peril.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
OK JT did not play. Got it. Does the Storm not having their champion fullback Billy Slater plus big forwards McLean and Asofa-Solomona equal that? The fact is that the Storm have now played the Cowboys twice this year and both times in Queensland and both times the Storm have won. The 2 points last night were crucial to making a top two spot which means the Cowboys may play week one away in Sydney or Melbourne, about a 3.5 point negative.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Great game by the Storm especially on Cowboys home patch where they have been undefeated this year. The Cowboys really missed JT though. Also great scramble defense by both teams to shut down long breaks. They both should go deep into the finals series.
Ray
Roar Rookie
That match was a great preview of a likely finals match up in September, and maybe even the big one in October. Throw JT back in the mix and it would be hard to split the two teams.
Jimmmy
Guest
Very proud of that second half effort by the Cows. A few errors and a lack of clinical finishing cost us. To keep the Storm to nil in the half was a great effort. My opinion , we will beat them in the finals if both teams are at full strength.