'He's still the larrikin': Bellamy hails Munster masterclass as Storm sink Sharks

Cameron Munster has produced one of the best individual performances of the season to lead Melbourne Storm to a 34-18 win over Cronulla Sharks at AAMI Park.

The five-eighth stole the show with a try, a try assist and a vital kick off play to start the second half that gave Melbourne a 12-point lead from which they never looked back.

Coach Craig Bellamy said that Munster had improved after a scandal-filled offseason that saw him, Brandon Smith and Chris Lewis suspended by the NRL Integrity Unit.

“You don’t know when Munster’s in any mood,” he said.

“Probably the best thing that’s ever happened to him was last year when he did what he did. It’s helped him to be better and it’s worked a treat.

“He’s still the larrikin and we love that about him, but he’s more controlled around his life and footy.

“His consistency this year has been high and he’ll get better and better.”

This was arguably the best game of the year, and certainly the best first half so far, between two sides that will surely feature late in the season.

“When you look at the quality of the side we played, and the completion rates – they were 94%, we were 84% – and you could tell from the first half, it was a quick game of footy,” said Bellamy.

“Our guys were gassed at halftime and I’d guess the Sharks were too. To come away with that score, we’re really pleased with that.

“I thought for most of the game we were good. We prepare hard every week but we knew it would be a tough game and how well they were playing.

“There were things that we worked hard on. I might be being a bit tough but there were opportunities to finish it off earlier.

“That’s being really picky but it was a high class game.”

The quality levels barely dropped throughout, and Cronulla more than played their part.

They went an hour with a 100% completion rate and asked constant questions of the Storm defence.

Siosifa Talakai and Nicho Hynes were superb, with the latter showing both his power and his poise to create chances and take them.

“For the most part we were really competitive,” said Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon.

“But it’s where we’re at, we faced a difficult challenge tonight and ultimately had too many soft defensive errors that ended up hurting us.

“It put us under pressure and got us away from how we had been playing a little bit.

“I thought we were in the contest up to halftime, but there were discipline issues that broke the groove that we were trying to get into.”

Fitzgibbon identified that consistency as the major differentiating factor for Melbourne and the top tier of clubs.

“They have been together for a long time, they’re very cohesive and don’t have many changes to their lineup,” he said.

“If they do have to bring someone in, there’s that ‘next man up’ mentality.

“They’re incredibly consistent in the way that they play and even if you know that it’s coming, it’s relentless. Those top clubs are hard to break down and don’t let up.”

Amid the action, there was barely time to mention the potential for suspension that might be coming for Cameron McInnes after a nasty tackle that left Ryan Papenhuyzen nursing an ankle problem, or the head knock that saw Dale Finucane rubbed out early on.

Fitzgibbon later ruled Braden Hamlin-Uele out of next week’s clash with Manly at a minimum, with the forward suffering from a pec complaint.

Both the Finucane and Papenhuyzen incidents occurred in the early, grinding period that define game between top teams. After 20 minutes, only a Nicho Hynes penalty had troubled the scorers.

It was going to take something special to get over the line. Cameron Munster provided it with a beautifully floated pass that induced Jesse Ramien and Mawene Hiroti to come, then stranded them under the footy as it winged its way to Nick Meaney.

He couldn’t make it to the corner himself, but found Justin Olam, who could.

If the Storm’s first try was good, the Sharks’ was exceptional. Hynes looped a kick horizontally on Cronulla’s own 20m line, taking Meaney out of the game and releasing Ramien.

Cronulla kept it alive all the way into the Storm end, and when the scramble got back, the Sharks didn’t panic. They passed methodically through hands to give Siosifa Talakai a jog to the line on the other side of the field.

The Storm struck back in spectacular style. It was another Munster masterclass, showing all the best facets of his game: too strong for Nicho Hynes in the tackle, too smart for Will Kennedy with a dummy and too fast for Toby Rudolf in the backfield.

The pressure came right back. Three times in a set, the Sharks might have scored: Hiroti could have put Ramien under the sticks, but dummied and was tackled. Xavier Coates then jammed to stop Teig Wilton and after his offload to Matt Moylan, Felise Kaufusi somehow grabbed hold.

It was breathless stuff. After another Sharks break, Ronaldo Mulitalo kicked behind and was taken out by Ryan Papenhuyzen. With the clock expired on the half, Nicho Hynes opted to take the two – and there was time for yet more drama, as it came back off the post and was run behind by the Storm.

“It feels like a finals game,’ said Munster to Fox League as the teams came off at the break, and he wasn’t wrong. Cronulla had completed at 100%, made six line breaks and scored one of the tries of the season –  and still trailed 12-8.

From the first kick of the second half, Munster was back in the game. His kick off bamboozled Talakai and Mulitalo, who were left staring at each other as the ball went straight into touch. From the first play off the scrum, Jahrome Hughes fed Justin Olam to power through.

It wasn’t done yet. Talakai and Mulitalo redeemed themselves with a combination on the Sharks left that brought them back within a converted try.

Munster wasn’t having any of it. He broke the game open again, waltzing through Cameron McInnes and, as ever, Papenhuyzen was on the inside to do the rest.

Neither were Cronulla. Again, it was that magic left edge that came to the fore. Talakai is known as a hard-carrying, bustling back rower, but showed remarkable lightness of touch to tap on to Mulitalo for another.

Hynes – not the best with the boot this year – managed to goal from the touchline and it was a six point game with a quarter-hour to play.

Again, it wouldn’t last. On the back of the Sharks’ first error of the night, Harry Grant tried his luck from close range and, after a fashion, got the ball to earth.

Despite the lead, Melbourne weren’t taking any chances. Twice when given the chance, they sent over the two points to extend the lead and, more importantly, take minutes off the clock.

They needn’t have worried. Even with the game secured and two minutes remaining, the Storm managed to summon the enthusiasm to gang tackle Will Kennedy back behind his goalline for a dropout. Cliche as it is, it was the sort of act that champion cultures are made of.

Melbourne are one of those, and based on tonight, Cronulla aren’t far away from them.