If you don’t know, now you know. South have picked up their fifth win on the spin, and their third in a row over a fellow Premiership contender, and it’d be a brave punter that backed against them at this point. In the post-match, Cooper Cronk declared them the new Premiership favourites and he’s not wrong.
This was a masterclass in efficiency. It ended 28-12 to Souths, and the result was rarely in doubt. Melbourne had more than enough ball and territory to make a dent, but barely did: a dropped kick and a late consolation were all that the Storm had to show for their efforts.
“It’s been a process we’ve been implementing for two years,” said Jason Demetriou.
“With not having much change in our squad, the boys have really trusted in it and believed in it. If we keep having a defensive mindset we’ll be tough to beat most weeks.
“We identified this block (of fixtures) as one where we needed to build momentum and get some results. It’s a great start, but that’s all it is. There’s a long, long way to go. Key players are playing well at the moment and that’s what you want.”
The defence was the story, but the attack is still there. Alex Johnston got two in his 200th game for the Bunnies, largely thanks to the excellent work of Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker inside him, as well as centre partner Isaiah Tass.
Melbourne struggled to get anything going when they had good ball in the first half and were torn apart when Souths got anywhere near their line. The Storm defeated Souths not long ago, 18-10 in Sydney, but that result was built on their defence. Tonight, the shoe was on the other foot.
They lost their rag late and became distracted from their task with several needless stoppages and penalties. That will doubtless anger Craig Bellamy, but in truth, his team were second best.
“It was a bit inconsistent, like we have been all year,” said Bellamy. “The first half we had a lot of good field position but it looked like we didn’t know each other. The communication must have been right off.
“We had good periods in defence, but some poor periods. We don’t seem to be learning from where we’re going wrong and being more consistent in doing the things that we need to do for longer periods in the game.
“They were too good for us tonight.”
The first half was a strange affair, but one that goes a long way to explaining why Souths are the best team in the NRL at the moment.
Ostensibly, Melbourne did all the right things. They completed their sets, built pressure, threw punches and put on plays.Yet they came away with nothing but a try from a kick, and that waas a bit of a Hail Mary.
The Souths scramble was on and they seemed to relish defending on their line. It was like the Roosters of 2018 and 2019 at times, with the Bunnies showing real zeal for tough tackling and effort plays.
There was the other part of that Roosters side, too, with some highly cynical laying on that, on another day, a different referee might have looked less kindly on, but hey: you go as far as the officials will let you and not an inch more. All the best do it.
When Souths got field position, they were absolutely lethal. Two sets, two tries. One a smart kick from Latrell to Cody, the other an even smarter move from Cody to Jacob Host.
Though the possession split was 54/46 to Melbourne, this was classic Souths. The possession – measured by time – was in the Storm’s favour, but both sides had enjoyed the same number of sets. The Bunnies were just doing it faster.
It’s inherent in the way that Souths play football that they will make mistakes and likely face red ball sets for the opposition. This was true of the 2019 Roosters too, who had the worst completion rate in the comp.
The big improvements this year have been the equalisation of their attack, offering threat on the right as well as the left, and defensive resilience on their line. We saw both tonight.
Part of the issues that Melbourne needed to iron out were around their halves. Cam Munster and Jahrome Hughes are the best combo in the league in terms of pure running ability, but were reticent to take the line on before the break, which went a long way to explaining why Souths were able to repel the Storm.
Two runs apiece was all they had to show for 21 sets’ worth of ball, and that’s nowhere near enough.
This was a night where the attack never got going, and that starts with the running potential of the halves.
Munster was as quiet as he has been in years, on night where he needed to be big. Souths had him covered and for all of his ability to produce magic, none of it was on display tonight. It was desperately disappointing stuff.
Too often, the shape was happening too far away from the Souths line, allowing the slide to get across and cover with ease. Will Warbrick and Xavier Coates were getting ball, but were forced to come back inside with nowhere to go.
That’s a failure of the pinning in the middle. Hughes and Munster didn’t engage enough, which lead to Nick Meaney getting the ball on the sweep with his hips aimed at the corner post.
There were green shoots off Harry Grant – never not excellent – and Meaney, especially running straight in the centre of the field, but nowhere near enough tonight.
The headlines write themselves. Game 200, Magic Round, Alex Johnston. The narrative in 2023 has been that AJ has been subdued, because he hasn’t been scoring bulk tries, but seasoned Souths watchers will tell you that it has been anything but.
The line breaks, the offloads, even the yardage are all there. If anything, Johnston has improved year on year. Where before he was a tryscorer and little else, now there are far more strings to the bow.
Melbourne kicked his way all night and came up snake eyes. He took his runs and made his metres. Johnston isn’t going to become Brian To’o overnight, but it’s a definitive growth in his game late in his career. Late on, he pulled off a superb take to deny Warbrick a certain score.
Tonight, though, was all about the tries. AJ remains the best finisher around and, while neither of these were particularly difficult, one wouldn’t suspect that bothers the PNG international one jot. He takes them however they come.
It’s 171 now, five off Brett Morris, looking up at Ken Irvine. It’s still on. Just don’t go around calling him a catch-and-fall merchant anymore – even if he dropped a hat trick with 15 seconds to play.
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