The Melbourne Storm were at their clinical best in atrocious conditions at Mount Smart Stadium, picking up a 16-point victory over the New Zealand Warriors to remain undefeated.
After playing in similar conditions and beating the Canterbury Bulldogs at Belmore last week, the Storm again showed why they have been so consistent for such a long time, grinding the Warriors into the dirt and playing high-quality football for the entire 80 minutes.
The difference between the sides appeared to be exactly that – the Warriors were well and truly in the battle during the first half, but were out-muscled during the second and didn’t trouble the scorers for the entirety of the second 40.
Of course, the way Cooper Cronk played has a large influence on the result as well. His kicking game was fantastic, using the weather to his advantage and while Shaun Johnson matched him for the first half, the Warriors were tricked into trying to beat the Storm at their own game and found out it simply doesn’t work like that.
The Warriors forward pack, led by Simon Mannering and Jacob Lillyman held their own in the first half, but again they were pushed under by the dominance of Melbourne in the second who put in a complete team effort.
With Cameron Smith leading the way from dummy half, going past 2,000 career points and kicking a brilliant 40/20, the Storm were always going to be hard to beat.
They came flying out of the starter’s blocks as well, taking just seven minutes for Kenneath Bromwich to get the opening try off a wonderful kick from Cooper Cronk.
Melbourne were then disallowed a try off another Cronk kick with the chasers ruled to be offisde, and it took no time at all for the Warriors to make them pay and take the lead.
The first of those tries came to Tuimoala Lolohea after a long play that saw a kick to the left, the ball kept alive and then an Ata Hingano kick allowing Lolohea to stroll over in the corner.
It was the very next set as Shaun Johnson crossed the line and became the leading New Zealand Warriors point-scorer of all time. It was a strong set after point, but with Addo-Carr dropping a kick from Johnson, Solomone Kata took the advantage, found Johnson and set him up for the try in the corner.
Melbourne got themselves back into the lead 15 minutes from halftime with Cheyse Blair scoring off a Cronk grubber that Lolohea couldn’t hold.
The conversion from Cameron Smith took him past 2,000 career points and put the Storm in front at halftime.
The conditions eased during the second half, but it didn’t help the hosts as many thought it might have with the Storm marching up the field and extending their lead just a few minutes in with Suliasi Vunivalu scoring.
There were no points for quite some time after, with the Storm denied a try for an obstruction but dominating the game nonetheless. Cameron Smith extended the lead to ten kicking a penalty goal 16 minutes from time before the clock became an enemy for the Warriors as they struggled to mount any sort of attack.
They were a tired looking team during the last ten minutes and Craig Bellamy’s men would find a way to cap it off with another try for the Cooper Cronk, set up by an inside ball from Smith to Munster.
In the end, the Storm remain undefeated with a dominant 80 minutes while the Warriors will now turn their attention to the Bulldogs next Friday night. The Storm take on the Broncos in the Round 3 opener.
Tries: Warriors (2), Storm (4)
Conversions: Warriors (1/2), Storm (4/4)
Penalty goals: Warriors (0/0), Storm (1/1)
Possession: Warriors (49%), Storm (51%)
Completions: Warriors (31/36), Storm (35/42)
All runs: Warriors (172), Storm (169)
All run metres: Warriors (1337), Storm (1472)
Line breaks: Warriors (1), Storm (4)
Offloads: Warriors (5), Storm (10)
Tackles: Warriors (345), Storm (364)
Missed tackled: Warriors (33), Storm (17)
Penalties: Warriors (8), Storm (8)
Errors: Warriors (8), Storm (7)
New Zealand Warriors 10
Melbourne Storm 26
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