Game 712 – S27E28 Review
Melbourne Storm 37–10 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
An almost perfect performance from the Storm in the AAMI Park polar vortex.
Melbourne – 37 (Grant 52', 72', 78', Warbrick 25', 63', Munster 2' tries; Meaney 6/8 goals, Papenhuyzen 80' field goal)
Cronulla – 10 (Katoa 13', Nikora 40' tries; Hynes 1/2 goals)
A second half to remember for a dominant Melbourne Storm.
Setting a tone
AAMI Park was roaring from kickoff. What a start from the Melbourne Storm. Ryan Papenhuyzen’s kickoff caught out the Sharks and Cameron Munster scored on just the third tackle of the match, fooling the visitors. Munster’s dummy to Nelson Asofa-Solomona had the Sharks grasping at shadows with the magic man celebrating his big week with a try.
The easy points set a tone for the Storm to go all out assault on the Sharks. With the swirling polar breeze behind them, Melbourne went to work. The work of the middle forwards in the opening phase was relentless.
That the visitors got on the scoreboard in the 13th minute felt like a bit of a shock. On the back of a set restart in prime field position, the Sharks attacked down their right, an offload from Siosifa Talakai to Sione Katoa catching out Melbourne’s defence.
With the scores close there was a renewed nervous energy around AAMI Park. Instead of fearing the scoreboard, Melbourne seemed to embrace the energy and went back to their processes. A high tackle on Ryan Papenhuyzen by Toby Rudolf gave the Storm field position, but that opportunity passed without further points. Melbourne were able to disrupt the Sharks attack with smothering defence and hard tackling, but it was the hard running in the middle that provided the impetus for Melbourne’s second try.
In the end the try came for Melbourne via a magic flick pass from Nick Meaney to Will Warbrick. But it was the work of the players in the middle that provided the space for the playmakers to get to work, choosing the right passes to get up the right edge to get to work. The lead back out to eight points, Melbourne were assisted by a shanked kick from Nicho Hynes where he failed to find touch from a penalty. The Sharks compounding the error by gifting Melbourne two points from a penalty against Briton Nikora for taking out Munster off the ball.
It felt like the Sharks were on the ropes. Munster was dictating terms and the Sharks could hardly get out of their own half. Xavier Coates almost came down with a high ball from Jahrome Hughes to score in his corner, but he couldn’t complete the catch cleanly. On the back of a penalty against Grant, the Sharks got lucky and then scored what was a soft try with seconds remaining in the half. To say that wasn’t the best moment of the afternoon would be an understatement. Definitely would have given cause for a classic Bellyache blow up at half time.
Domination
Nervous energy fully back, Melbourne began the second half with Grant crossing over from dummy half, only to be just held up by the Sharks defenders. Cronulla were hanging tough in defence, and down only four points there was a moment where the visitors could have taken the lead. But Melbourne’s defence stood up to the test.
Melbourne lifted, on the back of Jahrome Hughes running the ball, and Grant taking on the defence from dummy half. Grant’s first try came on the wrap-around with Josh King, the big forward with the flick pass to put the captain under the posts. Melbourne had worked over the Sharks in the right channel, pounding and probing away.
If you’re an ardent Storm fan, just watch the minutes after the Grant try. Melbourne were running with the ball with maximum intent. Trent Loiero and Josh King made sure that each run mattered. Munster and Hughes were playing fast keeping the Sharks on the back foot by probing away, while without the ball Melbourne’s team defence kept the opposition without time and space. Without scoring it was as akin to totaalvoetbal as you might get in rugby league. It wasn’t the grind of peak Melbourne, this was something more.
The tries did come though against a fatigued defence. The Storm putting together a set that ended with Hughes catching the Sharks in two minds between protecting the run and fielding a kick. Hughes kicking for Warbrick to catch the Sharks out with perfect execution.
Even the captain’s challenges were going Melbourne’s way, at 24–10 with less than 15 minutes to go, Tui Kamikamica had a chance to score a rare try, only to lose the ball trying to reach out and score. But it was only a temporary setback, Melbourne were on the march and a Hughes bomb was caught by Eli Katoa who offloaded to Grant to score untouched for his second. Katoa competing and working hard getting the rewards.
Melbourne added to their lead with two points from a high tackle on Grant as the Sharks lost discipline, then Grant put the icing on the cake with his third try of the afternoon. It was another try for the kick chase on the right edge, Grant finishing the work of Warbrick and Katoa who out-competed the Sharks on a kick from Hughes. Rinse and repeat.
It was an emphatic and dominant second half from the Storm, and even the coach cracked a smile.
Stat offloads
Melbourne made four handling errors across the 80 minutes. Two came under the high ball in attack, there was Jack Howarth’s fumble and the other was Tui Kamikamica’s attempt to score. Near perfection.
Harry Grant’s hat trick was his first in Storm colours, having scored four doubles previously in his career. He’s now scored 35 tries in 99 NRL appearances.
Ryan Papenhuyzen’s last minute field goal was the first scored by Melbourne this season and the fifth of his career. Only Cooper Cronk (20) scored more for the Storm.
Was it worth it?
Not sure if it was the cold or high levels of September anxiety, but I think I entered some kind of fugue state watching this one in the stands. It wasn’t until the final ten minutes when the result was certain that I snapped out of it to realise what the Storm had done.
This was almost perfection from Melbourne. Hardly any errors and a second half shutout, the Storm through to another AAMI Park preliminary final.
When the sun went down and the rain came at full time (dropping the apparent temperature at 6pm to 2.9°C) we left knowing Melbourne are one win away from a Grand Final.
Sometimes you just have to soak it all in and enjoy the moment.
9/10
Storm Machine Player of the Year
Three tries in a captain’s knock for Harry Grant. Probably best on field and deserving of more points here. But what an effort from the forwards. Josh King and Trent Loiero had massive matches, while Eli Katoa was immense.
Could have found points for a few others, but settled on Will Warbrick and Cameron Munster for a point each.
Qualifying final points:
3 – Harry Grant
2 – Eliesa Katoa
2 – Josh King
2 – Trent Loiero
1 – Will Warbrick
1 – Cameron Munster
Leaderboard:
32 – Jahrome Hughes
19 – Harry Grant
16 – Eliesa Katoa
12 – Tyran Wishart
8 – Xavier Coates, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Cameron Munster, Josh King
7 – Will Warbrick, Trent Loiero
6 – Grant Anderson, Jack Howarth, Christian Welch
5 – Nelson Asofa-Solomona
4 – Shawn Blore, Tui Kamikamica, Sualauvi Fa’alogo
3 – Nick Meaney, Joe Chan
2 – Alec MacDonald
1 – Jonah Pezet, Reimis Smith, Bronson Garlick, Lazarus Vaalepu
Around the grounds
NSW Cup — North Sydney Bears 18–16 Newtown Jets
Five Storm players in action for the Bears at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday night, with the contingent helping North Sydney to a tense two-point win to be the first team through to the NSW Cup Grand Final in a fortnight. It was try-for-try in the first half, with the Bears heading to the sheds with a 12–10 lead. That lead went to 8 points early in the second half through a try to Ben Talty, but a second try for Newtown’s Samuel Stonestreet led to a nervous final 15 minutes.
Dean Ieremia, Bronson Garlick, Joe Chan, Tepai Moeroa and Ativalu Lisati all started. The Grand Final will see the Bears up against the winner of the preliminary final between the Jets and Raiders.
Next up
Preliminary final vs Sydney Roosters or Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
– Friday 27 September 2024, 7:50pm @ AAMI Park
A weekend off for Melbourne while the Roosters and Sea Eagles battle it out. On the other side of the draw, the Sharks and Cowboys face off for the right to challenge the Panthers.
Will convene here again the Thursday before Melbourne’s next match.