Game 720 – S28E07 Review

Dolphins 42–22 Melbourne Storm

Apr 20, 2025

Not a Good Friday for the Storm who conceded 40 consecutive points in a rout by a hungrier opponent. The injury list grows while the middle of the season might be a slog.

Dolphins – 42 (Stone 46', 60', Kerr 29', Bostock 37', Lemuelu 52', Nikorima 64', Farnworth 72' tries; Isaako 7/8 goals)

Melbourne – 22 (Bradley 10', 79', Coates 13', Papenhuyzen 21' tries; Papenhuyzen 3/4 goals)

The first two minutes of the highlights were okay this week I guess.

Yeah, fuck, really disappointed. I can’t remember coaching a Storm side that’s been up 16–2 then had 40 in a row put on us. That’s embarrassing really. But hopefully we’ll learn from it. It will be a tough old weekend and a tough review day. I’m not sure what else to say, it was really disappointing. To happen like that.
Jahrome (Hughes) just made a good point in the dressing room that we’ve been winning our games off our attack, to be quite honest and today we had to stump up defensively because we just kept turning the ball over and we just couldn’t do it. Good learning point for us.
It’s a big concern to rely just on your attack. We’ve been a little bit aware of it, that our defence hasn’t been as good as we’d like it to be. It’s probably more individuals, to be honest, but I just have to have a look through it where we think the problems are and there are a few problems. We’ll take what the main one is and see if we can improve for next week.
Straight after the game I thought perhaps it was complacency after getting that sort of start and just putting the slippers on. I hate to think that’s what happened.
We’ll do our review and we need players coming in with reasons why tonight might have happened. Hopefully we can learn from it.

Well then.

Storm let a 16-2 lead slip to lose 42-22 against the Dolphins in Round 7.

Injuries and selection woes

When the team list was updated on Thursday night which had Harry Grant out for Melbourne, my initial response was similar to Craig Bellamy’s opening words in the post match press conference. That the Dolphins were also going to be missing their starting hooker was little comfort. Grant’s leadership was sorely missed, given he is seemingly a calming influence on those around him.

Surprisingly the final team list saw another shuffle with a combination of Grant Anderson and Kane Bradley deployed on the right edge and Sua Fa’alogo related to 18th man. Joe Chan coming in on the bench was the play instead with Bronson Garlick moving to the starting hooker role.

It all started so well…

The Red Fish might have opened the scoring in the third minute from a penalty goal thanks to an escort penalty against Stefano Utoikamanu, but that was their only real scoring chance in the first 15 minutes.

Melbourne were happy to shift the ball through the hands inside their own half, and a last tackle option from Ryan Papenhuyzen down the short side almost paid off. A penalty against the home team had Melbourne on the attack and the Storm went to work inside the Dolphins half. Bronson Garlick went close with a run from dummy half and from that quick play the ball, Jahrome Hughes put the ball in the right spot for Kane Bradley to out-jump Jack Bostock to score the try. It was good footy from Melbourne to use Bradley’s height advantage by kicking slightly away from the touchline.

Melbourne’s second try came on the back of a spell of extended pressure inside the Dolphins 20m zone. Quick hands out to the wing of Xavier Coates to score what looked like a simple try from a set play. It was almost like a training drill.

Then Jack Howarth got hurt in a tackle.

Resilience. Next man up.

For the Melbourne Storm this is the mindset ingrained upon them. Unfortunately though in the match, the opposition had worked out how to beat that out of the Storm.

Joe Chan came on for Howarth instead of Tyran Wishart. Wishart would enter the field in the 25th minute as seemingly planned to give Garlick a rest in the middle.

Before that Coates turned defence into attack by sprinting away with a loose ball and on the ensuring attacking set, Melbourne’s left edge went to work and Paps scored a very sexy try down another short side.

But the joy of a 16–2 lead was short lived.

Doing a Melbourne to Melbourne

The Dolphins interchange players of Kurt Donoghoe, Connelly Lemuelu, Josh Kerr and Ray Stone ended up scoring four of their tries. They dominated in their minutes on the field, with Melbourne’s bench unable to match their intensity. Like Melbourne, the Red Fish had injuries of their own to deal with, but their four bench players rolled up their sleeves and got the job done.

The catalyst for Melbourne’s decline came in the 27th minute. Todd Smith awarded a penalty against Cameron Munster for, well being Cameron Munster and the rot just set in from there for the Storm.

From the ensuing set on the Melbourne line, the home team should not have scored, but Josh Kerr on his second run on the play, picking up a pass from a Kodi Nikorima offload bullied himself over the line by targeting Wishart and a tiring Utoikamanu.

That effort play typified the difference between these teams on the night. Melbourne expected things to happen for them, the Dolphins made them happen. That extended to the decisions that went their way from Todd Smith. A forward pass in their defensive half wasn’t called, and on their second try an obstruction play went unpunished that ought to have seen the try annulled.1 That try came through a kick from Isaiya Katoa who was imposing himself on the match in a way that Melbourne couldn’t handle. The young halfback was linking well with his left edge and his halves partner Nikorima, but it was a pinpoint kick that would have landed on Grant Anderson’s head that saw Bostock score the try.

With a slender lead, Melbourne needed half time and to grind their way back into the match after the break. Instead the Dolphins did to Melbourne what Melbourne have done to their opponents over the years. In just over 35 minutes the Dolphins put 30 points on Melbourne. They scored 40 points unanswered.

The first try after the break put the home team in front and they never looked back. There was brilliance from Nikorima to set up Stone for his first try as Melbourne’s middle collapsed. It was exposed again for the Lemuelu try even if the pass from Katoa would have made Patrick Mahomes proud.2

Melbourne’s effort and discipline were gone with many players looking gassed. Maybe that short rest from last week was a factor after all. It will be interesting to see what happens as a result of the in-house video review. As the coach intimated, it won’t be pretty.

The second Stone try was reward for the hard work of the Dolphins. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow wanted it more than Paps in taking the high kick from Katoa. Stone backed up his fullback where no Storm player was will to get there to help their teammate. Melbourne huffed and puffed in an attempt to get back in the game, but their attacking set ended meekly with a flat Munster kick.

Nikorima capped off his night with a try of his own to effectively end the match as a contest with 15 minutes to go. Again it was Melbourne-like from the home team with Katoa’s kick almost unstoppable.

Again following the try Melbourne had one last chance to make an impact, but it was an incorrect play-the-ball call that went against Paps that saw the opportunity lost. That call went against Melbourne this time and it’s hard to complain when the same call went the Storm’s way against Manly a fortnight ago.

The Dolphins had one try left in them, Herbie Farnworth swan diving into the corner after Bradley spilled a catch from another great Katoa kick. They probably should have scored another, especially after frustration got the better of the Storm players in the last ten minutes. That frustration saw Trent Loiero and Kurt Donoghoe put in the sin bin,3 but the Dolphins saved further Storm blushes by not scoring. Instead Bradley scored his second try, a late consolation effort out-jumping Bostock again from a Hughes kick.

So what went wrong? Well for me it was similar to some of the performances put out by Melbourne back in 2023. Effort, attitude and intensity all went missing with things becoming “too hard.” Whether that can all be blamed on a lack of leadership seems a little bit harsh, but it did feel like no one was willing to aim up and try and set the tone to stop the momentum the Dolphins built up before half time that carried over into the second half. That’s the thing though, for as poor Melbourne were during this match, the Dolphins were excellent and deserved the win because of how they played.

Things went against the Storm with injuries, but if you preach “next man up” you have to put that into action to make it meaningful. The team has had some defensive issues this year, so perhaps a defeat like this at this time of the year might be a good thing. But that will only be true should the team find the resilience to get through the next few weeks without Grant and others. The response will come against Souths, but the true test will be in the three weeks before the bye and the distractions that come through the middle of the season.

Post match quotes

Munster:

There is a lot of speculation that I am a ‘fine line’ kind of player and I will keep doing what I need to do to win. If that means I have to do something stupid, then I do something stupid. Sometimes I push too far. That’s happened the last couple of weeks and is something I need to address and work on, to hold my nerve and not get in a scuffle.

Stat offloads

Melbourne conceded 40+ points for the 21st time, the Dolphins 42 points the equal 10th highest score against the Storm.4
This was the first match involving Melbourne to end with 42–22 scoreline. It was the 12th match during the NRL-era that was the final score.
The Dolphins became the 20th NRL team to defeat Melbourne, the only remaining team undefeated against the Red Fish are the Bulldogs.
Ray Stone scored his second career double against Melbourne, he’s only scored three other tries in his 76 match career.
Kane Bradley’s last NRL try came in his fourth NRL match, scoring his first try for Melbourne back in round 16 of the 2023 season against the Wests Tigers. He now has four tries in nine NRL matches.
Trent Loiero was sent to the sin bin for the first time in his NRL career, the 79th time a player has been put in the naughty corner for the Storm.

Was it worth it?

When I looked at the fixture before the season started I chose not to head north for this one. In hindsight that decision was a good one. I’m sure hearing Freed From Desire seven times in person would have been almost as painful as hearing Chelsea Fucking Dagger on repeat.

However listening to Inane and Alexander was an absolute punish.5

Very concerned about the state of the turf at Lang Park too ahead of Magic Round. With a lot of traffic on that ground ahead of Melbourne’s match against Canberra on as the final match of the round in a fortnight, perhaps taking the forfeit instead of risking further injuries might be the best course of action.

2/10

Storm Machine Player of the Year

He scored two tries and wasn’t responsible for the Bostock try, but did lose the ball for the Farnworth try. Kane Bradley might have his detractors, but he does his best as a back-up that isn’t used very often.

Melbourne’s halves were outplayed by their opponents and the edges were otherwise well contained. Apart from his passive effort in trying to take the high ball that resulted in the Stone try, I thought Paps was okay, but it’s hard to give out many points this week. Out in the centres Joe Chan went okay replacing Jack Howarth, but I do wonder if he might have been better served defending in the middle and roaming a little more in attack.

Round 7 points:

1 – Kane Bradley

Leaderboard

8 – Cameron Munster
6 – Ryan Papenhuyzen
3 – Eliesa Katoa, Stefano Utoikamanu, Harry Grant
2 – Jack Howarth, Jahrome Hughes, Grant Anderson, Trent Loiero, Josh King, Xavier Coates
1 – Nick Meaney, Shawn Blore, Kane Bradley

Around the grounds

Jersey Flegg Cup — Melbourne Storm 26–34 Fiji Silktails

The undefeated run for the under-21s came to an end at Seabrook Reserve on Saturday afternoon. Gabriel Satrick got Melbourne off to a perfect start with a try in the second minute, but by half time the visitors had scored four straight tries to head to the sheds with a 22–4 lead. Bale Vetaukula completed his hat-trick after the break and while Siulagi Pio scored a double (including one while Stanley Huen was in the sin bin), Melbourne never really got close despite some late tries.

S.G. Ball Cup — Parramatta Eels 24–12 Melbourne Storm

The under-19s finals campaign came to an end at Penrith on Saturday, going down to the minor premiers. Matt Duffie’s team got off to a good start with an early try to Lockyer-Azilee Foliola, but like the under-21s consecutive tries before the break saw them trail 16–4. A couple of second half tries cut the margin to eight points with 15 minutes to play, but the Storm couldn’t get over for a grandstand finish, conceding a try in the final minute.

Next up

Round 8 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs – Friday 25 April 2025, 8:10pm @ AAMI Park

Melbourne will be looking to bounce back against their literal Bunnies at AAMI Park on Anzac Day. I’m sure Wayne Bennett will have some kind of tricks up his sleeve though to try and conjure Souths first ever win in Victoria.