Monday Night NRL: Melbourne Storms Towards Silverware

Mon 25 Aug 2008

League Express Extra: Malcolm Andrews reports from Australia on the Monday night NRL match, this week featuring Penrith Panthers v Melbourne Storm.

MELBOURNE STORMS TOWARDS SILVERWARE

PENRITH PANTHERS 6
MELBOURNE STORM 40

MALCOLM ANDREWS at CUA Stadium

MELBOURNE STORM reclaimed their spot at the top of the NRL Ladder with an effortless victory over the Panthers at Penrith on Monday night.
With a two-point break over Manly and Cronulla (and matches against Newcastle Knights and Souths Rabbitohs remaining) they are hot favourites to take out the Minor Premiership in a fortnight’s time.
And, after yet another easy win, there would be few people who would bet against them winning the grand final in six weeks time
But coach Craig Bellamy rejected the idea that the Storm were home and hosed for 2008.
“That’s all c--p,” he said after Monday’s match. “If we start believing that, we’re not doing our job. Anything can happen.”
It was the Panthers’ lowest score at home in a decade.
And the loss makes their chances of finishing in a top-eight finals’ spot remote – with matches against the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland next Sunday and the high-flying Sea Eagles in the final round.
Nevertheless Penrith coach Matt Elliott was not despondent.
“We need to disappointed about the result but we don’t need to be discouraged,” he said.
There were a few dodgy decisions early in the encounter – but both sides were victims of the official rulings.
Six minutes after kick-off Rhys Wesser went close to scoring for Penrith but Melbourne’s Billy Slater dived full-length to push the ball over the dead-ball line before Wesser could force it.
But the first points were scored at the other end of the pitch.
Cameron Smith sent a good offload to half Cooper Cronk who flung a long pass to an unmarked Steve Turner on the wing. And he had a saloon passage on his 20-metre journey to the line.
Turner was almost in again a few minutes later, but was brought to the turf a metre short.
From the next play-the-ball Cronk put up a bomb, Slater surged above the Penrith defenders to punch the ball back to Greg Inglis who dived across the stripe to score.
Referee Matt Cecchin awarded a controversial penalty against Penrith and it proved costly with the left winger Anthony Quinn adding his 10th try of the season.
Inglis scored his second try after Michael Gordon couldn’t clean up a bomb from Cameron Smith. This sent the visitors to the interval with a substantial 20-nil lead.
The Panthers seemed more enthusiastic when they returned to the fray.
And they were rewarded with a solid try to Nathan Smith.
It was like a red rag to a bull. The Storm struck back quickly with Slater and Folau setting up Turner’s second try of the evening.
Veteran Penrith hooker Luke Priddis was held up over the line before his opposite number Smith grabbed his own try and converted it to stretch the NRL front-runners’ lead to 30-6.
Minutes later Melbourne prop Brett White was held up over the line. However it hardly mattered as his partner in the front row, Jeff Lima, stormed over the line to touch down next to posts.
And Inglis finished with a hat-trick when he raised a leg to stop himself being bundled into touch as he was tackled a half a metre from the left-hand corner.

GAMESTAR: ‘Billy the Kid’ Slater may not have scored but he was in the thick of the play all night, especially with some superb offloads, terrier defence and some courageous dives on rolling balls.

GAMEBREAKER: Greg Inglis’ second try just before the break made Penrith’s task impossible

MATCH FACTS

PANTHERS

1 Rhys Wesser
2 Luke Rooney
3 Michael Jennings
4 Brad Tighe
5 Michael Gordon
6 Maurice Blair
7 Luke Lewis
8 Tony Puletua
9 Luke Priddis
10 Petero Civoniceva (c)
11 Frank Pritchard
12 Trent Waterhouse
13 Nathan Smith
Subs:
14 Matthew Bell
15 Adam Woolnough
16 Frank Puletua
17 Paul Aiton

Try: Smith (46)
Goal: Gordon 1/1

STORM

1 Billy Slater
2 Steve Turner
3 Matt Geyer
4 Israel Folau
5 Anthony Quinn
6 Greg Inglis
7 Cooper Cronk
8 Jeff Lima
9 Cameron Smith (c)
10 Brett White
11 Michael Crocker
12 Jeremy Smith
13 Dallas Johnson
Subs:
15 Adam Blair
16 Sika Manu
17 Antonio Kaufusi
20 Scott Anderson

Tries: Turner (10, 51), Inglis (15, 32, 76), Quinn (19), Cameron Smith (63). Lima (70)
Goals: Cameron Smith 4/8

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Panthers: Rhys Wesser
Storm: Billy Slater

Half-time: 0-20
Referee: Matt Cecchin
Video referee: Bill Harrigan
Attendance: 8,813

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-10, 14-0, 0-20; 6-20, 6-24, 6-30, 6-36, 6-40

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