MELBOURNE STORM 10 SYDNEY ROOSTERS 40
JAKE KEARNAN, AAMI Park, Friday
IN a 40-minute massacre, Sydney Roosters put Melbourne Storm to the sword, spoiling Craig Bellamy’s 600th game as coach by delivering the club’s worst second-half performance in history.
After going into the break with a 10-0 lead the Roosters were going to need to dig deep to get themselves back into the grind given their record in Melbourne.
They deliver with seven unanswered tries, four of those to Mark Nawaqanitawase propelling him to the top of the NRL’s try-scoring leaderboard with 20 for the season.
Even though the Roosters had lost 12 of their last 13 against the Storm, these two sides traditionally do not disappoint when they face off.
Both sides had some notable outs due to rest and injuries.
Storm were without Harry Grant, Xavier Coates, Jahrome Hughes and Eliesa Katoa but welcomed back Will Warbrick, who spent a lengthy stint on the sidelines due to concussion symptoms, while the Roosters were without Sam Walker due to a head injury.
It was a terrible start for the home side when Stefano Utoikamanu turned the ball over in the first set off the kick-off, but the Roosters were unable to make them pay and an arm-wrestle ensued.
The first points came through Shawn Blore in the 22nd minute when Ryan Papenhuyzen found some space on the short side and showed his sleight of hand to deliver his back-rower near untouched.
Jonah Pezet had the ball on a string, putting a cross-field kick to Warbrick who tapped the ball back to Grant Anderson to cross over in the 37th minute.
The Roosters struck first in the second half through a James Tedesco offload to Nawaqanitawase who tip-toed along the sideline before contorting his body to place the ball down in the corner.
Adding to the momentum Siua Wong showed some craft through the middle, putting Egan Butcher through a hole and backing up in support to score under the posts.
The Roosters extended their lead in the 65th minute with Hugo Savala initiating a backline shift that caught the Storm’s left edge short and handed Nawaqanitawase his second of the night.
The rugby union convert couldn’t be stopped as Savala dug into the line minutes later to create an overlap, which saw Tedesco deliver a cut-out pass to Nawaqanitawase for his hat-trick in the 67th minute.
A wayward offload was swooped on by Savala three minutes later which put the Roosters back on the attack and another shift found none other than Nawaqanitawase, who shimmied his way around Anderson to score his fourth.
The bleeding couldn’t be stopped as some broken play while attacking the line saw Victor Radley get an offload away to Robert Toia who crossed in the corner.
Another line-break through Melbourne’s left edge saw another Radley offload, this time to Savala who found Tedesco in support to break away and score under the posts.
Luckily for Bellamy, he has a host of players to bring back for next Thursday’s trip to Brisbane Broncos and will be happy to wipe this milestone match from the memory bank.
GAMESTAR: Mark Nawaqanitawase scored four and now sits on top of the try-scoring leaderboard.
GAMEBREAKER: Hugo Savala created overlap after overlap with his crafty ball play attacking Melbourne’s left edge.
MATCHFACTS
STORM
1 Ryan Papenhuyzen
2 Kane Bradley
3 Marion Seve
4 Grant Anderson
20 Will Warbrick
6 Cameron Munster
7 Tyran Wishart
8 Stefano Utoikamanu
9 Bronson Garlick
17 Nelson Asofa-Solomona
11 Shawn Blore
12 Joe Chan
13 Trent Loiero
Subs (all used)
10 Alec MacDonald
14 Jonah Pezet
15 Ativalu Lisati
16 Lazarus Vaalepu
Tries: Blore (21), Anderson (36)
Goals: Papenhuyzen 1/2
ROOSTERS
1 James Tedesco
2 Daniel Tupou
3 Billy Smith
4 Robert Toia
5 Mark Nawaqanitawase
6 Sandon Smith
7 Hugo Savala
8 Spencer Leniu
14 Benaiah Ioelu
10 Lindsay Collins
11 Angus Crichton
12 Victor Radley
13 Naufahu Whyte
Subs (all used)
9 Connor Watson
15 Egan Butcher
17 Siua Wong
19 Blake Steep
Tries: Nawaqanitawase (45, 63, 66, 70), Wong (53), Toia (76), Tedesco (79)
Goals: S Smith 6/7
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 10-0; 10-6, 10-12, 10-18, 10-22, 10-28, 10-34, 10-40
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Storm: Ryan Papenhuyzen; Roosters: Mark Nawaqanitawase
Penalty count: 7-7
Half-time: 10-0
Referee: Todd Smith
Attendance: 21,155