Cameron Smith kicked two penalties on his 399th NRL game to lead his Melbourne Storm side to a 16-14 win over St George Illawarra Dragons.
St George started well and scored through Jeremy Latimore in the opening ten minutes. But Joe Stimson replied with a try for Melbourne only seconds after he was the subject of a crusher tackle by Jai Field.
Cameron Smith’s penalty edged his side 8-6 ahead at the break but that penalty was rubbed out with 20 minutes to go by Field’s two-pointer.
The parity didn’t last long. Jesse Bromwich offloaded brilliantly to Justin Olam who pulled away, slipped over and handed it to Nelson Asofa-Solomona. The prop then assisted Jahrome Hughes for a classic Melbourne try.
But the Dragons responded through Mikaele Ravalawa who ran straight through the Bromwich brothers close to the line. But Cameron Smith had the final say with another penalty after Jacob Host escorted Hughes off a high kick from Billy Walters, the son of former Catalans Dragons coach Kevin Walters, on debut for the Storm.
Dragons: Dufty, Pearson, Aitken, Lafai, Ravalawa, Field, Nicholls, Sims, McInnes, Latimore, Host, Leilua, Lawrie; Interchanges: Kerr, Robson, Kaufusi, Allgood
Tries: Latimore, Ravalawa; Goals: Field 3
On report: Field (17) – dangerous contact
Storm: Hughes, Vunivalu, Seve, Olam, Early, Walters, Croft, J Bromwich, C Smith, Asofa-Solomona, Stimson, K Bromwich, B Smith; Interchanges: Vete, Faasuamaleaui, Kamikamica, Papenhuyzen
Tries: Stimson, Hughes; Goals: C Smith 4
Full match reports of all four of this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.
