Fijian winger Suliasi Vunivalu scored a hat-trick as Melbourne Storm defeated Canberra Raiders 22-10 at GIO Stadium.
The first half belonged to Vunivalu with all three tries scored by the flying finisher.
While the Raiders, featuring English foursome Josh Hodgson, Elliott Whitehead, John Bateman and Ryan Sutton, threatened a comeback through a double from their captain Jarrod Croker, Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s try at the end of the third quarter was more than enough to seal the win for Melbourne.
Raiders: Nicoll-Klokstad, Cotric, Croker, Leilua, Rapana, Wighton, Sezer, Papalii, Hodgson, Lui, Tapine, Whitehead, Bateman; Interchanges: Havili, Sutton, Soliola, Horsburgh
Tries: Croker 2; Goals: Croker
Storm: Hughes, Vunivalu, Chambers, Scott, Addo-Carr, Munster, Croft, J Bromwich, C Smith, Asofa-Solomona, F Kaufusi, K Bromwich, Finucane; Interchanges: B Smith, Welch, Kamikamica, Seve
Tries: Vunivalu 3, Asofa-Solomona; Goals: C Smith 3
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.