Melbourne proved their surprise loss to the Dragons last week was nothing more than a hiccup on their march to the top after mauling Manly at Brookvale on Sunday.
And the Bulldogs, not premiers Penrith, are shaping up as the team most likely to challenge the Storm’s dominance after they stretched their unbeaten start to five games with a 20-0 triumph over Newcastle at Accor Stadium.
Dally M Medal winner Jahrome Hughes was instrumental in his early return from a fractured hand as the Storm produced a three-try five-minute blitz in each half to convert an 18-10 half-time lead into a 48-24 cakewalk.
Canterbury rolled up their sleeves to grind their way past the Knights and with a bye next week and star duo Matt Burton and Viliame Kikau then set to return from knee injuries, they are well on the way to breaking their 11-year grand final drought after snapping their streak of seven years out of the playoffs in 2024.
Knights hooker Phoenix Crossland cruelled his injury-riddled side’s hopes of upsetting the Dogs with a costly trip which sent him to the sin bin and propelled the home side to victory.
1. Storm sizzles as Battle of Brookie hype fizzles
With all the talk about the NRL’s crackdown on foul play, Nine clearly didn’t get the memo from head office about presenting a squeaky clean image as they broadcast vision of the infamous Battle of Brookvale brawl of 2011 in the lead-up to Sunday’s game.
In light of a Sun-Herald report suggesting the NRL wants to be informed of what “broadcast partners” Nine and Fox League will put to air on their talk shows before they go to air, it is clear that their spin doctors are yet to get their way.
This should have been a close contest but the Storm got the upper hand early and although the Sea Eagles hung in there for the first 40 minutes, the floodgates opened in the second half.
Jahrome Hughes makes a break. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
Melbourne split the game open after just 11 minutes when a Stefano Utoikamanu was quickly followed by a Cameron Munster solo effort and Grant Anderson touching down in the corner off a skilful Hughes pass which looped higher than the Brookvale grandstand before lobbing perfectly on the winger’s chest as he sprinted to the corner.
Manly bombed two tries when Reuben Garrick and Tolu Koula failed to pass to unmarked wingers before Koula helped cut the gap to eight at the break.
But another Storm front moved into the peninsula in the 48th minute with Anderson getting two more and Papenhuyzen finishing off a pearler created by Grant, Hughes and Munster in a perfect demonstration of the potency of their four key playmakers.
Bronson Garlick and Jack Howarth blew the margin out to 38 before Koula, Jason Saab and Clayton Faulalo crossed for consolation tries to make the final scoreline flattering for the hosts.
2. Defence the weak link for Sea Eagles
Manly narrowly avoided an early-season entry into the 50 points hoodoo which dictates a team can’t win the comp if they concede a half-century.
But the Sea Eagles may not even make the playoffs if their defence does not improve.
A few of their forwards, particularly veterans Jake Trbojevic and Siua Taukeiaho, looked a step slow as Melbourne found space close to the try line and their defence on the edges was not much better as Grant fed Munster and Hughes into gaps created by a staggered line.
Manly coach Anthony Seibold said the game was decided by those two back-to-back-to-back try onslaughts.
“They’re a very good side and they made us pay,” he said, alluding to penalties conceded leading up and during those blitzes.
“I thought we kept fighting. It could have got really ugly there at one stage. Strangely it was nine line breaks each. They were able to convert their’s a bit better than ours.
“Ultimately we lost the physical battle – they won that middle part of the field.”
Seibold hosed down any thought that the Daly Cherry-Evans contract saga had contributed to their defeat with the skipper sitting right next to him in the post-match media conference.
3. Storm spine head and shoulders above the rest
Injuries, Origin and the occasional suspension have limited Melbourne’s all-star spine from getting an extended run together in recent seasons.
But when the Storm have Papenhuyzen, Munster, Hughes and Grant as the backbone of their line-up, they are nigh on unbeatable.
With the Panthers losing Jarome Luai in the off-season, there is now no doubt that Melbourne’s key quartet is a class above every other team.
Kiwi legend Shaun Johnson on Fox League said the Storm spine were able to be brilliant against Manly because of the unsung foot soldiers in their pack who kick-start the momentum.
“It is the ruck speed which is allowing these boys to do what they can do,” he said.
“Their middles are not some of the biggest names in our game but they execute their roles better than anyone else. Their movement collectively as a unit, how they generate one on ones, find the ground, leave defenders on the ground, markers not set.
Bellamy said he thought Hughes was 1000-1 to play after having a hand operation a fortnight ago.
“There was no push from within the club but he put his hand up and wanted to play,” he said.
“To play after missing only one game after breaking your hand was pretty gutsy. He did plenty of tackling, they kept coming at him and he kept standing up.
“His organisation out there and his calling and getting people into position was really important for us.”
4. Bulldogs cash in on Crossland’s brain snap
Phoenix Crossland was the eighth NRL player to go to the sin bin this round and his indiscretion was definitely the dumbest.
Running back on side while Toby Sexton carted the ball forward, the Knights hooker stuck his leg out to trip the Canterbury halfback early in the second half, leaving referee Ashley Klein no choice but to send him to the sidelines for 10 minutes in the naughty corner.
“You cannot argue with that. That is a blatant trip. Adam O’Brien knows it,” said Cooper Cronk on Fox League as the Newcastle coach blew up deluxe in the visitors’ box.
Crossland’s brain snap was followed two plays later by Bulldogs forward Jack Todd storming over for his first try in his second NRL match.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Knights who had just conceded a try to Josh Curran after he collected a ricochet from a Jacob Kiraz aerial contest.
The Canterbury forward looked bemused after Wyatt Raymond announced that “the ball is initially gripped by Josh Curran, he then transfers the ball forward to the goal line without losing it”.
But then he realised that was Bunker-speak for he caught it and put it down on the line and will be awarded the try after all.
Kurt Mann was strangely denied a try in his 200th NRL match soon after Todd touched down when the Bunker overruled Klein clearing a rebound from Kiraz even though the referee was in ideal position to adjudicate.
If the Bunker can’t rule on forward passes because of camera angles, how can they be definitive about knock-ons when the ball travels sideways along the ground, especially when their on-field set of eyes is perfectly aligned with the play.
Karma shone on Mann with the journeyman lock struggling through a couple of tired tacklers to touch down in the 71st minute to finally put the Knights to bed.
Canterbury conceded a combined 14 points in their previous two matches and the last time they held opponents to a hat-trick of single-figure scorelines was 32 years ago.
5. Knights prop goes pop while running onto field
Newcastle front-rower Jacob Saifiti only lasted two minutes after injuring his calf while running onto Accor Stadium.
Now we know why Eels legend Brett Kenny used to always mosey onto the SCG for a grand final like he was taking a morning stroll.
Saifiti’s early exit was compounded moments later when winger James Schiller was concussed, leaving the Knights with just 15 players for 78 minutes of the match.
They hung in gallantly until half-time, conceding just a penalty goal, but the Crossland sin-binning and a shoulder injury to veteran forward Jack Hetherington ensured they would be dropping to a 2-2 record after a 26-6 trouncing at the hands of the Titans before the bye.
The Kick: Crackdown fizzles out before round is over
Manly forward Corey Waddell thwacked Tyran Wishart with a high shot with four minutes left and copped just a penalty despite the crackdown on such hits that had resulted in several sin bins earlier in the round.
Although the Storm utility was falling slightly in the tackle, Waddell’s arm was swinging upwards and he struck him across the chops
“We’ve seen players binned this weekend for less,” Panthers legend Greg Alexander wondered on Fox League commentary.
“There was more force in that than the sin bins we’ve had all weekend.”
Knights hooker Jayden Brailey was also lucky to avoid the bin in the later game when he clocked Toby Sexton as he swung his forearm into a tackle.
Despite the replay showing Sexton’s jaw copping the full force of the hit, without any of the mitigation which refs often cite when taking the soft option, a penalty was deemed sufficient for Brailey.
