Reigning NRL premiers the Sydney Roosters have moved inside the top four after crushing the injury-ravaged Melbourne Storm 32-12 at AAMI Park on Sunday.
After an indifferent start to the season, the Roosters appear to be hitting the form that carried them to last season’s title. In contrast, the Storm’s premiership ambitions look doomed while injured stars Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater are on the sideline.
Storm captain Cameron Smith played first receiver for much of Sunday’s contest but had little influence on the match, despite a typically wholehearted performance. The Roosters had their premiership halves combination of Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney available, and with the help of Queensland State of Origin hopeful Jake Friend, the duo tormented the Storm defence.
The Roosters crossed first through fullback Anthony Minichiello in the seventh minute and would have bagged a few more tries in the opening quarter if not for some desperate goal-line scrambling from the Storm.
Tempers flared when both teams came together after Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was placed on report for a high shot on Storm forward Bryan Norrie. The ensuing melee saw Norrie and Roosters enforcer Frank-Paul Nuuausala sin-binned for throwing punches.
The Storm thought they had scored soon after when fullback Kurt Mann crashed over courtesy of an inside ball from Ben Hampton, but the try was disallowed for a forward pass. The let-off allowed the Roosters to take control of the match, with tries to Pearce and Frenchman Remi Casty giving the visitors a 16-0 lead at halftime.
With plenty of ground to make up, the Storm tried to spark a comeback when play restarted. The home team opened its account through interchange Mahe Fonua who muscled over out wide. Smith’s conversion narrowed the gap to 10 points, but the Roosters quickly re-established their dominance.
It was the dazzling footwork of winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck that broke Melbourne’s resistance. The New Zealand international bamboozled defenders with his light stepping to score just inside the corner post. Dual international Sonny Bill Williams inflicted more scoreboard pain on the Storm when he was put into space by Maloney before Mann scored the home team’s second with 12 minutes remaining.
The Roosters, however, were determined to have the final say and crossed in the shadows of fulltime through Minichiello.
