The Melbourne Storm have obliterated the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks at AAMI Park with a remarkable 44-point (54-10) victory.
The victory moves the Storm into third place on the competition ladder, leapfrogging their opponents from tonight with their eighth win of the season.
It never seemed in doubt, with the home side’s first try coming in the third minute through Tui Kamikamica who benefited from a Harry Grant kick that crashed into the post and bounced into the 29-year-old prop’s lap.
The Sharks struck back soon after with a fantastic try assist by the mercurial Ronaldo Mulitalo who jumped, caught the ball and offloaded to Teig Wilton all before landing on the ground.
Brilliant from Ronaldo Mulitalo! 💥#NRLStormSharks pic.twitter.com/n7WJGrHGO8
— NRL (@NRL) June 11, 2023
However, that’s all the Sharks had to celebrate tonight as the Storm turned it on scoring another five tries before the end of the first half, including three in the final 10 minutes.
The pick of the bunch being Xavier Coates second try, scored seconds before half-time as Cameron Munster tore down the left edge, proving too quick for Nicho Hynes before throwing an audacious flick pass to his winger to score in the corner.
The Storm are in a MOOD 💯#NRLStormSharks pic.twitter.com/0ut5cg4GKJ
— NRL (@NRL) June 11, 2023
It was the end to a half that was utterly dominated by the Storm, scoring 34 points, and running for almost twice as many metres as their opponents (1049 to 569).
If there was a sign that things weren’t going to get better for the Sharks, it was the kick-off at the beginning of the second half which the away side let dribble over the dead ball line.
The Storm took all of 11 minutes before they added to their 34 first half points as Munster threw a fantastic pass to Josh King who burst through a gap in the Sharks defence, running 30 metres untouched to score in the corner.
Reimis Smith joined in on the action with a try of his own, bursting through a tackle attempt by Matt Moylan on the right edge, scoring the Storm’s eighth try of the night.
The Storm surpassed 50 with eight minutes to go as halfback Jahrome Hughes charged through a hole after some more excellence from Munster who weaved his way through the Sharks defence before offloading to his halves partner.
And that's the half-century for the Storm.
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) June 11, 2023
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Multitalo grabbed a consolation try in the final minutes but in comparison to the first half, the second was rather uneventful as the Storm had the game essentially won during the first 40 minutes, the perfect way to celebrate Nick Meaney's 100th NRL game.
Their destructive prowess with the ball tonight sends a message to the rest of the competition regarding how dangerous the Storm attack is when they click.
On the other hand, the Sharks poor performances against teams in the top eight continued, their record now standing at 1-5 in such matches.