Storm Dismantle the Roosters
The Minor Premiership winning Melbourne Storm entered the NRL Finals as favourites and are now one match away from claiming the ultimate crown.
Standing in between themselves and the Grand Final was the Sydney Roosters whom the men from Melbourne make quick work of.
At AAMi Park in Melbourne, the Storm had home field advantage and used it in their favour en route to a 48-18 win over the Roosters.
The match got off to an interesting start as in the first minute, on the game’s first tackle Nelson Asofa-Solomona was sent to the sin-bin.
The Storm forward laid a massive hit on Lindsay Collins that saw him leave for a head-injury assessment from which he didn’t return.
Not long after, the Roosters were the first ones to put points on the board as following a Jahrome Hughes penalty Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'I kicked through for two.
Five minutes later and the first try of the match also went the way of the visitors as Daniel Tupou snuck down the left sideline. A missed conversion left the game at 6-0.
Then came a 30-minute blitz from the Storm that saw them take control of the match. It was first Ryan Papenhuyzen who slipped through the defense for a try and with a Nick Meaney conversion the game was tied.
Ten minutes later Jahrome Hughes finished off some great passing from the Storm to find the try zone.
The Storm then went tryline to tryline for another brilliant score. It began with Xavier Coates marking at his own tryline and going for the 20m tap before dishing to Papenhuyzen who broke through the line before sending it to Jack Howarth for the try.
Jahrome Hughes then found his second of the match and following the made conversion and then a made penalty shot five minutes later the Storm led 24-6.
It was then the Roosters turn to go on a run. It started with Terrell May powering through the tryline and setting up an easy conversion.
Just one minute later Nat Butcher picked up a loose ball for another try which made it a 24-18 game following the conversion.
This was as close as the Roosters would get however as the next try went to the Storm and Hughes for a hat-trick. This was followed up by another Papenhuyzen try to stretch the lead to 36-18 with just 15 minutes to play.
The Storm would tack on two more tries for good measure as the game would end with a lopsided 48-18 scoreline.
Melbourne Could be Less than 100% for the Grand Final
Though they are undoubtedly thrilled with the result, looking towards the Grand Final the Storm may be in some personnel trouble.
One of the stars of the Preliminary Final Jahrome Hughes is hobbled with a neck injury while Nick Meaney left the Preliminary Final early with a knee injury.
Both men have been declared fit for the Grand Final but how close to 100% they will be is certainly questionable.
More concerningly is the availability of Nelson Asofa-Solomona. The match review committee will be laying down charges for his opening minute hit on Lindsay Collins and there is a good chance he will face a ban that will leave him out of the match.
It's an unfortunate situation, but given the head contact that took place, it would not be unreasonable to see him unable to participate in the Grand Final.
The Melbourne Storm have advanced to the NRL Grand Final following their 48-18 defeat of the Sydney Storm. As they await the winner of the Panthers and Sharks to find out their opponent, personnel issues also loom large for the Minor Premiership winners.
