The Melbourne Storm have beaten the Canberra Raiders 34-10 at GIO Stadium on Saturday night.
The Raiders got out to a 10-0 lead thanks to some excellent play from Sam Williams and Curtis Scott. Unfortunately, the Raiders were unable to stop a clinical Melbourne outfit in the second half.
The Raiders opened the scoring in the first minute when Bailey Simonsson scored one of the best tries of the year.
Sam Williams put up a bomb that hit the grass around 30 meters out from the Melbourne line. Curtis Scott jumped on the loose ball and passed it back infield. Still on the last tackle, the ball eventually found its way to George Williams who put in a majestic cross-field kick for Simonsson.
The foot of Sam Williams struck again in the 13th minute when he put in a perfectly weighted grubber for Elliot Whitehead to score. The try came off the back of an explosive 50 meter run from Curtis Scott earlier in the set. George Williams converted to give the Raiders a 10-0 lead.
Nicho Hynes looked to have scored the Storm’s first try in the 27th minute, but the try was disallowed due to obstruction by Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
Asofa-Solomona made up for his mistake when he crossed the line in the 35th minute. Nicho Hynes converted, cutting down the Raiders lead to four points.
Curtis Scott came agonisingly close to striking back for the Raiders but lost the ball in the process of trying to score.
Just before half-time, Corey Horsburgh was put on report for contact with the head and the Storm was gifted with a set just outside the Raiders’ goal-line. Chris Lewis crossed the line seconds later to give Melbourne a 12-10 lead going into the second half.
Asofa-Solomona extended the lead to 18-10 in the 48th minute after a barnstorming run saw him score from close range. Remis Smith crossed minutes later and the Storm pushed the lead out to 14 points.
The Raiders found it hard to contain the elusive Nicho Hynes as the half wore on. His line break through the middle of the field set the platform for Tom Eisenhuth to score in the 60th minute.
Raider #376, Brad Schneider, came on to the field late in the second half to make his debut for the club.
Trent Loiero then scored a try in the 73rd minute to seal the win for Storm.
Melbourne Storm 34 (Tries: N Asofa-Solomona 2, C Lewis, R Smith, T Eisenhuth, T Loiero; Goals: N Hynes 5) d Canberra Raiders 10 (Tries: B Simonsson, E Whitehead; Goals: G Williams)
