Melbourne Storm have recorded back-to-back wins, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 30-8 at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
In front of 36,319 in Brisbane, Craig Bellamy’s side never looked back after a sharp start to the contest where they took a 12-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes.
Quickly after kick-off, Melbourne earned a repeat immediately getting onto the font foot. Capitalising on their good start, Storm took an early lead when Cooper Cronk’s precise kick found winger Marika Koroibete. The winger slipped his opposing number Lachlan Maranta to score.
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Building plenty of pressure in attack and controlling the majority of possession, the visitors made the most of an electrifying start, scoring again to double their advantage.
Ryan Hoffman grounded the spilled ball after Slater contested a high ball, leaving Storm with a 12-0 advantage.
An end to end, fast paced contest ensued with the Broncos managing to build a sustained period of attack in possession, the Broncos finally broke their way through the Storm defence when Dale Copley found a gap on the left edge.
With the game evenly poised following the half-time break, Hoffman’s second gave Melbourne some breathing space. The representative second-rower ran a strong line onto the end of a Cronk pass to score.
With time and the flow of the match against them, Brisbane struck back against the run of play, scoring through Alex Glenn after some Jordan Kahu acrobatics.
Sparked into action, back-to-back Melbourne tries courtesy of Ryan Hinchcliffe and Cooper Cronk finished the contest, sealing Melbourne’s well earned victory.
Melbourne Storm 30
Tries: Marika Koroibete 5m, Ryan Hoffman 14m, Ryan Hoffman 52m, Ryan Hinchcliffe 66m, Cooper Cronk 69m
Goals: Cameron Smith 4
Defeated.
Brisbane Broncos 8
Tries: Dale Copley 27m, Alex Glenn 62m
Goals: Nil