Melbourne Storm triumphed over the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL season opener at AAMI Park on Thursday night.
Pulling on the number one jersey and immediately making his presence felt, Jahrome Hughes crossed for the first try of the 2019 NRL season.
The skipper kicked truly to put the home side in front early.
A huge tackle from Suliasi Vunivalu gave Curtis Scott enough space to turn on the jets, flying up the wing for an electrifying try and putting Storm out to a 10 - 0 lead at half time.
Storm came out firing in the opening minutes of the second half, with Kenny Bromwich crossing the line and Cam Smith converting to stretch the lead to 16 - 0 at the 49th minute.
Despite two tries from Corey Oates in quick succession, the Broncos were unable to wrestle the momentum from Storm.
Jesse Bromwich scored his first try since 2017 to clinch the game 22 - 12.
Coach Craig Bellamy said it was fitting that Hughes scored the opening try in front of the newly unveiled Slater Stand.
"Billy (Slater) has been a big part of developing our young full backs - Jahrome’s first try was right in front of the Slater Stand," he said.
"Hughesy was our best player tonight - I couldn’t be happier with him."
