Storm go 23 straight in Round 1

Next week: The Storm have a bye in Round 2 before a grand final rematch against the Panthers in Round 3. The Eels have a week to regroup before hosting Wests Tigers at CommBank Stadium.

Full-time: The Storm make it 23 straight in Round 1, never having lost a season opener in Craig Bellamy's time as coach. The Eels have now conceded 198 points in their past five games against the Storm but will take some heart out of their second-half performance. Xavier Coates now has 31 tries in 28 games at AAMI Park while the Storm's back five of Papenhuyzen, Coates, Howarth, Meaney and Warbrick ran for 919 metres between them.

77 min: Isaiah Iongi caps a solid performance for the Eels with a try on the left edge after a crisp passing movement. In just his second NRL game Iongi had 21 runs for 153 metres. Zac Lomax converts to make it 12-10 to the Eels in the second half but 56-18 on the scoreboard that matters.

76 min: Eels debutant Sam Tuivaiti leaves the field for a HIA. 

69 min: A sloppy second half by the Storm invites the Eels into the danger zone and Will Penisini shows good strength to break through the line and score his side's second try. Zac Lomax converts for 56-12.

58 min: A 10th try for Melbourne after Jack Howarth picks up an offload from Shawn Blore and runs 45 metres before finding Jahrome Hughes in support. Nick Meaney converts to make it 56-6.

56 min: Will Warbrick celebrates his 50th career game with a 90-metre intercept try after picking off an Isaiah Iongi pass and going the distance. 50-6.

47 min: The Eels get an early shot at points but an ineffective kick by Ronald Volkman lets the Storm off the hook. Eels winger Jake Tago then makes a mess of a Harry Grant kick to put his side under pressure again but he makes amends with some strong defence on Xavier Coates.

Half-time: Anything the Broncos and Manly can do, the Storm can do better. With Ryan Papenhuyzen coming up with three line breaks, four tackle breaks and two tries, the Storm make a stunning statement to open their season. Centres Jack Howarth and Nick Meaney combined for 272 run metres while Cameron Munster came up with two try assists and three line break assists in a near flawless display by the Round 1 specialists. Eight line breaks to nil and 30 tackle breaks to five summed up Melbourne's dominance.

40 min: With one final play before the break the Storm execute a superb scrum play finished off by a runaway Ryan Papenhuyzen courtesy of an inside pass from Jahrome Hughes. Storm 46-6.

38 min: The Eels get on the board when Dylan Brown launches a high ball into the in goal and Jake Tago leaps high to bring it down and score. Zac Lomax's conversion make it 40-6.

35 min: More pain for Parramatta when a rare attacking opportunity turns into another Storm try. Debutant Ryley Smith throws a wild pass from dummy half, Nick Meaney swoops on the loose ball and outpaces Sean Russell on an 85-metre sprint to the line. Storm 40-0.

31 min: Harry Grant gets in on the tryscoring action when he takes the final pass from Nick Meaney and races away for his eighth try in his last six games against the Eels. Meaney converts for a 34-0 lead.

27 min: Ryan Papenhuyzen turns on the jets to burn Zac Lomax before sending the ball to Jack Howarth who positions Xavier Coates on the inside and delivers a peach of a pass for the winger to complete his double. 28-0.

24 min: Eliesa Katoa gets across the stripe after a 40-metre burst which saw him leave Dylan Brown and Isaiah Iongi in his wake before pulling through Will Penisini's tackle and stretching out to score. Storm 22-0.

22 min: Xavier Coates comes up with another AAMI Park stunner, pulling a Cameron Munster bomb down from the sky and getting the ball down inches inside the dead ball line. Nick Meaney misses the conversion. Storm 16-0.

21 min: The Eels hand over possession when Ronald Volkman kicks out on the full on the back of two loose offloads that cost them 20 metres.

16 min: The Storm should have gone further ahead when Ryan Papenhuyzen exploded into the back field and had Cameron Munster in support with the line open but the fullback held on to the ball.

12 min: The Storm's big guns come to the fore with Harry Grant darting out of dummy half and finding Cam Muster who delivers a superb short ball to put Josh King over virtually untouched. Nick Meaney adds the extras. 12-0.

6 min: Ryan Papenhuyzen splits the line from close range and has his pass knocked down by an Eels defender before regathering the ball to score the 63rd try of his career. Nick Meaney converts for a 6-0 Storm lead.

Kick-off: The final game of Round 1 gets underway in searing conditions in Melbourne with the temperature gauge showing 33 degrees.

Round 1 masters: In 2024, the Storm came up with a superb 8-0 shutout of premiers Penrith to make it 22 wins in a row in Round 1. In 2023 they were taken to golden point by today's opponents Parramatta, while Wests Tigers were the victims in 2022, going down 26-16. The Bulldogs (2018 and 2017) and Dragons (2016 and 2015) have both succumbed twice to the Storm during the past decade in Round 1.

Late Mail: The home side are 1-17 with no late changes. No further game day changes for the Eels after Ryan Matterson came out of the side on Saturday and was replaced by debutant Sam Tuivaiti. Hooker Ryley Smith also makes his NRL debut off the bench.