Junior Report: Round 17

Melbourne Storm Under 21s secured a convincing 36-14 victory over the weekend after travelling to Fiji to face the Kaiviti Silktails.

Head Coach Mark Russell was full of praise for his side’s performance, especially given the difficult lead-up to the match. “It was really hard preparation, we were staying two hours from the field,” said Russell.

“But from the warm-up all the way through to the 80th minute, it was probably one of our most consistent performances for the whole year.”

The Storm U21s started strong, crossing for three first-half tries to take a 16-8 lead into the break. They maintained their dominance in the second half, running in four more tries to seal the win.

Amaziah Murgha was a standout, scoring a hat-trick and setting up another. Jai Bowden, Zayvian Langkilde-Fale, and Hugo Peel also delivered strong performances.

The focus now shifts to this Saturday’s clash with the Cronulla Sharks, a top-of-the-table clash.

The Storm defeated the Sharks just two weeks ago, but the opposition was missing several key players at the time. With the Sharks now near full strength and sitting third on the ladder behind first-placed Storm, a fierce battle is expected.

“We’re going to have to go up there with a really strong mindset,” said Russell.

Melbourne Storm U21s will face the Sharks at 12:50pm this Saturday.