2021 NRL Round Seven, Storm 42 Warriors 20 – Report

Brad Inger reviews the Storm vs Warriors clash ….. Here’s how the game went.

SCOREBOARD

Player of the Year Points

3 pts – Jahrome Hughes (Storm)
2 pts – Cameron Munster (Storm)
1 pt – Reece Walsh (Warriors)

MATCH REPORT

1st Half

After the ANZAC ceremony, it didn’t take long for the Storm to kick into action. Jahrome Hughes took advantage of the Warriors young debutants kicking to the corner for George Jennings to score. The New Zealand side wasted little time responding after a Storm error and penalty handed them good field possession, putting large winger Ken Maumalo over in the corner. The game was looking to be quite a tight contest, but the controversial sin-binning of Josh Curran for what appeared to be a legitimate tackle on Jennings swung momentum in Melbourne’s favour. The Warriors defence held firm for a brief period, but Hughes eventually made easy work of the 12 man defence, setting up tries for Felise Kaufusi and Nicho Hynes. The Warriors had very few opportunities to attack before a double by centre Reimis Smith saw the Storm go into the break with a convincing 22 point lead.

HALF-TIME: Melbourne Storm 26 New Zealand Warriors 4

2nd Half

An error in the first set of the second half by Harry Grant saw the Warriors get great field position, and they wasted little time with Wayde Egan firing the ball out of the ruck for Ben Murdoch-Masila to crash over for the New Zealand sides second try of the night. However, some poor discipline from the Warriors saw them back under their goalposts once again when Justin Olam made easy work of the New Zealand sides edge defence barging over in the corner. A Storm error on the next set gave the Warriors another set deep in enemy territory, and they appeared to have scored when Marcelo Montoya dived on a Kodi Nikorima grubber, but the Bunker correctly deemed that he lost control of the ball when grounding. The Storm responded with an error of their own before both sides traded sets struggling for scoring opportunities before Reimis Smith darted away for what would have been his third try, but the bunker advised that he had knocked it on. The Storm shook that decision off and went right back to work with Hughes putting tremendous pressure on rookie Reece Walsh with a bomb that saw the youngster knock the ball on. In a nice set play from the scrum, the Storm sent Josh Addo-Carr over in the corner. Addo-Carr was back at it again, not even a minute later when he made a nice solo run to cross for his second try of the night. A hat-trick appeared to be on the cards, but Addo-Carr loss the race to ball as it bounced out of the in-goal area. With victory out of their grasp, the Warriors started to play a bit more expansive football and were rewarded when Walsh threw a cutout pass to Maumalo for his second try of the night. Walsh was at it again on the next set, pushing a grubber through for Maumalo’s hat-trick to end a disappointing night for the Warriors but another solid display from the reigning premiers.

FULL-TIME: Melbourne Storm 42 New Zealand Warriors 20

Injuries

George Jennings (Storm) – failed HIA

Match Review Committee

Josh Curran (Warriors) – Grade 2 High Tackle Careless – (Downgraded to Grade 1 at Judiciary) – $1350 fine.

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