After a close first half, the Storm run away with a win against the Titans at AAMI Park on Saturday afternoon.
Result
Melbourne Storm 37
Tries: Will Warbrick 4th; Xavier Coates 20th, 35th, 74th; Christian Welch 63rd; Eliesa Katoa 70th
Goals: Nick Meaney 22nd, 34th, 36th, 64th, 71st, 76th
Gold Coast Titans 16
Tries: Chris Randall 13th; Brian Kelly 25th; Jojo Fifita 53rd
Goals: Aaron Schoupp 15th; Tom Weaver 54th
Report
Melbourne Storm hosted the Gold Coast Titans at AAMI Park on Saturday afternoon.
Will Warbrick was the first to score for Melbourne. This was his sixteenth try for the year, in his debut season. The winger and the Storm were off to a great start.
The Gold Coast Titans didn’t rule themselves out too quickly, scoring points of their own after just ten minutes.
The first half was an even contest in every sense – Melbourne slightly ahead in terms of possession. Both the Storm and Titans completed at a very high rate, and penalties were kept minimal, which gave the first half a great flow and made it an entertaining contest.
Xavier Coates scored for the Storm, putting the back in front. An unconverted try from the Titans shortly after tied the score up at 10 points each.
In the final ten minutes, Melbourne’s energy hit a high point, and they went on to score another eight points to ensure they had an edge over the Titans going into the half time break.
The Titans were the first to score coming back from the break, with Jojo Fifita adding the extra points for the Gold Coast ten minutes into the second half. After this, however, it was all Melbourne.
The Storm continued to dominate the Titans, scoring more points, and leaving no room for a comeback from the Gold Coast visitors.
The final twenty minutes were all about the Storm, who tallied up an extra 19 points.
While they were already dominating, perhaps the return of Ryan Papenhayzen sparked some excitement among the team to get them well and truly over the line against the Titans.
Ryan Papenhuyzen made his long-awaited return for the Storm on Saturday afternoon after shattering his kneecap during Melbourne’s round 18 game against the Raiders in 2022. After a long recovery, he made his return to the field 405 days later.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
3 – Xavier Coates (Storm)
2 – Nick Meaney (Storm)
1 – Cameron Munster (Storm)
