The St.George-Illawarra Dragons have proved they are genuine premiership heavyweights after dominating the Storm 34-14 in front of a packed house at Kogarah.
The game started with a lot of vigour by both sides, especially in defence from the Dragons, with plenty of ball movement also taking place. Widdop opened the scoring after 7 minutes with a penalty goal and from the next set, his side earnt a penalty before forcing a Storm drop out.
Some nice right side play by the Dragons ended with Aitken hitting the small space between the Storm edge defence and he reached out to score a strong try which Widdop converted.
The Dragons again earnt repeat sets after forcing a drop out before Chambers ran off his line a long way early to intercept a ball. He was penalised and Widdop added another goal.
Melbourne hit back just a few minutes later after Munster held up a pass for Slater, who did the same himself before putting Addo-Carr on a clear saloon passage down the sideline to score. Smith was unable to convert from the touchline.
The next 20 minutes saw both sides defences force a number of knock-ons and penalties, with neither side gaining any momentum over the other. A Widdop penalty goal just before halftime was the last score of the half and the Dragons lead at the break 12-4.
The Dragons struck fast and early after the break when McInnes darted between lazy goal line defence to score a great dummy half try. Widdop again converted and five minutes later, they crossed again after swinging the ball left, finding Lafai who dived over in the corner for a spectacular try. Widdop's sideline conversion was again flawless.
With 18 minutes left in the match, Melbourne struck back after some stunning lead up play by Munster, who ran to the line and then around the defender before throwing the cut-out pass to Addo-Carr. The Fox scored his second for the game out wide. Smith again failed to convert.
Just as the Storm looked to be mounting a fightback, Aitken received an inside ball, wandered infield before stepping through some lazy middle defence to jog away and score under the posts. Widdop again converted. He added another penalty goal 4 minutes later.
Inside the final 5 minutes, the Storm spread the ball left before Olam popped a nice little backdoor flick out to Addo-Carr who dives over in the corner to score his third try of the day. Smith converted the consolation try.
The Storm players lost their discipline in the final few minutes and then match ended with Widdop slotting yet another penalty goal.
Next Sunday another big clash awaits the Red V, they'll be at ANZ Stadium to face an in-form South Sydney. Melbourne are in Brisbane on Saturday where they'll 'host' the Titans in the first game of the Suncorp Stadium double header.