The Melbourne Storm have continued their strong run of recent form, putting on a defensive masterclass to beat a Panthers side missing a host of stars 16 points to nil.
Both sides appeared to be on the ball to start the game, the arm wrestle being enhanced by the ball being in play for an extended period.
The Panthers were the first to have any real attacking opportunity after Cameron Munster gifted them prime field position with a basic error. The purple wall held firm however, and it was the Storm who scored first against the run of play. Justin Olam, not for the only time, found space down the left hand side before putting in a great kick ahead, which sat up perfectly for Nick Meaney to score under the posts.
It's fair to say the play had the Panthers rattled, with the Storm scoring another try in the set directly after the kickoff to restart play. Their forwards had them rolling up the field nicely before Brandon Smith ran a superb line to beat two Penrith defenders. The Kiwi international then put on a step to beat stand-in fullback Charlie Staines, and just like that the score was 12-0 to the visitors.
The Panthers were handed another golden opportunity to get themselves back into the game when Nelson Asofa-Solomona made a poor error coming out of his own end.
Penrith, not for the only time, had nothing in attack though. They went close with Brian To'o but the Storm's scramble, Justin Olam's in particular, was too good. The Panthers would receive a penalty though and go again, and it appeared Viliame Kikau had crashed over, but the bunker deemed he knocked on over the line.
The Storm, off the back of the ensuing seven tackle set, were able to produce a dagger. They forced an error from young winger Sunia Turuva and the Panthers defensive line never recovered as Melbourne spread the ball left to find David Nofoaluma, who shrugged off a tackle attempt from Stephen Crichton to score his first try as a member of the Storm.
Nick Meaney's missed conversion meant that the score was 16-0 in the Storm's favour, and that was the way it stayed for the remaining 49 minutes of play. Xavier Coates looked to have produced the put-down of the century (no exaggeration) on the stroke of halftime, but replays showed he knocked on.
It remains to be seen how much the Panthers will read into what was an extraordinarily poor attacking display, especially by their lofty standards. They enjoyed 55 tackles in the opposition's 20 metre zone compared to the Storm's 10, 37 of which came in the second half along with a 63% share of possession. Obviously it can be discounted somewhat considering they were missing 3 of their starting 4 spine players, but it's not the kind of performance Ivan Cleary would be wanting so close to the finals, regardless of who takes the field.
On the other side of the coin is the Storm, who not only held Penrith out despite the possession being so lopsided, but did it with ease. The Panthers never really looked like scoring except for in broken field situations, and even then the scramble defence was as good as it's been in months. Yes, their last 3 victories have only come against the Warriors, Titans and Panthers reserves, but you can only beat the team in front of you as they say, and there have certainly been some encouraging signs to come out of the Storm's recent performances.
Next week, they have another tough road trip to Suncorp against the Broncos, while the Panthers will need some players back if they are to be a chance at beating the Rabbitohs away.