The Melbourne Storm walked off the field sporting Diamond Smiles after a dominant second half saw them put away a Manly side that were strong in the first half.
Neither side had the upper hand in the opening exchanges and it wasn't until some quick thinking by Manly got the points flowing when Daly Cherry-Evans put in a perfectly weighted grubber for Haumole Olakau'atu, who cleaned up the rolling ball skilfully and scored out wide on the right side. Reuben Garrick converted from the sideline to give Manly a 6-0 lead after 15 minutes.
It took 26 minutes before the Storm got on the scoreboard courtesy of a brilliant flick pass by William Warbrick behind his back, kept the ball in play as he got bundled into touch. Jahrome Hughes scooped up the loose ball and scored in the corner. Nick meaney failed to convert.
The Storm scored just before the halftime siuren sounded when a Hughes grubber was pounced on by Jonah Pezet, who scored under the sticks. Meaney added the extras and at halftime, Melbourne held an unconvincing 10-6 lead.
Both sides were guilty of ill-discipline, especially with the ball in hand, but it seemed the break helped Melbourne to clean up their game, but sadly for Manly, the same could not be said.
17 minutes into the second half, Nelson Asofa-Solomona made a regulation hit-up wide of the ruck, broke through the feeblest tackle effort, stepped off his right foot like any brilliant centre, to avoid Garrick's tackle attempt, before racing 30 metres to score a great try. Meaney converted.
in the 64th minute the Storm took the game away from Manly when a Pezet grubber was fumbled back by a diving Ray Tuaimalo-Vaega. The ball popped up nicely for Xavier Coates, who took it cleanly as he got crunched by Garrick, but he had enough strength and momentum to get across the line to score. Meaney failed to convert from the sideline.
The Storm put the game beyond doubt in the 73rd minute when Pezet put in a perfect grubber for Coates, who regathered it cleanly and then spectacularly dived to score in the corner while the rest of his body was in the air and over the sideline. Pezet failed to convert from the sideline. Melbourne strolling to a comfortable 24-6 win.