Storm cruise to win against fumbletastic Knights

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Newcastle Knights v Melbourne Storm

Melbourne travelled to Newcastle to take on the Knights on a blustery day, running away with an easy win in the second half to the tune of 28-10.

The Knights struggled to make any metres through the Storm defence, relying heavily on big kicks aided by the wind to get them out of trouble.

In the 16th minute Kenny Bromwich got a good ball away to Jacks, who ran past a stationary defender to score a soft try to the left of the posts. Smith converted.

15 minutes later, the Knights hit back thanks to a great solo try by Ponga from dummy half, as he burrowed over between two defenders. He then converted his own try.

The Storm snatched the lead back just 3 minutes later when Watson took on the Storm line and put in a weak grubber which didn't get through the Storm line. Munster picked up the ball, passed to Addo-Carr and the speedster ran 70m to score. Smith converted.

Right on halftime, Smith kicked a penalty goal to give his side an 8 point lead.

The Knights opened the half well, when Watson strolled through the Storm right side defence but then throw a shocking pass to Mata'utia who couldn't handle it and a try went begging.

Just three minutes later though, the Knights made up for it when Ponga sent a nice ball to Denniss, whose rapid fire catch and pass gave Sio enough room to reach out and score in the left corner. Ponga was unable to kick from the sideline.

After receiving back-to-back penalties, CVameron Smith clamly potted a penalty goal. From the restart, Munster caught the ball, broke through the tackle and passed to Addo-Carr backing up, who then ran away to score under the posts. Smith converted.

Five minutes later and the Storm were in again after some nice draw and passing on the right side created the extra man. Vunivalu collected the low pass and dived over in the corner. Smith's conversion from touch in the strong wind was brilliant.

With 12 minutes left in the game, the Storm received another penalty 40m out and Smith decided to have a shot at the long range goal, but it was waved away.

Both sides turned over plenty of cheap ball in the final ten minutes, with neither troubling the score board.

Newcastle stay at McDonald Jones Stadium after the rep round, hosting Canterbury. Melbourne are in Adelaide for a clash with the Roosters.