Storm destroy the Broncos to keep the NRL competition on notice

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Brisbane Broncos v Melbourne Storm

Melbourne have thrashed the Broncos 46-8 in wet conditions at Suncorp Stadium tonight to send a reminder to the NRL competition that they are still contenders despite the Storm having the challenge of not being able to be based in Melbourne for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Melbourne held a narrow 18-4 lead against a seemingly rejuvenated Broncos at halftime, before the Storm went on the rampage, racing in for six second half tries to humiliate the Broncos on their home turf.

Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Smith were the orchestrators for the visitors, with Hughes scoring a crucial try before the break to swing the momentum in the visitors favour. Following Hughes' solo effort prior to halftime, Melbourne picked apart the hapless Broncos with Hughes, Josh Addo -Carr, Ryan Papenhuyzen and young gun Tino Fa'asuamaleaui all scoring 2 tries each in a dominant display.

For Brisbane, despite showing some vast improvement in effort in the first half, the pressure just continues to pile on under siege coach Anthony Seibold, after his side again capitulated in another horror display. 

Coming into the match it was unprecedented that Melbourne had been such strong favourites during their fierce rivalry. However, that seemed perfectly justified when in just the first minute of the game Storm hooker Cameron Smith put in a deft grubber on the last. The ball then deflected off Broncos forward Pat Carrigan and was then toed ahead by Kenny Bromwich. Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr then got to the ball ahead of Bromwich to open the scoring. Smith converted and it was 6-0. 

The Broncos however responded with a seemingly rejuvenated Anthony Milford and Darius Boyd who combined on the left to have winger Herbie Farnworth denied a first try for the Broncos having slid a leg into touch. However de-ja-vu occurred minutes later and Farnworth got the ball down the left-hand side of the same duo and made no mistake this time, scoring in the corner to tie up the game following the conversion from Kotoni Staggs from the sideline. 

Both sides then traded penalty goals through Staggs and Smith respectively to even the scores at 8 all. In what proved to be a crucial play just before the break,all Melbourne snatched the lead through half Jahrome Hughes who collected the ball inside his own 20 metres. The Storm number 7 then fended away from Broncos interchange forward Jamil Hopoate to score beside the posts in a superb solo effort to give his side the lead 14-8 at the break. 

Melbourne again mirrored their first half with an early try, when Cameron Munster held up a beautiful ball at the line for his backrower Kenny Bromwich to crash over. Smith missed the conversion, however the Storm led 18-8 after the break. 

The Storm then marched downfield again, when lock Dale Finucane took the ball close to the line and hit young gun Tino Fa'asuamaleaui who ran a superb line to crashes over to score. Smith converted to make it 24-8. 

Melbourne continued to flex their muscle, when Maroons five-eighth Cameron Munster was crunched close to the line, however managed to get away a terrific offload to Ryan Papenhuyzen who scored a great try to extend the visitors lead to 30-8. 

The dominance continued at the backend of the match with Hughes, Addo-Carr and Fa'asuamaleaui scoring doubles to extend the scoreline to a dominant 46-8 win. 

Melbourne now currently sit on top of the ladder on for and against and now return to their new base on the Sunshine Coast, where they face the Knights next Sunday. 

Brisbane meanwhile need to rectify their home form, as they host the Cronulla Sharks at Suncorp Stadium next Friday night.