Storm bounce back in Naarm homecoming

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Melbourne Storm v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

A double from Cameron Munster has seen the Melbourne Storm return to form by downing the Manly Sea Eagles 28-8 in the opening match of Indigenous Round.

Putting aside the disappointment of back-to-back losses before a crowd of 10,168 on the lands of the Wurundjeri People, the Storm were a class above in extending their dominance over the Sea Eagles to six consecutive matches. 

Denied an early try after Felise Kaufusi was ruled to have put a foot into touch before grounding, the Storm capitalised on a scrum play minutes later with Munster (6th minute) taking on the line and dummying for first points. 

Dominating play for much of the first half without adding to their total, the home side struck a crucial blow with returning halfback Jahrome Hughes delivering a superb inside pass to send Chris Lewis (32nd minute) over with his first touch of the night.

Targeted relentlessly under the high ball during his first match back in first grade since late 2020, Jorge Taufua (37th minute) finished off a left side raid to narrow the margin to 12-4 at halftime.

Making the Sea Eagles pay for a wayward offload from Dylan Walker on halfway, Munster continued to target Taufua under the high ball and produced a result with Xavier Coates (43rd minute) flying through the air to collect his 11th try in as many matches for the Storm. 

Securing the result on the eve of the hour mark with Munster (56th minute) stripping the ball from Taufua's grasp, the superstar number six strolled over to collect his second try of the night.

Pushing the score out to 28-4 after the Sea Eagles failed to break the ten metre plane from a line drop out, a short pass from Nick Meaney allowed Kenny Bromwich (65th minute) to touch down for his first try of the season.

Rounding out proceedings with a consolation four-pointer to Christian Tuipulotu (68th minute), Kieran Foran had the distinction of throwing the final pass for a try-assist in his 250th appearance in first grade.

Next week, the Storm have the bye prior to Origin I, while the Sea Eagles will return home on Saturday evening to take on the Warriors.