Munster makes his mark on a night Melbourne won’t forget

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Melbourne Storm v South Sydney Rabbitohs

The Melbourne Storm have continued a dominant record on ANZAC Day with a 54-20 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at AAMI Park.

Scoring ten tries to four - in a result that will amplify the speculation surrounding the future of Jason Demetriou as South Sydney coach - the Storm extended an unbeaten record against the Rabbitohs in Melbourne to 19 consecutive matches 

Getting off to a fast start with Jahrome Hughes exposing the Rabbitohs' retreating defence with a chip kick to send Ryan Papenhuyzen (6th minute) over for first points, the Storm capitalised on an error in the following set to take the score out to 10-0 after Cameron Munster audaciously chipped for Xavier Coates (10th minute) on the first play of a set restart.

The Rabbitohs managed to work their way back into the contest with multiple sets attacking the Storm line and were rewarded with recalled winger Jacob Gagai (18th minute) touching down for his second try in as many games in the top grade. 

Three tries in the space of five minutes shifted the momentum of the match back in favour of the home side with Munster running riot to set up a hat-trick for Coates (27th and 32nd minutes) separated in between by a four-pointer to Will Warbrick (29th minute).

A solo effort from Harry Grant (37th minute) out of dummy half completed a first half rout with the Storm going to the shed leading 32-4.

Continuing the rout after the resumption with an early penalty paving the way for Papenhuyzen (42nd minute) to snare his second, the Rabbitohs managed to temporarily stem the flow of points with Gagai (51st minute) running onto a cut-out pass from Cody Walker to collect his second.

The Rabbitohs continued to rally with tries in quick succession to Taane Milne (57th minute) and Cameron Murray (59th minute) narrowing the margin to 36-20 with plenty of time left on the clock.

Awakening from their third quarter malaise with tries to Munster (65th minute) and Tyran Wishart (70th minute) - filling in for Coates on the wing - a soaring catch through the air from Joe Chan (76th minute) saw the Storm cross the half century threshold.

A dangerous tackle on Munster in the final seconds of the match saw Milne sent to the sin bin as the Storm posted their eighth consecutive victory on ANZAC Day to the delight of 25,149 supporters.

Next week, the Storm will face the Titans at CBUS Super Stadium on Saturday evening, while the Rabbitohs will host the Panthers at Accor Stadium on Thursday night.