Storm blow the pants off the Broncos at Suncorp

Embed from Getty Images

Brisbane Broncos v Melbourne Storm

It was a systematic deconstruction of the Brisbane Broncos at the hands of a merciless Melbourne Storm with a thumping 12-50 scoreline at Suncorp Stadium.

Jahrome Hughes stared for the Storm, snagging three tries, three line breaks and putting 120 run meters beside his name. But Hughes wasn't the only one to get a hat trick, with Will Warbrick making it personal against the Broncos with 5 line breaks and 300 meters eaten up.

Brisbane coach Kevvie Walters had hoped that the boys would play for the jersey in front of the home crowd, but that wish started to fade quickly as Will Warbrick started his demolition job 10 minutes in after being given too much space. Only to find the Broncos lacking 5 minutes later for his second try, and the home team looked bamboozled.

The Storm seemed unstoppable even when pinned in their half, with Hughes sending a rocket of a pass to Warbrick in their on quarter only to finally finish off the charge up the field for himself for his first try of the night.

 The steamrolling didn't stop as Eliesa Katoa finished another easy raid into Broncos territory for the Storm to be up 0-22 in the first 20 minutes.

With some changes, the Broncos seemed to find rhythm in the chaos, and Blake Mozer set up Walters in the 30 minute to give the home crowd something to cheer about.

But it was short-lived as Harry Grant exposed the Bronco's defence to be lazy and already on holiday at the end of the half. And we went to the sheds with the Storm leading 6-28.

The second half saw the Storm pouring on more points as Hughes got his second. So on fire where the Storm that even though Hughes thought he had not scored the try, the Bunker said, take the points, boys, this is your night.

Storm favourite Xavier Coates got a try not long after, with the big winger throwing himself into the game eager from such a long time off with injury.

Hughes got his hat trick shortly after, as Warbrick contested a high ball, and the Storm showed too much tenacity with multiple players in support, feeding it to their gun halfback to get the points.

In the 62nd minute, a late call from the Bunker found Eliesa Katoa had caught Tristan Sailor high, and the second rower got 10 minutes for his trouble.

It was some easy maths for the Broncos as they quickly went on the attack down the side Katoa had been on, and Jesse Arthars went over.

But there would never be any comeback, and the deal was sealed. Even with one man down, the Storm managed to outstrip the Bronco's defence, and Warbrick slid over for his third shortly after the Broncos had scored. The last 10 minutes of the game were merely a back-and-forth because of dropped balls by both teams.

The game played out til the end to 12-50, and on all accounts, Storm coach Craig Bellamy would probably say they left at least another 12 points out there!

The Broncos were tired and disjointed, with bad decisions the rule of the night for them. With no inspiration, they were lucky they had some resolve to hold out the Storm to only 50.

The Storm were electric, with Hughes and Warbrick commanding respect. Sualauvi Faalogo showed fantastic skill and flare with multiple line breaks, which was generally a headache for the Broncos. Unfortunately, he came off the field around the 68th minute with what seemed to be a hamstring problem, and we will have to wait for the outcome.

The Broncos pack it in for a year with what was a forgetful last few weeks; one of the powerhouses of NRL will have to do some soul-searching for 2025.

The Storm pushes on to bigger and better things, ready to take on whoever ends up in position four on the ladder at AAMI Park, likely to be the Cronulla Sharks.