The Warriors have won their first match in Melbourne in 12 years, consigning the Storm to their fourth successive loss in a bully-boy performance at AAMI Park.
The New Zealand side ran over the top of Melbourne in their Saturday night clash to score six tries en route to a 38-14 victory to end a 17-game losing streak against their Victorian rivals.
It’s the first time since 2022 that traditional powerhouse Melbourne have lost four consecutive games.
The Storm paid the ultimate price for their poor discipline, with coach Craig Bellamy left seething as the Warriors ran away with the match in the second half after leading 18-14 at halftime.
The home side didn’t score a point after the 25th minute, with seven ruck infringements to three leaving them repeatedly back-pedalling.
Melbourne also conceded seven penalties, with lock Trent Loiero, who was put on report, and second-rower Joe Chan the worst offenders.
After their 40-point loss to Penrith last round Bellamy laid down the law at training about their flimsy defence, but he didn’t get the response he was after, with a horror-show 32 missed tackles.
The Warriors also locked down Melbourne skipper Harry Grant, with the dummy-half only making 16 run metres for the match.
The Storm were ahead 14-12 when Nick Meaney converted Jack Howarth’s 23rd-minute try, but the Warriors turned the momentum soon after when they were gifted a try.
Hooker Tanah Boyd threw a pass that flew past six players from both sides and bounced, with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scooping it up to score the first of his two tries for the night.
A late penalty strike by Boyd then put his team up by four points at halftime.
Melbourne’s second-half fightback almost immediately fell flat, with three Warriors tries in the first 11 minutes leaving the sell-out crowd silenced, with the Storm trailing 36-14.
While they only added another 58th-minute penalty goal, the Warriors continued to out-muscle Melbourne in both defence and attack in a statement performance.
