Round 7
Storm 52 d. Knights 6

2006 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Storm put Knights to sword
Sun April 23, 2006
Source: www.melbournestorm.com.au

Melbourne Storm returned to Olympic Park in fine style against the Newcastle Knights, scoring their first try in the opening 60 seconds and never looking back in front of crowd of 9,084 rugby league starved fans.

Even before the game started the Knights were on the back foot.

As the Knights camp had been saying all week, Andrew Johns didn't play, and when Reegan Tanner pulled out with a stomach virus, the Newcastle outfit were stretched to the limits.

Milton Thaiday, who was to be given a rest to recover from some niggling injuries, took his place on the bench and David Seage was given the task of custodian.

From the opening minute, when the Knights kicked out on the full from the kick-off, the Storm were determined to put on show for their faithful fans, and they didn't disappoint in the opening half with both Greg Inglis and Steve Turner scoring a pair of tries.

Without the injured Johns, the Knights struggled to penetrate the Storm defence, and the Knights' only joy in the first half came in the 15th minute when Kurt Gidley crossed and converted his own try to make the score 8-6.

From there it was one way traffic, and with a half-time lead of 24-6, the Storm was on a mission to break records.

And break records they did.

With second-half tries to David Kidwell, Jake Webster, Matt King and Matt Geyer, and Cam Smith kicking eight goals, the Storm racked up a record score against the Knights.

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy rated the performance as their best for the season.

"I think that's the best defensive effort since I've been here," said Bellamy.

"Some of the individuals tonight, and the way they defended.

"I know they didn't have Johns tonight, but they've still got a lot of good players in there like Buderus, the Gidley boys (Matthew and Kurt), Steve Simpson, (Josh) Perry and (Craig) Smith.

"They might have scored a few more points if Joey had been playing, but I just thought our defensive effort was tremendous tonight."

With the game billed as the battle of the hookers between Cam Smith and Danny Buderus, the Storm captain rose to the challenge.

"It's always a good experience to come up against a bloke like him (Buderus)," said Smith.

"He's the best hooker in the world and everyone knows that.

"I've always enjoyed playing against him and whenever I cross that line I always try and beat my opposite number."

Smith was also pleased to return home to Olympic Park after six Rounds away from home.

"We wanted to go out and put on a show for the crowd and we certainly did that."

Report sent by: www.melbournestorm.com.au


Not even Johns could have saved Newcastle
Sun April 23, 2006
So good were the Melbourne Storm last night in their emphatic 52-6 win over the Knights.

In an atmosphere more appropriate for a morgue, and in front of only just over 9000 fans the Storm made light work of the Knights.

The scene was set by Melbourne CEO, Brian Waldron as he welcomed people to the Storms first home game after 7 on the road. They played the new, and quite impressive Storm advertisements that will be showed on TV, then game on.

It was all Melbourne as the Knights offered only token resistance.

Greg Inglis opened the scoring in the 2nd minute for the Storm and the taunts about a Johns-less Knights started very early. Those taunts were soon knocked on the head when Kurt Gidley scored to even the match up in the 15th minute. However, the Storm ran in another three tries, Cameron Smith kicked 4 goals and it was all over by halftime.

Melbourne scored four more second half tries, although the last one looked highly doubtful even with the BOD rule, and the Knights went home a well beaten.

While the talk of the Knights without Johns will be high on the agenda, the Storm were just simply too strong for a very ordinary Newcastle outfit.

Melbourne looked good and with so many matches to come at Olympic Park, they look good bets for a top 4 finish. The big question is, can they convince Victorians to give this game a chance to grow on them? Brian Waldron wants to see the Storm on FTA tele and thats the right way to go, but what about a highlights package of the weeks round too? Not everyone in Melbourne has Foxtel (or supports the Storm) and at the moment, that is about the only way you can get decent television coverage here.

The sad part of all of this is, the Storm are a damn good football team. They play an exciting style of Rugby League, but hardly anyone gets to see it in Melbourne. Someone needs to pull their fingers out and do it fast. Hopefully we dont have to wait until Nine lose the AFL rights.

In other matches last night the Warriors moved off the bottom of the ladder with a resounding 46-14 win over Souths, while Cronulla pulled off an upset 24-22 win over the Cowboys.

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