The hot streak continues for Melbourne Storm in the Jersey Flegg competition, defeating the Newcastle Knights 42-16 to make it six wins in a row on Saturday afternoon.
Hitting the road for the third time in the last month, Storm were on the back foot early, with Knights halfback Liam Sutton finishing off a magnificent 65-metre run from winger Jahoiyakim Afoa to take an early 6-0 lead.
After continually peppering the Knights line defence, Storm hooker Gabriel Satrick found prop Che Te Rangi who poked through a gap on the right side of the goals to open Storm's account in the 11th minute.
A quick reply down the left side from Knights winger Luke Pietzner in the 14th minute saw the home side grab back the lead.
Both sides managed to string together some complete sets with no luck, until Storm five-eighth Stanley Huen continued his try-scoring form with a lovely solo run bursting through the Knights defence to level the scores at 12 all in the 22nd minute.
Huen’s try would kick-start a dominant scoring display from Storm with tries to second rower Poasi Manu in the 26th minute, fullback Matthew Hill in the 29th minute and centre Mitchell Jennings in the 32nd minute had Storm going into the sheds at half-time with a 30-12 lead.
The Knights would score the first try of the second-half, with five-eighth Jye Linnane diving across the line in the 42nd minute in an attempt to wrestle momentum for the home side.
After some back and forth play, an error from the Knights gave Storm a set of six 20-metres out from the line, with Stanley Huen making the most of the opportunity, crossing over in the left edge for his second try of the afternoon in the 52nd minute.
A fantastic strip from Matthew Hill in the 67th minute to get his second try, and a conversion from Keegan Russell-Smith who went a perfect seven from seven was enough to give Storm a 42-16 win and sit in 5th spot on the ladder and a win outside the top 4.
Round 17 action will see Storm host the St George Illawarra Dragons at Seabrook Reserve on Sunday at 2pm.
