Melbourne Storm

Match Preview: Strom v Panthers

Tied on competition points having each picked up 10 wins from 15 games to date, the winner of Friday night's clash is a good chance of finishing Round 18 at the top of the ladder. 

The Panthers have been nothing but impressive through the Origin period so far, toughing out a handful of wins to go with a golden point loss to the Cowboys a fortnight ago, despite the absence of plenty of talent at different stages.

Melbourne too have been tracking well, with wins in their last three games, where their defensive efforts have been standing out.

No Munster, no matter as Storm overpower Sea Eagles

The Sea Eagles started strongly but the Storm scored 24 unanswered points in the absence of star playmaker Cameron Munster, who wore a medical mask in the coaches box after being ruled out with a virus.

In his place, Pezet stepped up and the 20-year-old combined with halfback Jahrome Hughes to give Melbourne a three-way share of first place along with the Panthers and Broncos, who face the Titans on Sunday. 

Match preview: Storm v Eagles

Both sides will be sweating on the availability of their Origin stars, who will have three days to rest and recover from Game Two in Brisbane on Wednesday night.

Melbourne's depth was on show at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday night with Jonah Pezet doing a fine job alongside Jahrome Hughes in the halves and winger George Jennings running for 198 metres in his first game of the season.

Warbrick scores four as Storm fire but Tigers celebrate Twal try

With new halves pairing Jahrome Hughes and Jonah Pezet calling the shots and rallying the troops, Melbourne went back-to-back at Campbelltown, despite missing three of their Origin superstars in Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and Xavier Coates.

While the Tigers were able to stay in the contest for majority of the match, with makeshift halves-pairing Brandon Wakeham and Starford To'a struggling to link up in attack and errors cruelling any chance they had of mounting pressure, Tim Sheens' side couldn't inspire a comeback at their spiritual home ground.

Storm v Sharks: Anderson in for Olam; McInnes returns

The Storm conceded an uncharacteristic 45 points to the Cowboys in Townsville to continue their inconsistent season while the Sharks were beaten by a classy Broncos outfit on home turf. 

Both sides have shared a period of dominance against each other since the 2016 grand final with Cronulla winning five of their next eight before Melbourne returned serve, winning five of the last six between the two clubs.

Kaufusi Origin fears as Storm hold off Dolphins

With ex-Storm forwards Jesse and Kenny Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi in the Dolphins pack, the game exploded early with Origin ramifications for Queensland.  

The Maroons selection hopes of Kaufusi are in doubt after he was sin-binned for a high shot on Melbourne prop Christian Welsh in just the second minute of the match against his former club.

Kaufusi only recently returned after serving a four-match ban for a late tackle on Knights playmaker Jackson Hastings and any suspension will rule him out of Maroons selection.

Bellamy to remain Storm coach in 2024

The master coach signed a new five-year contract with Storm in 2022 that allows him to decide each year whether he will continue in the head coach role for the following season or transition into a coaching director role.

Today, he informed the club he would remain in charge of the NRL squad he has led in 532 games with a winning percentage of just under 70%, for another year.

“It took me a little while to make a decision to be honest. Six or eight weeks ago I was pretty certain I would be packing things up,” Bellamy said of his decision.

Storm v Broncos: Kamikamica set to return; Capewell named

Melbourne have shown signs of their being at their ruthless best in 2023 but the inconsistencies of their performances is a concern for Craig Bellamy, who conceded following the Bunnies defeat that they weren't learning from losses.

The Broncos have been the form team in 2023 with eight wins from 10 starts but face their toughest road trip yet in just their third time leaving Queensland this year. 

Rabbitohs' magic men all class in win over Storm

The mercurial duo both laid on tries with grubber kicks as the Rabbitohs avenged a Round 5 loss to Melbourne and climbed to second on the ladder in the process.

After Rabbitohs winger Alex Johnston was dragged down just short of the line in the sixth minute, Mitchell jumped into dummy half and laid on a try for Walker with a brilliant grubber kick. The star fullback converted for a 6-0 lead.

 

Storm v Rabbitohs: Katoa set to return; Knight back in NRL

Melbourne were the last team to beat South Sydney back in Round 5, and since then Jason Demetriou's side have shown themselves to be arguably the competition's form team with consecutive wins over the Bulldogs, Dolphins, Panthers and Broncos. 

With Campbell Graham scoring tries for fun and Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell firing, the Rabbitohs are a scary prospect with ball in hand, while in defence they have given up more than 18 points to an opponent just once all year.