Accor Stadium: There was always a risk South Sydney players were going to be nursing a bit of a John Sattler hangover.
Six days after they won a golden-point thriller against Manly as they farewelled club legend Sattler, Souths were unable to conjure up enough energy to run over the top of a spirited Melbourne.
Take nothing away from the Storm because they were brilliant defensively in the 18-10 win. How many other teams would have stopped Souths so late in the game with the amount of ball they had?
They have now won 32 of their 38 clashes against the Pride of the League.
Souths coach Jason Demetriou said the emotion from last week was “possibly” the reason for the sluggish start.
“But I think it’s an excuse to be honest,” Demtriou said. “We didn’t come with the intensity we have had the last few weeks, you could feel it pre-game, we weren’t quite where we needed to be – we were waiting for something to happen. Scoreboard pressure gets the better of you. Melbourne are a desperate team, they fight hard to stop you from scoring points and they came up with some last-ditch efforts.”
Will Warbrick dives in at the corner to score for the Storm.Credit:Getty
The visitors raced out to an 18-6 lead courtesy of some Cameron Munster magic just after the break.
Fellow headline act Latrell Mitchell slowly injected himself into the game and put Campbell Graham over for a try as Souths looked set to notch another come-from-behind win.
Damien Cook was held up near the line after Tui Kamikamica somehow cut down Mitchell the play before. And Alex Johnston dropped the ball over the line after a head clash with Nick Meaney.
The real heartbreak for Souths fans arrived when Izaac Thompson thought he had scored, only for Harry Grant to throw his body into the tackle and force the winger into touch.
Cameron Murray looks to make a break through the Melbourne defence.Credit:NRL Photos
It was a classic Melbourne victory that will give them plenty of confidence ahead of next Thursday’s ding-dong battle against the Sydney Roosters. What a match-up it will be between Grant and former Storm hooker Brandon Smith. An added bonus will be welcoming back the suspended Jahrome Hughes.
Souths take on Canterbury on Good Friday, knowing the horror opening five weeks of the season is out of the way.
There was a brief scare when Cameron Murray was collected high by Tom Eisenhuth. Murray, who has a history of head knocks, thankfully bounced back to his feet and finished the game.
The skipper only knows one gear, which prompted Andrew Johns to ask on the Nine commentary if there was a need to start sparing Murray punching out 80 minutes every week.
Before the Manly win, Souths toughed out narrow losses to the Sydney Roosters and premiers Penrith.
Melbourne were near perfect in the opening 40 minutes. The only error came when Grant knocked on when trying to score on the first tackle, and only because he was unaware referee Todd Smith had ruled six again.
Josh King was the first to score when he pounced on a kick from Jonah Pezet.
But the home side hit back a few minutes later when Lachlan Ilias put Murray into a gap who then found Cody Walker.
Thompson did well to keep bringing the ball out of trouble for Souths, and even barrelled Munster over on one occasion, only for the five-eighth to get up and wave to the crowd who enjoyed the moment.
Munster made a break after half-time, only to throw the ball behind Justin Olam in support, but was there on the spot a couple of minutes later when Xavier Coates kicked back in-field.
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