The Storm flexed their considerable muscle and powered to the top of the ladder with a 42-16 win over the Warriors at Central Coast Stadium on Sunday.
The premiers’ 12th win of the season draws them level on 24 points with Penrith but a superior for and against has them top of the pile – but the joy may be short-lived for Cameron Munster, who again went on report for lashing out with his leg.
After escaping with a fine for kicking Blues forward Liam Martin in Origin I, Munster could be in hot water after making contact with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck while trying to get to his feet to play the ball in the first half.
Any charge for the mercurial five-eighth would take the gloss off another superb Storm victory, which was set up in the opening 40 minutes by tries to Dean Ieremia, Brandon Smith and Josh Addo-Carr.
In tandem with fellow hooker Harry Grant, who bagged a try in the second half, Smith was a standout for the Storm with 124 metres from 16 powerhouse runs and five tackle breaks.
After leading 18-2 at the break, Melbourne went into overdrive as Jahrome Hughes, Justin Olam, Tom Eisenhuth and Grant added their name to the tryscoring list.
On a horror afternoon for the Warriors, they also lost halfback Chanel Harris-Tavita to a suspected torn pectoral muscle and Wayde Egan to a head knock.
One of few shining lights for the Warriors was a hat-trick of tries to winger Ken Maumalo who signed off with two tries in his 106th and final game for the club before joining Wests Tigers.
