Melbourne Storm have confirmed their premiership favouritism with a dominant 40-12 victory over a powerless Manly Sea Eagles at Sunshine Coast Stadium tonight.
Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen was simply electric for his side, scoring 2 tries, 7 goals and a stunning 2 point field goal to finish with a personal haul of 22 points in a sensational display to push his side into yet another Preliminary Final in a fortnight's time.
Manly's superstar fullback and Dally M favourite Tom Trbojevic was successfully nullified by the Storm defence, with the Manly fullback left frustrated as he failed to have an impact on the game. The Sea Eagles will also be sweating on the Match Review Committee allowing backrower Josh Schuster to participate in their sudden death final next week, after the rookie of the year contender was placed on report for a lifting tackle on Jahrome Hughes in the 55th minute.
Melbourne's dominance was even more impressive, considering they lost in form hooker Brandon Smith who failed his HIA just before halftime. Smith was seen on the sideline with a swollen cheek and will be sent for scans to confirm no structural damage has been suffered in order to confirm his availability in a fortnight's time.
Manly suffered a nervous start to the match and it cost them dearly, when Daly Cherry-Evans delivered a poor pass to centre Morgan Harper which hit the deck. Storm hooker Brandon Smith then scooped up the ball and offloaded to flyer Isaac Lumelume who streaked away for the first try of the game. Papenhuyzen converted and it was Melbourne leading 6-0 after just four minutes.
The early dominance of the Storm continued minutes later when Cameron Munster provided a neat ball out the back close to the line for backrower Kenny Bromwich. The Kiwi backrower then wrestled his way over to score. Papenhuyzen missed the conversion from out wide for a 10-0 lead.
Manly's finals hopes were then in freefall minutes later, when Storm prop Christian Welch crashed over for just his 5th career try, when he hit a lovely flat ball out of dummy half from Brandon Smith close to the line and it was 16-0 as the Storm raced the clock.
Manly continued to shoot themselves in the foot when lock Jake Trbojevic was penalised for holding down Jahrome Hughes close to the line, which saw Papenhuyzen point to the posts and extend the lead to three converted tries.
Back-to-back penalties for Manly then gave the Sea Eagles a sniff and thankfully for fans, they took their limited opportunity when Daly Cherry-Evans kicked high for the tall reach of Jason Saab on the last. The lanky winger managed to then leap over his opposite winger Isaac Lumelume to score and reduced the score line to 18-6 with halftime looming.
Papenhuyzen then swung momentum back to the Storm, when the 2020 Clive Churchill Medalist sliced through the Manly defence close to the line, scoring a crucial try before the break, then converting his own try to give Craig Bellamy's men a commanding 24-6 at halftime.
After the break the Storm dominance continued when Justin Olam made a bust and found Harry Grant in support. Grant then looked to his right to find a flying Ryan Papenhuyzen who put on a superb in and away on the cover defence to score his second try under the posts.
Manly needed to roll the dice to be any hope and they did so when Reuben Garrick punted a surprise deep kick off a twenty-metre tap. Storm winger Lumelume looked to have it covered until a dramatic slip which saw him lose the ball. Jason Saab then collected the crumbs to score under the posts and narrow the score to 30-12.
Melbourne then made the mountain that much higher to climb for Manly, when Tom Trbojevic was penalised for a high tackle on Jahrome Hughes in front of the posts. Papenhuyzen made no mistake with the chance to extend the lead yet again and it was 32-12 with less than 20 minutes remaining.
Off the back of a superb 40/20 from Cameron Munster, Justin Olam put the icing on the cake, when the PNG centre crashed over for a blockbusting try following a brilliant offload from Nelson Asofa-Solomona to put the game to bed.
Papenhuyzen then rubbed salt into the wounds when he put an exclamation mark on the win with a 2-point field goal as the siren sounded to round out a commanding 40-12 win.
Melbourne are now through to the Preliminary Final and will enjoy a week off, before they play for a chance at another Grand Final, while Manly now await the winner of the Roosters vs Titans match tomorrow afternoon.