Themis
24-05-08, 10:49 PM
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,23753191-5006066,00.html
By David Beniuk | May 24, 2008 12:00am
MELBOURNE 15 SOUTH SYDNEY 10
A WEARY Melbourne side with eight players backing up from State of Origin duty outlasted a dogged South Sydney to win in an arm wrestle at Bluetongue Stadium tonight.
The Storm did just enough to see off a Rabbitohs side which offered little to trouble them in attack although it finished at two tries apiece when Souths centre Nigel Vagana grabbed a late double.
The Storm were always going to struggle going into the match after last Wednesday's Origin, but only regular five-eighth Greg Inglis failed to play tonight after picking up a knee injury.
The Rabbitohs have now won only one game from 10 starts this season. It was 4-0 until the 58th minute tonight with Melbourne scoring a first half try through centre Will Chambers in a match Melbourne never really looked like losing.
Both sides were content to play safety first football and Cameron Smith knocked over a penalty goal in the 58th minute before second rower Jeremy Smith crashed over following a Cooper Cronk bomb in the 62nd to make it 12-0.
The Rabbitohs gave themselves some hope in the 72nd minute when their policy of bombing Storm fullback Billy Slater paid dividends with Nigel Vagana winning a race to the ball and touching down.
But Melbourne halfback Cronk sealed the deal with a field goal with five minutes remaining to make it 13-6 before Smith booted a late penalty goal.
Vagana's consolation try in the 79th minute after a short kick-off regather was too little too late. Earlier, a bizarre incident soon after halftime had almost extended the Storm's 4-0 lead.
Attempting to defuse a Cronk bomb, Souths' Vagana pushed his five-eighth Dean Widders out of the way and the loose ball was almost dived on for a try by Chambers.
An out of sorts Melbourne spent most of the first stanza in their own half after some uncharacteristic errors but Souths couldn't make them pay as Widders struggled to ignite his backline and poor last tackle kicking options failed to exert any pressure.
The Storm made it look easy in the 13th minute when five-eighth Matt Geyer put Chambers through a hole and the big centre strolled through Vagana to touch down.
Fulltime
MELBOURNE 15 (W Chambers J Smith tries C Smith 3 goals C Cronk field goal) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 10 (N Vagana 2 tries I Luke goal) at Bluetongue Stadium. Referee: J Maxwell. Crowd: 8,000.
By David Beniuk | May 24, 2008 12:00am
MELBOURNE 15 SOUTH SYDNEY 10
A WEARY Melbourne side with eight players backing up from State of Origin duty outlasted a dogged South Sydney to win in an arm wrestle at Bluetongue Stadium tonight.
The Storm did just enough to see off a Rabbitohs side which offered little to trouble them in attack although it finished at two tries apiece when Souths centre Nigel Vagana grabbed a late double.
The Storm were always going to struggle going into the match after last Wednesday's Origin, but only regular five-eighth Greg Inglis failed to play tonight after picking up a knee injury.
The Rabbitohs have now won only one game from 10 starts this season. It was 4-0 until the 58th minute tonight with Melbourne scoring a first half try through centre Will Chambers in a match Melbourne never really looked like losing.
Both sides were content to play safety first football and Cameron Smith knocked over a penalty goal in the 58th minute before second rower Jeremy Smith crashed over following a Cooper Cronk bomb in the 62nd to make it 12-0.
The Rabbitohs gave themselves some hope in the 72nd minute when their policy of bombing Storm fullback Billy Slater paid dividends with Nigel Vagana winning a race to the ball and touching down.
But Melbourne halfback Cronk sealed the deal with a field goal with five minutes remaining to make it 13-6 before Smith booted a late penalty goal.
Vagana's consolation try in the 79th minute after a short kick-off regather was too little too late. Earlier, a bizarre incident soon after halftime had almost extended the Storm's 4-0 lead.
Attempting to defuse a Cronk bomb, Souths' Vagana pushed his five-eighth Dean Widders out of the way and the loose ball was almost dived on for a try by Chambers.
An out of sorts Melbourne spent most of the first stanza in their own half after some uncharacteristic errors but Souths couldn't make them pay as Widders struggled to ignite his backline and poor last tackle kicking options failed to exert any pressure.
The Storm made it look easy in the 13th minute when five-eighth Matt Geyer put Chambers through a hole and the big centre strolled through Vagana to touch down.
Fulltime
MELBOURNE 15 (W Chambers J Smith tries C Smith 3 goals C Cronk field goal) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 10 (N Vagana 2 tries I Luke goal) at Bluetongue Stadium. Referee: J Maxwell. Crowd: 8,000.