Warriors coach Andrew Webster could lose Dallin Watene-Zelezniak to justice and center Rocco Berry, who was taken off the field in agony after injuring his shoulder, for their next game against Gold Coast.
Wingers Watene-Zelezniak and Marcelo Montoya were penalized six minutes apart for a dangerous tackle and a professional foul respectively during the 38-24 loss at Mount Smart Stadium last night.
The Storm capitalized with tries from Xavier Coates and young fullback Sua Fa’alogo, who completed his first NRL double with a decisive goal in the 79th minute after the Warriors had taken a 14-0 lead in the rain.
“Really disappointing,” Webster said.
“The boys were super focused and committed. Physically I thought we were outstanding, I thought we looked very strong and dominant.
“But every mistake had an incredibly negative outcome. You go through a game and you make mistakes and sometimes they can hurt you. Tonight, any negative thing was no small thing, it was huge and, to be fair to them, they took advantage.” that.”
Warriors talisman Shaun Johnson remained anonymous upon his return from injury and failed to make an impact with the boot or his ballplay.
Half-time partner Te Maire Martin scored his tenth try in four games but after the first few minutes he was disappointing, sending a full kick and reporting a high shot over Sualauvi Fa’alogo.
The Storm’s victory extended Melbourne’s dominance over the Warriors to 16 consecutive wins spanning 3,261 days, the longest active winning streak over a single team in the competition.
In front of a sellout crowd, the Warriors swept the Storm in the first quarter, with 76 percent possession and 90 percent territory.
Melbourne were unable to complete a set until the 14th minute, but despite the home team’s dominance, they regretted only two attempts to prove it.
“To be honest, I don’t remember us starting out that bad,” coach Craig Bellamy said.
“The guys showed a lot of resilience to come back and rebuild us in the game.”
After her team had barely been tackled in the opposition half, Eliesa Katoa stole the ball from Warriors center Adam Pompey, who had just landed after receiving a bomb from Hughes, and crossed to open the Storm’s account.
In a brilliant 20-minute period, Melbourne completed 11 of 11 sets and scored another three tries through Grant Anderson, Dean Ierimia and Nick Meaney to close the first half on top.
