If you just look at the stats, it’s hard to know how the Warriors ended up being handily defeated 38-24 by the Storm on Saturday night. They dominated possession, covered more yards, nearly doubled the tackle breaks and even had a higher effective tackle percentage.
The problem, however, as coach Andrew Webster lamented after the game, was that the game came down to key moments, and the Warriors found themselves on the wrong end of all of them.
“The guys were super focused, committed; physically, I thought we were outstanding. We were super strong, dominant, but every mistake had an incredibly negative outcome,” Webster said.
“You go through a game, you make mistakes and sometimes you get hurt. Tonight, it all did. It wasn’t small, it was huge.”
The ruthless Storm even punished what would normally be considered a good game, particularly when Adam Pompey did extremely well to receive a towering bomb from Jahrome Hughes on his try line, only for Eliesa Katoa to brilliantly strip the ball and fall over the line for the Storm. opening attempt.
“From there on in the last plays, we didn’t win any… we weren’t calm enough and they capitalized, big time.” Webster said.
It’s especially frustrating because the Warriors had built a 14-0 lead before Katoa’s attempt. After that moment they simply picked their spots to lead 16-14 at the break.
However, it was another clever play that really changed the contest, when Hughes encouraged Marcelo Montoya to give away a quick touch penalty. The Warriors winger was sent to the bin, Sualauvi Faalogo and Xavier Coates ran into the empty space he had left to score and quickly took the lead to one where the Storm could happily sit until the final siren.
Melbourne Storm’s Grant Anderson scores a try against the Warriors.
Photo: photosport
“To be honest, I don’t remember us starting this badly before,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said.
“Obviously the boys showed a lot of resistance to come back; it was a surprise that we were ahead at half-time.
“We bounced back; we know the Warriors are a good team, so it was a pretty good effort.”
Storm captain Harry Grant said his team remained “patient and calm.”
“We all knew what we had to do to get back in the game. It happened pretty quickly and I’m really proud of our group.”
Bellamy singled out the Kiwis in front of Hughes for special praise, after a masterful display in the halves.
“Jahrome is having the best season he has ever had with us. He has been a wonderful influence on the players.”
Hughes said consistency was the key this season, which is paying off as the Storm retain top spot in the NRL standings with the win.
“I think I’m at the stage where I’m just trying to keep building my game. I feel like consistency is a huge thing for me… I’m just trying to work on playing well every week.”
The Storm have won 16 games in a row against the Warriors, in what is currently the longest winning streak in the NRL. The 12th-placed Warriors head to the Gold Coast next Saturday afternoon to take on the Titans.
