Erin Clark of the Warriors runs with the ball during the Telstra NRL Premiership match between the NZ Warriors and the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday. Photo: Scott Barbour / www.photosport.nz
Melbourne Storm have continued their recent dominance of NZ Warriors, with a first-half onslaught laying the foundation for a 42-14 victory at their AAMI Park home.
The result extends their winning streak over their Auckland rivals to 17 games, with the Warriors' last success coming a decade ago.
Winger Xavier Coates again tormented the Warriors with two tries, bringing his personal tally to 12 in his eight games against them.
Melbourne run in six tries, as they snatched a 36-0 halftime lead, but the Warriors' woes weren't restricted to the scoreboard, as they lost co-captain James Fisher-Harris to a pec injury early and Jackson Ford to the sin bin.
Ford impeded a Storm player in the build-up to Shawn Blore's try and the shorthanded Warriors conceded three more during the 10 minutes he was off the field.
Melbourne suffered their own injury concerns, losing Kiwis half Jahrome Hughes to a shoulder injury at halftime, and they seemed to take their foot off the throat, allowing the Warriors to run in three late tries for a 14-6 second-half advantage.
"We came down here to play our style," co-captain Mitch Barnett said. "We did everything but that."
"Their style is they love momentum, they play flat and fast really well, and we allowed them to do that. We can't wait until halftime to get the message to get our game on - we need to learn to do it after that first try."
The Warriors slip to 3-2 for the season and sit sixth on the competition table for now, with a home game against Brisbane Broncos looming next Saturday.
Catch up with the action with RNZ's live blog:
Team lists
Melbourne Storm: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen, 2. Grant Anderson, 3. Jack Howarth, 4. Moses Leo, 5. Xavier Coates, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. Stefano Utoikamanu, 9. Harry Grant, 10. Josh King, 11. Shawn Blore, 12. Eliesa Katoa, 13. Trent Loiero
Interchange: 14. Tyran Wishart, 15. Alec MacDonald, 16. Tui Kamikamica, 17. Bronson Garlick
Warriors: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Taine Tuaupiki, 3. Rocco Berry, 4. Ali Leiataua, 5. Adam Pompey, 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7. Luke Metcalf, 8. James Fisher-Harris, 9. Wayde Egan, 10. Mitchell Barnett, 11. Kurt Capewell, 12. Marata Niukore, 13. Erin Clark
Interchange: 14. Bunty Afoa, 15. Jackson Ford, 16. Demitric Vaimauga, 17. Leka Halasima
