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Storm make case for the attack in flogging

3 minute read

Melbourne have become just the sixth team in history to score 120 points in the space of two games, flogging Newcastle 50-2 in the NRL.

CRAIG BELLAMY.
CRAIG BELLAMY. Picture: Racing and Sports

Up until two weeks ago the NRL could claim margins were down and defence was back in fashion.

And then along came Melbourne.

Six days after flogging the Warriors 70-10, the Storm put on another attacking clinic on Sunday with a 50-2 dismantling of Newcastle.

Their 120 points in the space of seven days is the sixth highest haul in back-to-back games in the NRL's history.

So good, that only one other team has reached that mark in the past 60 years of first-grade rugby league.

"For us it has opened up in the last couple of weeks obviously," coach Craig Bellamy said.

"There didn't seem to be as many six-agains or penalties today. I'm not quite sure why that is or if teams are being more disciplined."

"The Knights got off to a horrible start and they didn't touch the ball for ages. So that would have dimmed their confidence a bit.

"And last week for the Warriors when Dallin (Waetene-Zelezniak) got hurt, that hit them a bit."

Regardless, Melbourne's dominance can't be ignored.

At one point on Sunday, they had scored 80-0 in 80 minutes of football.

"The last two weeks we have been able to build pressure early in the game," captain Jesse Bromwich said.

"That takes a lot of gas out of opponents, so at the back-end we can score a lot of points.

"Our spine are really starting to gel after being a bit rusty at the start of the year. They're starting to hit their straps."

No one is loving that more than Xavier Coates.

Last year, when he was in and out of Brisbane's battling team, the winger scored 11 tries.

He already has 10 this season, with seven coming in the past week after four against the Warriors and a hat-trick on Sunday.

"It probably took him a little while to work out how we play, and then mould his strengths into how we play," Bellamy said.

"He's been terrific. We all see what kind of athlete he is ... So we think things can only get better."

Fellow recruit Josh King also ran 212 metres in the middle against a Knights side he toiled at for six years before this season.

In two weeks, Melbourne and Penrith will meet at Magic Round. That game already looks like a grand final preview.

But as for the thought that this team could be as dominant as the Storm were when they won 19 straight last year or when they had the big three in the team?

"It's only two weeks," Bellamy said.

"It's only two weeks."

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