Cameron Munster was a late scratching for the Melbourne Storm’s game against the Manly Sea Eagles, but his replacement had a couple of brilliant moments late in a 24-6 win at AAMI Park.
After Munster was ruled out with illness, 20-year-old Jonah Pezet was called up for his sixth NRL game and, despite a sloppy start by the Storm, he came into his own with two superb try assists as the side finished with a wet sail.
The Sea Eagles struck the first blow in a messy opening stanza, with Haumole Olakau’atu latching onto a kick just ahead of Storm fullback Nick Meaney in the 14th minute.
Halfback Jahrome Hughes hit back for the Storm when he swooped on a brilliant Will Warbrick flick pass from the sideline to cross, before turning provider with a grubber into the in-goal for Pezet to latch onto just before half-time.
The game remained tight, with neither side giving any ground until a rare lapse from the Manly defence saw Nelson Asofa-Solomona stroll between Josh Schuster and Tolutau Koula, before beating fullback Reuben Garrick with a sharp right-foot step.
The breathing room afforded to the Storm by that four-pointer appeared to give Melbourne the confidence to take some risks, with Pezet, who made a few errors earlier in the game, pulling off two brilliant kicks for a pair of tries to State of Origin winger Xavier Coates.
Pezet’s first came in the 63rd minute, when he expertly curled a grubber off the outside of his right boot out of the reach of Ray Vaega, with Coates scooping the ball up and holding off Garrick to touch down in the left corner.
Ten minutes later, the young pivot was at it again, doing what the Blues failed to do on Wednesday and calmly evading the onrushing defence of Daly Cherry-Evans to place another grubber into the path of Coates, who produced a freakish putdown as he leapt over and around the corner post.
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Aside from the two tries, Coates also ran for 200 metres and broke through eight tackles in an impressive effort three nights after scoring a four-pointer in the Maroons’ series-sealing victory at Lang Park.
Queensland captain Cherry-Evans was also influential for the Sea Eagles, albeit in a losing effort.
Knights count cost of Jack Hetherington sin-bin in loss to Panthers Tyrone Peachey crossed twice in the first half.(Getty Images: Jason McCawley)
An understrength Penrith side has beaten Newcastle 20-12 despite resting all of their State of Origin stars.
Already without halfback Nathan Cleary through injury, NSW Blues stars Jarome Luai, Brian To’o, Stephen Crichton, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin were all given the night off after Wednesday night’s drubbing by Queensland.
Even without their biggest guns, the Panthers scored three tries in the first half at Penrith Stadium, including two from Tyrone Peachey, who gave them a 16-6 lead when he pounced as the Knights fumbled their attempt to recover their own short dropout in the 34th minute.
Things only got worse for the Knights shortly before the break when Jack Hetherington, after wrestling in a tackle with Izack Tago, slapped the Penrith centre across the face and was sent to the sin-bin for 10 minutes.
The Panthers scored their fourth and final try of the night through Jaeman Salmon just as Hetherington was returning to the field of play, with Jackson Hastings keeping the Knights in touch with his 55th-minute try.
But Newcastle could not make up the lost ground, while the defending premiers maintained their spot in the top two.
Eels thump Dolphins despite losing second half Will Penisini scored a first-half double as the Eels ran over the top of the Dolphins.(Getty Images: Bradley Kanaris)
The Dolphins outscored Parramatta 16-6 in the second half of their clash at Sunshine Coast Stadium, but still got trounced 48-20, such was the enormous half-time deficit.
The Dolphins opened the scoring through Brayden McGrady in the fourth minute before the Eels ran in seven straight tries to lead 42-4 at the break.
Clint Gutherson in the 64th minute scored Parramatta’s only points on the way in, while the Dolphins hit back with a Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow double and a try to Valynce Te Whare to salvage a modicum of respectability.
But the mission was too great for Wayne Bennett’s side.
“We just tried to score of everything in the second half … and you just can’t in this comp,” Gutherson told ABC Sport.
“We just tried to force it a little bit too much.”
Halfback Mitchell Moses was in magic touch, orchestrating the rout and landing all seven of his goal kicks in the first half to become the third Eels player to notch 1,000 points, behind Michael Cronin (1,971 points) and Luke Burt (1,793).
The Dolphins have now lost three games in a row and the Eels have marched up the NRL ladder with five wins on the trot.
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Source:: ABC News
