Melbourne have claimed their third straight NRL minor premiership and a $100,000 prize after thrashing South Sydney 42-4 at Olympic Park on Sunday night.
With Craig Wing out injured the Rabbitohs struggled in the wet conditions and proved no challenge for the reigning champions, who ran in four first-half tries to set up the victory.
The only negative for the hosts was a late knee injury to lock Dallas Johnson, who left the field with only two minutes left to play.
Melbourne needed to win by 26 points or more in order to leap Manly on the ladder and claim the minor premiership title, and they did it with ease, despite an early hiccup for star fullback Billy Slater.
The signs looked bad from the start for Souths, with Melbourne veteran Matt Geyer opening the scoring after just four minutes thanks to a super pass from Greg Inglis.
The Rabbitohs then received a boost when Storm flyer Slater was sin-binned over a professional foul, but the visitors failed to make their player advantage count.
Instead, Melbourne went in again through gutsy winger Anthony Quinn, who did superbly to get the ball down in the left corner.
When captain Cameron Smith crossed for the Storm’s third try, it already looked all over for South Sydney.
But the Bunnies struck back six minutes before the break, with Nathan Merritt chasing down a Luke Capewell kick to cut the deficit down to 14-4.
It would prove to be the only highlight of an error-plagued half for Souths, as Ryan Hoffman scored Melbourne’s fourth right on halftime to send the hosts into the break ahead 20-4.
Slater made up for his indiscretion with two tries early in the second half, as the home side blew away the bumbling Rabbitohs.
In one last-tackle play the visitors managed to lose 30 metres through wayward passing before succumbing to the sixth tackle – a stark contrast to Melbourne’s slick, organised play.
In the end, the Storm’s push for the minor premiership never looked in doubt. Brett Anderson and Jeremy Smith completed the rout with late tries, before Melbourne were hit with Johnson’s injury.
Melbourne, who will be awarded $100,000 from the NRL for winning the minor premiership, will now take on the eighth-placed Warriors in next weekend’s finals at Olympic Park.
