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MELBOURNE rookie Brodie Croft gave a glimpse of life after Cooper Cronk with a hat-trick of tries in the Storm’s minor premiership-clinching win against Newcastle at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.
Croft, appearing in only his fifth NRL game, scored in the 37th, 49th and 65th minutes as the Storm prevailed 44-12 to ensure they will finish the regular season in pole position for the second consecutive year.
The 20-year-old Queenslander was called in on Friday after Storm coach Craig Bellamy opted to omit Cronk, apparently to freshen him up before the finals.
Croft made his NRL debut last season and has previously deputised when Cronk was unavailable through Origin commitments, notably kicking the decisive field goal in Melbourne’s 23-22 win against North Queensland in round 15.
He shapes as the heir apparent to Melbourne’s No.7 jersey after Cronk’s decision to move on at season’s end.
It was Melbourne’s fifth successive win and 18th in 22 games this season.
For Newcastle, it ended their three-game winning streak and left them needing at least one victory from their remaining two games – against Canberra (away) and Cronulla (home) – to have any chance of avoiding a third successive wooden spoon.
The Storm overcame a setback after only two minutes when prop Jesse Bromwich was controversially sin-binned for a professional foul.
Bromwich collided with Knights hooker Jamie Buhrer as they raced after a Brock Lamb grubber kick, and upon review the video-referee bunker ruled the Kiwi Test forward had intentionally run interference.
Rather than taking a penalty shot at goal, Newcastle opted for a tap restart and it produced dividends when back-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon crashed over for his third try in as many games, after a Lamb short ball.
That was as good as it got for Newcastle in the first half.
With a howling southerly at their back, the Storm dominated possession and field position and inevitably made the Knights pay.
Melbourne centre Curtis Scott scored out wide in the ninth minute, after his teammates batted back a high kick and kept the ball alive.
Twelve minutes later, Storm lock Dale Finucane powered over between the posts after a try assist from skipper Cameron Smith.
Croft made it 16-6 just before the interval when he dummied and strolled over out wide.
The diminutive speedster found the Knights wanting again nine minutes in the second half when he produced another dummy and some fancy footwork, racing 35 metres to score.
A try by Knights centre Joe Wardle six minutes later, after a powerful Fitzgibbon burst, gave Newcastle a glimmer of hope at 22-12.
But almost immediately, the Storm responded with a try by Test centre Will Chambers, converted from wide out by Smith.
Croft’s third try of the game, and then winger Suliasi Vunivalu’s 19th try of the season, left the Knights facing their heaviest defeat since the Storm beat them 40-12 in round 13.
A runaway try in the last minute by giant forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona capped a convincing win for the visitors.
LIVE BLOG:
FULL-TIME: The Storm too good as the Knights run of wins comes to an end. Stick around for Robert Dillon’s match report and we’ll have plenty of reaction from the press conference after the game. x
80th MIN: Big 6’7 Nelson Asofa-Solomona with a great individual try. He bursts into the backfield and beats Gagai before slamming the ball down under the posts. 44-12 to Melbourne.
69th MIN: Suliasi Vunivalu is arguably the best winger in the comp. He crosses in the corner after a cut-out pass from Croft and this has turned into a bit of a shellacking. The Storm lead 38-12.
65th MIN: Geez Cooper Cronk has played well today. *Rubs eyes* Hang on a moment, that’s Brodie Croft. Croft – who even looks like Cronk – grabs his hat-trick and the Storm are well clear. He turns Gagai inside out after Jesse Bromwich did something similar to Sam Stone in the front line. The Storm lead 34-12. The Knights have been brave, but far too many errors against a quality team like Melbourne and they’ll always make you pay.
58th MIN: The Storm have hit straight back. Some pretty flimsy defence from the Knights, really. Will Chambers cruises over to make it 28-12.
55th MIN: Joe Wardle crosses off some special work from Fitzgibbon. The rangy backrower powered through a heap of Storm defenders and found Wardle inside. Storm lead 22-12.
49th MIN: Who needs Cooper Cronk? Brodie Croft is Cooper 2.0 and he is too quick for Dane Gagai off the mark. An off-load from Jesse Bromwich, a quick shift from Cameron Smith and Croft splits them for his second try. The Storm lead 22-6.
HALFTIME: The Knights looked really good early on. Jesse Bromwich was sin-binned and the home team kept the pressure on, scoring through Lachlan Fitzgibbon. But since then the Storm have got back into the arm wrestle and scored three straight tries. The Knights will have the breeze in the second half but it’ll take a big effort to peg back Melbourne, who will claim the minor premiership with a win today.
37th MIN: Geez Brodie Croft has got a lot of Cooper Cronk about him. The young halfback dummies past Trent Hodkinson to score and extend the Storm lead. 16-6.
21st MIN: The Storm go back-to-back. This time a pretty soft try to Storm ironman Dale Finucane, who touches down under the posts. The Storm now lead 10-6.
9th MIN: The Knights don’t mind conceding a try from a kick. This time its a cross-field bomb that lands in the hands of Curtis Scott. He strolls over and it’s 6-4 to the Knights.
4th MIN: The Knights start with a bang. Storm prop Jesse Bromwich is sin-binned for a professional foul on Jamie Buhrer and from the ensuing set Lachlan Fitzgibbon crashes over. Newcastle lead 6-0.