Melbourne's superstar prop, the Raiders' second half woes, and a young fullback makes his mark. These are the key topics to come from the Storm's Round 6 win over the Raiders at GIO Stadium.
Report: Storm grind out win over Raiders
The Storm defended their lead expertly
Led by the man with the smartest footy brain going around in Cameron Smith the Storm looked methodical in defending their lead in the second half.
Despite making a game-high 55 tackles, the Storm skipper showed no tiredness in his decision making, guiding the Storm around the park perfectly to defend a four-point lead.
On top of that good leadership, the Melbourne were disciplined across the park, committing no penalties in the second half and making just two errors in wet conditions
After the game coach Craig Bellamy praised his side's second-half efforts.
"I was real proud of that second half," Bellamy said.
"I thought our second half we were much better with our completions and a lot more patient ... we found a spark in the second half and we had to."
Smith agreed that his side played smart late in the game, particularly after losing late to the Cowboys in Round 4.
"A couple of weeks ago we were in a similar position against North Queensland and we failed to close the game out and we needed to do that today," Smith said.
"I thought we did a really good job in the back end of that game in the last 10-15 minutes to close that game out.
"It was a really good effort from the boys."
The Raiders are struggling to score in the second half
After failing to score in the second half against the Storm, the Raiders have now managed just 18 second-half points this year.
It's a worrying statistic for Ricky Stuart's men who seem to be committing a lot of energy to their line speed in defence but not leaving enough in the tank for attacking raids.
Their attacking potency was not a topic of conversation for Stuart after the match who instead decided to focus on the great effort his chargers put in.
"We were fabulous today, we were the best team on the field," the Raiders coach said.
"We're heading in the right direction, I couldn't be more happy... it was probably our best performance of the year."
Mahe Fonua loves playing against the Raiders
In the 38th minute Fonua received a gift from his centre Will Chambers to cross for his ninth try from just five games against the Raiders.
With just 22 career tries, Fonua's nine against just one club is a remarkable statistic.
The Green Machine will be glad that they don't have to face him or the Storm again this season, with Melbourne now having won 12 of their last 14 at GIO Stadium.
Cameron Munster is showing plenty of promise in just two NRL games
Munster was safe at the back for the Storm, impressively cleaning up Raiders bombs, including an awesome 60th minute take under pressure in the rain that earned his side a penalty and halted the advance of the Green Machine.
The young fullback also looked dangerous running the ball in his second NRL match.
Craig Bellamy was glowing in his praise of the young fullback after the win.
"He did step up, he did a great job," Bellamy said.
"It was a tough game up there for him, he was outstanding out there today and he's been great in Queensland Cup.
"He's not a big guy but he's quite strong and he's got a great ability to read the game," he said.
Jesse Bromwich is a superstar front-rower
Bromwich was named man of the match after Sunday's game and is earning the praise he deserves.
Named by Manly coach Geoff Toovey as the first player he would go after if he was looking for a star player to build his team around, the New Zealand international is one of the best players in any position in the NRL right now.
He's a powerful prop with phenomenal footwork and soft hands that prove invaluable when the Storm look to spread the ball out wide off him.
Against the Raiders he ran the ball 21 times for a whopping 253 metres while also making 32 tackles and three offloads.
Storm management will be thrilled they managed to lock him up for the next four years.
