Storm 26
Raiders 0
Melbourne eased to their seventh successive NRL victory on Sunday, brushing aside Canberra 26-0 to become the first team to ever hold the Raiders scoreless at Canberra Stadium.
The ladder leaders were at the ruthless best, running in five tries, with winger Matt Duffie crossing twice,
to all but extinguish Canberra's finals aspirations.
Duffie opened the scoring for the Storm after just three minutes in an evenly-contested opening stanza, but the complexion of the game changed on the stroke of halftime when Ryan Hinchcliffe added his side's second.
That setback seemed to rock the Raiders' confidence, and their enthusiasm was not matched by their execution, with Blake Ferguson twice dropping the ball when in good field position.
Poor completions and handling at key moments meant the home team was unable to build any momentum against coach Craig Bellamy's well-disciplined side.
The game was effectively ended as a contest in the 53rd minute when Cooper Cronk scored for the Storm following a brilliant 50-metre run from Billy Slater.
Duffie added his second in the 66th minute, before Jesse Bromwich put the finishing touches to a brilliant crossfield move late in the game in which the ball changed hands five times.
Coach David Furner's injury-hit Raiders side, who were without star forwards Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and David Shillington as well as five-eighth Terry Campese with long-term injuries, will realistically need to win every remaining match to be any hope of repeating last season's stunning run to the play-offs.
MELBOURNE 26 (M Duffie 2 J Bromwich C Cronk R Hinchcliffe tries C Smith 3 goals) bt CANBERRA 0 at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Adam Devcich. Crowd: 11,853.
- AAP
