Junior Rep Report: Round 4

As Melbourne Storm enjoyed a historic first win in Fiji during the NRL’s pre-season trial, Storm’s juniors completed the perfect day out across all competitions, tasting victory in both the Harold Matthews and SG Ball age groups. 

Travelling north to face the Balmain Tigers, Storm’s Harold Matthews started the day brightly, running out 36-16 winners and then Storm’s SG Ball side carrying on that momentum with a 28-10 victory. 

SG Ball 

A mistake coming out of trouble from the hosts invited Storm into good field position in the early exchanges and a strong run from damaging forward Suli Pole left the Tigers scrambling close to their line.  

An attempted strip to deny Pole spilled out into the path of hooker Harrison Hill who showed great reflexes to reel the ball in and plant it down under the posts in the 13th minute. 

After Tigers replied through a try of their own a few moments later, it would be Hill once again doing the damage from close to the line, throwing the dummy and spinning out of several attempted tackles to score in the 23rd minute. 

A gut-busting effort in the final seconds of the first half would ultimately prove to be a key moment in the contest for Storm, showing great scramble to flood back in numbers to stop what looked to be a certain Tigers try down the left edge. 

Storm carried that momentum into the second half, Ethan Van Gelderen storming onto the footy and proving impossible to stop close to the line in the 39th minute. 

A shift to the left proved profitable 10 minutes later, Storm slicing through and Nisifolo Fauonuku scoring to put Storm in the box seat heading into the pointy end of the contest before exciting half Ioane Lui put the icing on the cake in the final minutes. 

Storm will now return home to face the Dragons at Seabrook Reserve at 2:30 on Saturday. 

Harold Matthews 

Storm’s Harold Matthews side returned to the winners circle this weekend, proving too strong for the Balmain Tigers. 

In a bright start for the visitors, Storm scored twice inside the opening 15 minutes, Zephaniah Faumuina and Lockyer-Azile Foliola both finding the tryline. 

After Balmain registered its first points on the eve of halftime, Storm wasted little time in asserting authority on the second stanza, halfback Waka Hammond scoring right in the 34th minute. 

The flurry of tries continued in the second half, Faumuina grabbing his double before fullback Matthew Kereti got in on the action in the 42nd minute. 

Hammond once again found the line, his double in the 52nd minute sealing the strong win on the road. 

Storm’s Harold Matthews side will look to keep the momentum going when they face the Dragons at Seabrook Reserve in Round 5. 

Originally published on melbournestorm.com.au