Storm vs Bulldogs

Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen raced in four tries as Melbourne, ruthless and efficient as ever, ran riot over Canterbury in a dominant second half, ...

Hughes took no chances, offloading to Papenhuyzen who had loomed in support, allowing him to dive over for his third try.Coates repeated the trick midway through the second half, intercepting the ball from a Canterbury attacking raid to gallop unchallenged some 90 metres to continue the rout before Felise Kaufusi got into the action.Papenhuyzen made it a night to remember with his fourth as the Storm showed no mercy to their demoralised opponents., register or subscribe to save articles for later.Michael Lynch is The Age's chief soccer reporter and also reports on motor sport and horseracing Flyin’ Ryan: Papenhuyzen on fire as Storm run riot to thrash Bulldogs, register or subscribe to save articles for later. When you want to build pressure against good teams you have to take your opportunities when they present themselves.“They [Melbourne] make you pay, and they certainly made us pay today.”It must have felt to Canberbury as though they were banging their collective heads against a purple brick wall in a first half in which they gave as good as they got for the most part only to find themselves scoreless at the interval while their rivals had accrued 16 points.Worse, however, was to come as Papenhuyzen, long locks flowing, orchestrated a second-half thrashing.It was reminiscent of the way a top boxer allows his overmatched opponent to come forward and throw early leather, taking his best shots before counter-attacking with ruthless precision.Former Storm star Josh Addo-Carr had a chance to break through for the Bulldogs, but in a trice the hosts were in front when Papenhuyzen linked well with Xavier Coates before finding the line and converting.The Dogs were undeterred and kept coming, Coates forced into an important interception and to fly high to cut out dangerous balls.However. 11 minutes later the visitors found themselves another six points in arrears when Josh King slid over and Papenhuyzen converted.The only downside for Craig Bellamy’s side in that opening period was the 25th-minute report of Cameron Munster.The Bulldogs’ job was made even harder shortly before the half-time hooter sounded when Papenhuyzen turned provider, setting up Kenny Bromwich to run through and ground the Storm’s third try.Melbourne center Justin Olam tries to get past Canterbury’s defence.The Dogs needed to score next give themselves momentum: unfortunately for them the Storm came out in the mood to put the game to bed early.When Harry Grant, back from a COVID-enforced absence last week, charged through and Papenhuyzen ran in support to power home.Moments later the lead had blown out even further when Jahrome Hughes intercepted a kick close to his own line and ran the length of the pitch, Bulldogs fullback Matt Dufty in hot pursuit. Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen raced in four tries as Melbourne, ruthless and efficient as ever, ran riot over Canterbury in a dominant second half, surging to a 44-0 romp to return to winning ways after their narrow AAMI Park loss to Paramatta last weekend.His 28-point haul was the second-highest by a player in Storm history, a converted try shy of the 34 achieved by Matt Geyer in 1999 during a 62-6 rout over Wests.“He didn’t have a great pre-season, he rolled his ankle, he probably didn’t run for eight weeks.“He spent a bit of time in the gym [but] he is playing with plenty of confidence at the moment,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said of Papenhuyzen.The Storm boss was delighted with the way his side kept a clean sheet.“I was most impressed with that. We’re working to restore it. We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable.