Melbourne Storm

The Panthers bounced back from their first loss of the season to down a brave but undermanned Storm outfit 32-6 at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

I thought Nathan controlled the game, particularly in the second half. We had a couple of guys out but the guys that come in, you expect them to do a job. "It wasn't a normal week and could've been a distraction if we wanted it to be. Ivan was missing and really wanted to fly up. I thought they were really good. "It didn't get any better from the start to be honest.

Penrith have moved to the top of the premiership table after brushing Melbourne aside in a 32-6 win at the NRL's Magic Round.

"It wasn't a normal week. I thought they were really good." Melbourne kept Penrith at bay for the first 15 minutes of the second half but the pressure told when Kikau ran at Johns and the big Fijian offloaded for Jarome Luai to score. Melbourne rallied with a well-weighted kick from five-eighth Cameron Munster that was easily regathered for Nick Meaney to score but it was the Storm's only try of the night. Perhaps we haven't been going as good as other people thought." Grant was given the all-clear to play on but it was those stepping up from reserve grade who allowed the Panthers to hit an early lead.

Stephen Crichton jumps on a pack of Penrith Panthers in the rain against the Melbourne Storm. Is it possible the Panthers are getting better? (Getty: Chris Hyde).

There's nowhere within 20 minutes of the sideline that you're not under threat of being lobbed into touch. And he did his level best. There is a certain rhythm to NRL games, even when very good rugby league teams are involved. The Panthers almost always win that battle. There's no spot too far away from the tryline that they can't drag you back into the in-goal. The risk is you make a mistake, give the ball back to the Panthers and they maul you, but those are the stakes when you play against the best. There is not a moment, on either side of the ball, that you truly know what is going to happen. Every tackle is a battle between the player with the ball trying to land on their belly and spring up as quickly as possible, and a defence trying to land them on their back and keep them there for as long as possible. If you want to make metres on them, you have to catch the defence back-tracking and that likely means take the risk of trying to play the ball before your body is really ready. Injuries to any of them, or God forbid two of them, and suddenly the Storm are looking a little thin. It may sound like an exaggeration to suggest one or two injuries can have that sort of impact on a team like the Storm, but there was a clear ripple effect. Hughes would have been a natural candidate to fill in at the back, but his injury put paid to that idea, as well as the idea of moving Cameron Munster back there, because the Storm needed at least one experienced head in the halves.

Penrith have moved to the top of the premiership table after brushing Melbourne aside in a 32-6 win at the NRL's Magic Round.

"It wasn't a normal week. I thought they were really good." Melbourne kept Penrith at bay for the first 15 minutes of the second half but the pressure told when Kikau ran at Johns and the big Fijian offloaded for Jarome Luai to score. Melbourne rallied with a well-weighted kick from five-eighth Cameron Munster that was easily regathered for Nick Meaney to score but it was the Storm's only try of the night. Perhaps we haven't been going as good as other people thought." Grant was given the all-clear to play on but it was those stepping up from reserve grade who allowed the Panthers to hit an early lead.

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"When you're doing that against Penrith they're going to make you pay... "Didn't really care who we had out. "We need to go back to the drawing board.