Storm vs Panthers

The Melbourne Storm have been humbled by the Penrith Panthers in Brisbane, with the reigning premiers cruising to a record-breaking 32-6 victory on Saturday ...

“It was a great opportunity for all of us to improve on last week. It is freaky some of the things he can do. That was a good comedown for us tonight and we got what we deserved,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy told reporters in the post-match press conference. Moses Leota, Isaah Yeo and the Panthers forwards as a unit dominated. When you’re doing that against Penrith they’re going to make you pay … when Penrith’s got 60 per cent of the ball they’re going to put a lot of points on you, and they did tonight. One piece of flying Fijian wizardry by Kikau lit up the stadium.

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 are 1-17 with Jennings as 18th player. Melbourne Storm. 15. Tyran Wishart 1. Nick Meaney 3. Marion Seve 4. Justin Olam 5. Xavier Coates 6.

Kenny Bromwich 13. Jesse Bromwich 9. Kamikamica is new on the bench and Jayden Nikorima 18th player. Changes aplenty of Melbourne with Dean Ieremia and Jahrome Hughes out of the side. Mitch Kenny 15. Liam Martin 13.

See the best snaps as the Panthers recorded their biggest win over Melbourne in terrible conditions at Suncorp Stadium.

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.