Rapana, Timoko marched as Storm shutout Raiders at home

The Storm have climbed back into the top four and made a big statement in the process following a stunning 48-2 victory over the Raiders at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon.

With star trio Jahrome Hughes, Harry Grant and Cameron Munster controlling proceedings with an up-tempo style of play, the Raiders could only manage two points to start the match via a penalty goal before the Storm ran in nine tries.

The frustration ultimately got the better of the visitors when they went down to 11 men with Jordan Rapana and Matt Timoko sent to the bin in the final 10 minutes of the match summing up the afternoon for Ricky Stuart's side. 

While the Raiders usually find a way to get it done at AAMI Park, having not lost at Melbourne's home ground since 2018, missed tackles (56) and errors (12) made for a day to forget as they slipped further down the ladder into sixth with a points differential of -120.

The Raiders came out firing and marched the ball downfield to open the scoring in the fifth minute through a penalty goal thanks to a Christian Welch offside penalty but it was all one-way traffic after that.

Welch quickly made amends, charging through a flat-footed Joe Tapine and Josh Papali'i from close range to cross for his first try since 2021 and open the scoring for the home side.

The Storm looked to extend the lead in the 18th minute through Young Tonumaipea but Raiders winger Nick Cotric came up with a superb try-saver to hold up the centre just short of the line. 

Melbourne had all the momentum and on the back of a set restart, it was a Nelson Asofa-Solomona offload which opened up the right edge to send Marion Seve over in the corner. 

With Melbourne's spine beginning to take control and errors creeping into the Raiders' game the home side ran in two more tries before halftime through Reimis Smith and Eliesa Katoa to extend the lead out to 20-2. 

The second half started the same way the first had ended for the Raiders with errors cruelling any chance they had of wrestling back momentum and Grant haunted the visitors, setting up Trent Loiero from close range in the 47th minute. 

Grant bagged one of his own seven minutes later, scooting from dummy-half to find Meaney in support before getting the ball back on the inside and streaming downfield to stretch Melbourne's lead out to 30 points. 

Munster got in on the action in the 64th minute, palming off Raiders defenders before crossing the stripe, before things went from bad to worse when Rapana (professional foul) and centre Timoko (dangerous tackle) were sent to the bin

The Storm ran in two more late tries through Meaney and Tonumaipea to ice a 48-2 statement victory and left plenty to ponder for the Green Machine and their premiership chances with three weeks left until the finals.