The whole week has been about the master v the apprentice in this clash, and it was the master who came out on top – very convincingly.
With Eels coach Stephen Kearney previously an assistant under now mentor, and Storm coach, Craig Bellamy, the match went ahead and ended in triumph for the Storm.
“It was a good lesson from the master,” Kearney said after the game.
For Bellamy, it was not so much that his side scored 7 tries that pleased him, but rather the fact that they managed to hold the Eels to 0 points, for the entire match.
“The zero is the most pleasing aspect,” Bellamy said.
“We made a point during the week about not being so great in the last 15 to 20 minutes so we were very determined.”
The Storm were at their clinical best, and showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with this year, as they went into the half-time interval with a 22-0 lead.
For Eels captain Nathan Hindmarsh, he conceded that the “Storm just don’t go away”.
“They just build pressure and build pressure until you crack,” Hindmarsh said.
“It’s a very disappointing effort from us.”
The game was somewhat entertaining, but the general consensus was that the Eels were not overly bad, it was just that the Storm did not allow the Eels any time or space to execute their plans.
Despite this loss however, Bellamy says that his former assistant in Kearney, will be a fantastic first-grade coach, and will get better and better as he gets more experience.
“One thing I do know is that he’d be doing a really good job,” he said.
“It will take a while for them to get used to his ideas and accept them … there’s not a doubt in the world he’s going to be a very successful first grade coach.”
Dally M Points
3 Cameron Smith
2 Cooper Cronk
1 Billy Slater