Melbourne Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona

On the back of the two Cameron’s – Munster and Smith – the Melbourne Storm have cruised to a comfortable 42-6 win over the Gold Coast Titans.

In an error-riddled contest on the Sunshine Coast, it was tough to start but the Storm found their mojo in the second half.

Both sides went tit-for-tat to start the game and the Titans looked in good nick especially.

Both teams came close but it would be the Storm to break the deadlock.

A charging Munster took on a Smith pass from dummy half to power over from close range.

The Titans would hit back, however, albeit rather opportunistic.

Ashley Taylor’s grubber was juggled by Paul Momirovski, came loose and Brian Kelly was there to pounce and score.

An error would prove costly for the Titans as Munster bamboozled the Titans defence  for Josh Addo-Carr to score.

A lovely floated pass off a scrum play saw Addo-Carr stroll over almost untouched.

Hulking Kiwi prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona then showed his prowess over a six-minute period across both halves.

An inch-perfect pass from Smith saw Nelson bustle past defenders to score his first try.

Soon after, Asofa-Solomona had his first career double when he once again combined with Smith to score.

Smith would then combine with half Jahrome Hughes who found Brenko Lee to rub salt into the Titans wound.

A crafty Brandon Smith try from dummy half saw him burrow over easily.

The final nail in the coffin  was an intercept by Josh Addo-Carr and he raced away to score his second.

It was not the best Melbourne performance to begin with but their experience and class came to the fore when it mattered.

Bellamy praised his hulking forward for his impact off the bench.

“That was his best performance this season,” Bellamy said.

“He probably didn’t have the best pre-season with a hamstring injury for a lot of it.”

Knowing that Asofa-Solomona is capable of that consistently, Bellamy knew he had to find his feet again since his injury return.

“He probably wasn’t as fit as he would have liked to be or usually is early in the season,” Bellamy continued.

“That was certainly his best performance this year and hopefully he can keep it up for the rest of the year.

“He played similar minutes against the Warriors but in that game it was a similar scoreline so he got a few more breaks.”

Despite their up-and-down season, Justin Holbrook believes in his Titans side and wants them to improve.

“I want to win next week against Penrith. That is what I want to see,” he said.

“Since the resumption we have had three good wins and we were starting to go forward a bit.

“It was a huge step backwards tonight but a good learning curve.

“We have got a lot of guys who will learn about their own games individually and how we have all got to have eight or nine out of 10 games.”

NRL News Player of the Game

3. Nelson Asofa-Solomona (MEL)

2. Cameron Smith (MEL)

  1. Cameron Munster
Melbourne Storm captain and hooker Cameron Smith

By ricky

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