The Melbourne Storm has defeated the St George Illawarra Dragons 12-4 in a close round one match at Jubillee Oval.
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In a low-scoring affair, a second-half try to Melbourne centre Will Chambers was enough to seal the points for the visitors.
The Storm poked their nose in front after four minutes, winger Young Tonumaipea getting on the end of a Cooper Cronk chip.
The Dragons started to get into the game, but Melbourne’s defence was strong. Benji Marshall was nailed after kicking the ball, with Felise Kaufusi hitting the half’s knees with a tackle.
Kaufauis was penalised but he was a tad lucky not to go to the bin for a late and low shot.
St George Illawarra enjoyed more field position and possession, but they just couldn’t break the Storm wall.
In the second half Dragons winger Eto Nabuli gave the home team a sniff with a try on debut. Benji Marshall grubbered to the left wing and Nabuli read it well to score.
But this kicked the Storm back into gear and Chambers stepped up to make sure of the victory. The centre showed excellent footwork and speed to evade three tacklers and score a lovely try.
This put Melbourne 12-4 in front and the Dragons had no answers to hit back. St George Illawarra had little fluency, looking disjointed in attack, and have plenty of work to do ahead of round two.
For the Storm it was a solid start to the 2015 season.
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