Melbourne Storm has blown away the North Queensland Cowboys to make it six wins in a row to start the 2012 NRL season.
The Storm is the sole remaining unbeaten team after its runaway 44-18 win in the big Easter Sunday clash at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville tonight.
It was all one-way traffic after half-time as the Storm ran in five second half tries to one.
Will Chambers, Kevin Proctor and Matt Duffie scored doubles in the rout.
Cooper Cronk, who recently extended his contract with the Storm, had an outstanding game in the halves with a hand in multiple tries.
On-field general Cameron Smith led from the front with a workman-like 35 tackles to stiffen up the defence.
New recruit Chambers was one of the stars of the show as he chewed up 130 metres to go with two tries on the night.
The first half produced the kind of football that most of the 20,000 strong crowd had gathered to witness.
The Cowboys were on the board after just two minutes when Matt Bowen crossed for a try to have the home fans at full voice.
What would prove to be a precursor to the rest of the game, the Storm answered back immediately with the first of Duffie’s tries five minutes later.
Proctor and Ryan Hinchcliffe put daylight between the Storm and the hosts to open up a 16-6 lead before Cowboys second rower Gavin Cooper barged over for a four-pointer on the stroke of half-time to cut the deficit to four.
Whatever Storm mastermind Craig Bellamy told his charges at the break worked a treat as the visitors strung three tries together in the space of 12 minutes early in the second half.
Against the flow, the Cowboys hit back through James Tamou in the 67th minute, but all it did was add respectability to an ugly scoreboard for his side.
The second of Duffie’s tries – a towering catch that an AFL coach would have been proud of – put the result beyond doubt.
The Storm ran out 24-point victors to maintain a one game break on the second-placed Brisbane Broncos and will return to Melbourne for consecutive home games against Canterbury Bulldogs and New Zealand Warriors at AAMI Park.
NRL
Round 6
Melbourne Storm 42 d North Queensland Cowboys 18 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Storm – Tries: Proctor 2, Chambers 2, Duffie 2, Ryles, Hinchcliffe. Conversions: Smith 5. Best: Proctor, Cronk, Smith, O’Neill, Chambers.
