Souths have continued their exceptional run of form, battering Melbourne 24-12, drawing level with the Storm on the ladder in the process.
It’s hard to believe that, after Round 9, these two sides were eight positions, half the comp, apart. Now, they are split only by points differential.
Melbourne have now lost four on the spin, their worst trot since 2015, and dropped out of the top four after this result.
Souths, on the other hand, all but secured their spot in the finals. They move to 11 wins and require just one victory from their remaining five fixtures to reach the 12 that should keep them playing into September.
Their rise in recent weeks has been inspired by the return of Latrell Mitchell, but this was a win based first and foremost on their halfback, Lachlan Ilias, whose recovery after being hooked in the first half of the Bunnies’ loss to St George Illawarra has been nothing short of miraculous.
He directed operations from the middle,scored an excellent solo try and kicked the Storm to death. Where earlier in the season, he and Cody Walker had split kicking nearly 50/50, tonight it was 95% Ilias.
Mitchell also laid on two tries for Alex Johnston, whose try-scoring barely merits mention these days: for the record, he has scored 13 in just six games.
The Storm exhibited several of the flaws that have dogged them in the last month. Their errors tonight were a huge problem, though that was exacerbated by tough Souths tackling: there were a few dead drops, but plenty dislodged by hard-hitting defence.
Of the forwards, only Tui Kamikamica managed 100m with ball in hand, withNelson Asofa-Solomona averaging just seven metres per run. He and Jesse Bromwich were monstered.
This is a team that is missing a few figures, which cannot be discounted, but regardless of that, Craig Bellamy will be disappointed by how his team were dominated in the middle.
The Bunnies got off to the perfect start. It’s hard to read too much into the opening two minutes of any game, but the way that Melbourne ceded field position through a Nelson Asofa-Solomona high shot and then utterly failed to defend a simple right shift seemed ominous.
Keaon Koloamatangi was the beneficiary, grabbing his fifth of the year, but the lack of communication between Justin Olam and Dean Ieremia was very unlike the Melbourne Storm.
Souths had withstood several sets on their own goalline and turned away the Storm, a level of resilience that at time, they have failed to show at other points this year. This was the polar opposite.
Koloamatangi caught an attacking Munster kick on the last and immediately shovelled it to Mitchell, who had been immediately alive to the counter. Souths raced 50m and changed the momentum.
They then forced an error with their defence, forced two set restarts on the Storm line and eventually got Mitchell into shape on the left. His pass was slightly behind Johnston, but the winger had enough about him to stop, catch and then make space for himself at the corner.
Souths’ tendencies to shoot themselves in the foot had not disappeared. With time running down on the half, the Storm had an innocuous scrum on their own 40m line.
They shifted to Marion Seve for a hit up, only for Cody Walker and Isaiah Tass to leave the tackling to each other, allowing the centre a free run to the line.
Souths did not let the blip bother them. Ilias continued to challenge the line with his kicking, creating a repeat set, and on the back of it, Mitchell slipped Johnston in again to knock the lead back out to beyond a converted try.
It got better. Ilias took an inside pass from Koloamatangi, swivelled in a tackle from Nick Meaney and lifted the ball above his own head for a superb Souths try.
The Bunnies were flowing with confidence. Pinned in their own end after a Munster 40/20, they forced an error from Asofa-Solomona and when Mitchell picked it up, he immediately punted long for Johnston.
The winger reached it, hacked on and only barely missed the putdown on what would have been one of the tries of the year.
Undeterred, they got another contact error from the Storm and stuck, with Jed Cartwright feeding Jaxson Paulo for a third try of the half.
There was life in Melbourne yet. They caught Souths’ defence sliding unevenly and got Ieremia over in the corner with a quarter hour to play. Meaney kicked from the touchline to reduce the deficit to two converted tries.
Souths did give them chances, and Kodi Nikorima was binned for a professional foul in the final minute, but it was all too late.