Melbourne Storm captain Harry Grant has produced an hour of rugby league excellence, as the team extended their round-one winning streak for a 25th year.
Grant was exceptional from dummy half for 60 minutes in Melbourne's 52-4 hammering of the Eels at AAMI Park, before coming off with a leg issue.
He scored two of his side's nine tries, as the home side punished a poor Eels effort that faded badly in the second half last night.
The win maintains Melbourne's sensational round-one record, with a first-match winning streak that started way back in 2002.
That is 24 straight wins in round one, due to a bye in the 2004 season.
The last time the Storm lost in round one was a 14-10 defeat to Canterbury at Docklands to begin the 2001 season.
Last night's clash had a dramatic moment in the first minute, with Eels forward J'maine Hopgood sent to the sin-bin for making shoulder contact with the head of Storm lock Alec MacDonald.
MacDonald was ruled out with a concussion, while the 12-man Eels were the first to score in the fifth minute through Sean Russell.
It took Melbourne the full 10 minutes of Hopgood in the sin-bin to take advantage of the extra man, when halfback Jahrome Hughes threw a brilliant cut-out pass to send winger Will Warbrick into the right corner.
Grant would slice open the Eels defence four minutes later, darting from dummy half to run through 30 metres up the middle of the field to score under the posts.
A try from close range to Jack Howarth gave the Storm an 18-4 half-time lead, but the Eels had enough chances to give themselves belief.
Any hope for Parramatta fans was extinguished early in the second half.
Second-rower Joe Chan ran onto a perfectly thrown Hughes pass in the 47th minute to score from close range, then Grant barged over from dummy half four minutes later.
With the game well and truly won for his side, Grant limped off the field in the 60th minute with a reported cramp, although he grabbed at his ankle after it got trapped under a teammate in a tackle.
A double to fullback Sualauvi Fa'alogo, along with tries to Moses Leo and Ativalu Lisati sealed the dominant win.
Meanwhile, the Warriors take on the Roosters at 7 while the Broncos take on the Panthers at 9 tonight. In tomorrows matches,the Sharks take on the Titans at 6.30pm, Sea Eagles take on the Raiders at 8.35pm while the Dolphins take on the Rabbitohs at 5.05pm on Sunday.
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