NRL Round-Up: Grand Final

Drew Darbyshire

MELBOURNE STORM 34 NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 6 

Dally M Medal winner Cameron Smith led Storm to a convincing Premiership victory.

Melbourne Storm eased past North Queensland Cowboys 34-6 in the NRL Grand Final at the ANZ Stadium on Sunday.

Josh Addo-Carr, Felise Kaufusi and Billy Slater all scored to put Storm into a healthy 18-0 advantage at the half-time interval.

Michael Morgan provided an assist for half-back partner Te Maire Martin shortly after the break but that was the Cowboys’ only try of the night.

Further efforts from Dale Finucane, Curtis Scott and Kaufusi clinched the NRL Grand Final title for Storm following a classy display to win 34-6.

Smith could well now lead Australia to the World Cup title once again.

Teams:

Storm: 1. Billy Slater, 2. Suliasi Vunivalu, 3. Will Chambers, 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cameron Smith (C), 10. Jordan McLean, 11. Felise Kaufusi, 12. Tohu Harris, 13. Dale Finucane.

Interchange: 14. Kenny Bromwich, 15. Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 16. Tim Glasby, 17. Slade Griffin.

Cowboys: 1. Lachlan Coote, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Justin O’Neill, 4. Kane Linnett, 5. Antonio Winterstein, 6. Te Maire Martin, 7. Michael Morgan, 17. Shaun Fensom, 9. Jake Granville, 10. Scott Bolton, 11. Gavin Cooper (C), 12. Ethan Lowe, 13. Jason Taumalolo.

Interchange: 8. John Asiata, 14. Ben Hampton, 15. Coen Hess, 16. Corey Jensen.

Clive Churchill Medal: Billy Slater

Attendance: 79,722