Curtis Scott has celebrated a surprise NRL return with a remarkable length-of-the-field try for Melbourne who have thrashed Parramatta 64-10 in their Magic Round clash.
There was no shortage of highlights in Saturday night’s 11-tries-to-two rout at Suncorp Stadium in front of 41,612 fans.
But Scott still stole the show as the Storm went close to eclipsing their biggest win over the Eels – a 64-4 romp in 2013.
Scott appeared on the Storm outer after spending the past fortnight in the reserves, battling poor form and personal issues, prompting speculation Melbourne wanted to offload the centre.
However, coach Craig Bellamy fittingly pulled a rabbit out of the hat in Magic Round, injecting Scott into his starting side at the expense of Marion Seve and his faith was repaid in spades.
Scott was a constant threat as Melbourne ran amok, but his highlight was his stunning 46th-minute solo effort.
Scott showed he was back with a bang, running almost 100m and evading four defenders before escaping the clutches of a desperate Blake Ferguson to crash under the posts.
A week since threatening the axe and questioning his team’s character after their lacklustre loss to a depleted Cronulla, Bellamy would have liked what he saw from a revitalised Storm.
After hardly firing a shot against an injury-hit Sharks, Melbourne came out with all guns blazing on Saturday, no doubt with Bellamy’s last round post-match spray still ringing in their ears.
Parramatta had no answer to a fired up Storm but their plight was not helped by winger Maika Sivo being sinbinned in the 49th minute for a high shot on Jahrome Hughes.
Sivo will no doubt catch the attention of the match review committee for his hit in backplay on Hughes that forced the fullback from the field.
Melbourne led 32-6 when Sivo was binned and piled on four tries in seven minutes while the winger was cooling his heels.
Overall, Parramatta missed 54 tackles.
The Storm did not open the scoring until the 13th minute when pivot Cameron Munster waltzed through a gaping hole but quickly jumped to a 24-6 halftime lead.
Melbourne cruised to a 7-2 record, celebrating centre Will Chambers’ 200th NRL game in style.
But it was a milestone match to forget for another 200-gamer, Eels winger Ferguson as Parramatta slipped to 5-4 for the season.
