They welcomed back four big stars, but Melbourne added two more players to the casualty ward in Sunday’s 30-6 gritty NRL win over Manly on the Sunshine Coast.
The injuries soured an important victory in which centre Justin Olam scored his second hat-trick against the Sea Eagles in three games and the Storm shot out to outright second on the NRL ladder.
Winger Marion Seve went down with a suspected ACL injury that would end his season, while New Zealand Test star Nelson Asofa-Solomona suffered a calf injury late in the first half.
It was the end to a rough day for Seve, who was earlier crunched in a heavy tackle by fullback Tevita Funa before he was helped from the field just 10 minutes into the match.
The dual injuries add to a long run of horror luck for Melbourne, who welcomed back Cameron Smith, Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Jesse Bromwich for Sunday’s win.
They are still without Dale Finucane, Kenny Bromwich, Suliasi Vunivalu and Brandon Smith from their first-choice starting lineup with a month to go until finals.
“It looks like Marion has done an ACL,” said Storm coach Craig Bellamy after the game.
“Nelson’s just jagged his calf, not quite sure how bad that’s going to be, but we’re getting a bit low in troops in our forwards so hopefully it won’t be too long.
“We haven’t had a great run through injuries but it’s something the guys who have come into the side have done a really good job for us and hopefully they can keep doing that.”
And still they were a class above against the Sea Eagles.
Olam’s three tries were the standout for a backline that fired, with Ryan Papenhuyzen and Josh Addo-Carr terrorising Manly’s defensive line.
Addo-Carr finished with a double, including a runaway effort through the middle of the field in the final minute of the game, while Asofa-Solomona also scored in the first half.
In his first match in a month, skipper Smith was at his scheming best but was rusty with the boot, missing three of six conversions.
Manly handed a long-awaited debut to teenage centre Albert Hopoate, but he was given a rough initiation in marking Olam.
Props Addin Fonua-Blake and Martin Taupau combined early for Manly’s only try, but Brad Parker and Rueben Garrick both dropped the ball over the line which could have evened out the contest.
Behind by eight points at halftime, Manly’s errors came back to bite them late.
“We made it tough on ourselves, and we were well and truly in the game,” said coach Des Halser.
They also had their fair share of bad news with winger Garrick suffering a suspected AC joint injury that could sideline him for two to four weeks.
The loss ended Manly’s chances of playing finals in 2020, which will mark the first time the side has missed playoffs under Hasler since 2004.
They will next play Wests Tigers at Lottoland on Saturday, while Melbourne will take on South Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
