Melbourne have set up a NRL preliminary final blockbuster against the Sydney Roosters after dominating Parramatta 32-0.
The Eels had no answer as they were blown off AAMI Park in the first half on Saturday night in a game that was full of twists and turns.
Storm skipper Cameron Smith was sin-binned for just the second time in his career, for a slap on opposition No.9 Reed Mahoney, but it had no bearing on the result as the Eels failed to trouble the scoreboard when he was off the field.
Importantly for Craig Bellamy’s men, it was a big bounce back after last week’s upset loss to Canberra.
Winger Josh Addo-Carr was the villain against the Raiders after his mistake in possession led to John Bateman’s match-winning try.
But he quickly regained hero status, scoring two four-pointers in a starring effort.
The Storm led 22-0 at the break but the Eels were brave in the second 40 minutes, especially considering they at one point had just one man on their bench after losing Clint Gutherson, Marata Niukore and Tepai Moeroa to head injury assessments within 30 seconds.
The Storm will meet the Roosters and former teammate Cooper Cronk at the SCG next Saturday night for a spot in the grand final.
All year, the Storm and Roosters have been the teams to beat and many predicted they would meet again in the grand final, but Melbourne’s loss to the Raiders pushed them to the other side of the draw.
Addo-Carr opened the floodgates in the sixth minute when he took the ball on his own 30-metre line, beat six defenders – including turning opposite winger Blake Ferguson inside out on two occasions – on his way to the line.
The Eels gave away two penalties in a row with Kane Evans and Maika Sivo both suffering brain snaps and being penalised for shoulder charges.
Sivo was put on report for his hit on Ryan Papenhuyzen and, after being gifted field position, the Storm made them pay through Sulisiasi Vunivalu.
Addo-Carr scored his second when he won the race to a Cameron Munster grubber which looked destined to go over the deadball line.
The Eels racked up the biggest finals win in last week’s 58-0 thrashing of Brisbane and, at one point, that mark looked under threat from the Storm.
And the margin would have been much bigger had Smith (one from six) and Munster (none from one) not been so wayward with the boot.