Melbourne gave a struggling Roosters outfit a footballing lesson as they ran riot to the tune of 44-4 in Round 4 last year.
On a day when Storm fullback Billy Slater became the first player to score four consecutive try doubles to start a season, the home side was off to a fast start when Dane Nielsen steamed through a gap on the left to make it 6-0 after just three minutes.
The Roosters tried hard in the first half and enjoyed a good period of possession as they looked to hit back, but they were made to pay for their inability to cross the line as Kevin Proctor barged his way across before Slater grabbed his first of the day with a slicing run from 20 metres out.
Up 16-0 at the break, Melbourne quickly added another straight after when Ryan Hoffman scored. And the match was just 46 minutes old when Slater etched his name into the record books following a Cooper Cronk break.
There was no taking the foot off the pedal either with Cronk scoring a double of his own late in the game and Will Chambers also crossing – the Roosters’ only joy coming from a strong Boyd Cordner charge from close range.
The Storm enjoyed 55 per cent possession, made 10 line-breaks to four and ran for almost 400 metres more than their opponents.
In a starring role, Slater added 172 metres to his two tries as well as contributing two tackle-breaks, two line-breaks and a try assist.
Jake Friend made 40 tackles for the Roosters with Sam Perrett running for 142 metres with six tackle-breaks.
