Melbourne captain Harry Grant has produced an hour of rugby league excellence, as the Storm extended their round-one winning streak for a 25th year.
Grant was exceptional from dummy half for 60 minutes in Melbourne's 52-4 hammering of the Eels at AAMI Park, before coming off with a leg issue.
He scored two of his side's nine tries, as the home side punished a poor Eels effort that faded badly in the second half on Thursday night.
The win maintains Melbourne's sensational round-one record, with a first-match winning streak that started way back in 2002.
That is 24 straight wins in round one, due to a bye in the 2004 season.
The last time the Storm lost in round one was a 14-10 defeat to Canterbury at Docklands to begin the 2001 season.
Thursday night's clash had a dramatic moment in the first minute, with Eels forward J'maine Hopgood sent to the sin-bin for making shoulder contact with the head of Storm lock Alec MacDonald.
MacDonald was ruled out with a concussion, while the 12-man Eels were the first to score in the fifth minute through Sean Russell.
Alec MacDonald was knocked out in the opening exchanges. (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)
It took Melbourne the full 10 minutes of Hopgood in the sin-bin to take advantage of the extra man, when halfback Jahrome Hughes threw a brilliant cut-out pass to send winger Will Warbrick into the right corner.
Grant would slice open the Eels defence four minutes later, darting from dummy half to run through 30 metres up the middle of the field to score under the posts.
A try from close range to Jack Howarth gave the Storm an 18-4 half-time lead, but the Eels had enough chances to give themselves belief.
Any hope for Parramatta fans was extinguished early in the second half.
Second-rower Joe Chan ran onto a perfectly thrown Hughes pass in the 47th minute to score from close range, then Grant barged over from dummy half four minutes later.
With the game well and truly won for his side, Grant limped off the field in the 60th minute with a reported cramp, although he grabbed at his ankle after it got trapped under a teammate in a tackle.
A double to fullback Sualauvi Fa'alogo, along with tries to Moses Leo and Ativalu Lisati sealed the dominant win.
Mitchell Moses and the Eels had no answers to the Storm onslaught. (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)
"I didn't see that coming, that scoreline surprised everybody, but our guys really prepared well this week," Storm coach Craig Bellamy said.
"We were pretty good in the first half, but in the second half we were pretty exceptional.
"If you're that good with your ball control this early in the season, I think that goes a long way to helping you to get the result that you want."
Eels coach Jason Ryles said his side had no other option than to go back to the drawing board.
"It's round one, let's not lose sight of that fact … the disappointment is probably [because] we sort of evolved ourselves to a standard of play that didn't look like that," Ryles told reporters.
"We'll have a big schooner of reality and move on."
Melbourne captain Harry Grant has produced an hour of rugby league excellence, as the Storm maintained its round one winning streak for a 24th season.
Grant was exceptional from dummy half for 60 minutes in Melbourne's 52-4 hammering of the Eels at AAMI Park, coming off in the 60th minute with a bad cramp.
The Storm captain scored two of his side's nine tries, as the home side punished a poor Eels effort that faded badly in the second half on Thursday night.
The win maintains Melbourne's sensational round one record. The Storm are undefeated in round one since the 2002 NRL season.
The last time the Storm lost in round one was a 14-10 defeat to the Canterbury Bulldogs at Docklands Stadium to begin the 2001 season.
Key Event
77' TRY: Melbourne passes 50 points
M
By Michael Doyle
It is a party at AAMI Park.
Sualauvi Fa'alogo has a second try, and the Storm have nine tries for the night.
Another sloppy Eels defensive line allowed a linebreak by Tyran Wishart.
He gave the ball to Tui Kamikamica, who offloaded to Cam Munster.
Munster took on a defender, got the ball free, bouncing to Fa'alogo, who scoops the footy and scores under the posts.
Storm 52
Eels 4
74' Melbourne's Preston Conn makes his NRL debut
M
By Michael Doyle
Melbourne number 18, Preston Conn, has come on for his NRL debut.
Conn is the fifth member of the Storm bench to come on tonight. The Storm were allowed to do that because Alec MacDonald was knocked out by a sin bin offence in the first minute.
67' TRY: Melbourne score again
M
By Michael Doyle
Atival Lisati has grounded a perfectly weighted grubber kick from Cam Munster for another try.
The Eels have imploded in this second half.
Storm 46
Eels 4
66 SIN BIN: Eels winger Bailey Simonsson is off for 10 minutes
M
By Michael Doyle
Eels winger Bailey Simonsson has been sent to the sin bin.
Melbourne prop Stefano Utoikamanu made a massive linebreak up the middle of a tired Eels' defence.
Big Stefano is brought down, and Simonsson holds him down for too long.
That is a professional foul.
That is a sin bin offence.
65' Harry Grant reportedly has a cramp
M
By Michael Doyle
Fox League is reporting that Harry Grant has a suspected cramp.
64' Sualauvi Fa'alogo scores for the Storm
M
By Michael Doyle
Magnificent rugby league from the Melbourne Storm.
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It started with a big linebreak up the middle of the field by Moses Leo.
It was finished by a moment of brilliance from Sualauvi Fa'alogo, who chipped over the top of Parra fullback Isaiah Iongi.
The ball clips the post, and Fa'alogo grounds the footy.
Storm 42
Eels 4
60' Harry Grant limps off the field
M
By Michael Doyle
Melbourne captain Harry Grant has limped off the field, on the far side away from the bench.
The Melbourne captain appeared to get his ankle caught under a teammate while making a tackle.
Grant has been subbed off. He is able to walk around the field, back to the bench, under his own power.
57' TRY: Moses Leo scores for Melbourne
M
By Michael Doyle
The Melbourne Storm are having fun now.
Parramatta lose the ball coming out of their own end, and the Storm have another attacking chance.
Harry Grant runs from dummyhalf and draws in defenders.
The Storm go through the hands to left centre Moses Leo, who backs himself and scores in the corner.
Conversion is good.
Storm 36
Eels 4
55' Cooper Clarke comes up inches short
M
By Michael Doyle
Young Cooper Clarke has come so close to scoring on his debut.
He was held up over the line, with the ball just inches off the turf.
51' TRY: Harry Grant scores his second try for the Storm
M
By Michael Doyle
Melbourne hooker Harry Grant is having an outstanding night.
The number nine has his second try, darting from dummyhalf and running through two would-be tacklers to score under the posts.
Conversion is successful.
Storm 30
Eels 4
47' TRY: Joe Chan scores Melbourne's fourth try
M
By Michael Doyle
Sustained pressure from the Melbourne Storm has led to a fourth try.
The Eels were struggling in defence, and set restarts weakened their resolve.
Close to the goal line, halfback Jahrome Hughes took the footy to the Eels' defence, then gave a brilliant flat pass to his right, where Joe Chan was charging through a big hole.
The conversion is successful.
Storm 24
Eels 4
Update
A
Audience comment
Storm have got this in the bag - big 2nd half comebacks are so 2025...
- Mike
Key Event
Second half begins in Melbourne
M
By Michael Doyle
The Eels get first use of the football to star the second half.
It is a great set from the men in yellow, as they march the ball to the Storm 30-metre line, before Mitchell Moses puts up a bomb.
An Eels player gets his hands to it, but it is a knock-on.
Positive start for the Eels.
Storm 18
Eels 4
Eels stuggling with completion rate
M
By Michael Doyle
The Parramatta Eels are down by 14 points, but they had plenty of chances to score in that first half.
A major area of improvement is competiton rate.
Parra completed just 13 of 21 sets in the first half. You are not going to win many games of footy with that.
Key Event
HT: Melbourne Storm 18 lead Parramatta Eels 4
M
By Michael Doyle
The first half comes to a close.
The Melbourne Storm are in control, with three first-half tries to take an 18-4 lead at the break.
There was a fair bit of feeling between the teams to end the half, as a pair of skirmishes broke out in the final five minutes.
It sets up a terrific second half at AAMI Park.
32' Eels fullback off for a HIA
M
By Michael Doyle
Parra fullback Isaiah Iongi is off for a Head Injury Assessment, called for by the independent doctor.
Iongi had stayed down, with what looked like a potential crusher tackle.
It was cleared by the ref unit, despite it appearing that Iongi was hit high.
The doctor saw the hit to the head, and he is off for a HIA.
Begs the question: if the doctor thinks he was hit in the head and needs to be checked, why isn't a high tackle a penalty?
Storm 18
Eels 4
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