The Melbourne Storm have delivered the Canberra Raiders yet another loss at home with a 34-10 thumping at GIO Stadium.
Both sides were missing several superstars, but the Storm dominated after the opening 30 minutes to score 34 unanswered points.
The Raiders got off to the perfect start with Bailey Simonsson scoring a brilliant try in the opening set.
Canberra continued their good start with Sam Williams putting through a perfect grubber for captain Elliott Whitehead to score to set up a 10-0 lead after 13 minutes.
It was only a matter of time before the Storm hit back and two quick tries to Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Chris Lewis gave them a 12-10 lead at the break.
The Raiders have struggled mightily in second halves this year and that trend continued against the Storm.
Melbourne dominated the Raiders all over the park as they piled on four tries to none in the second 40 to secure the comfortable victory.
There are clearly problems with the Raiders in second halves with the stats painting a grim image for the Green Machine.
Canberra haven’t won a second half since Round 4 against the Titans and have now been outscored 133-20 in the second halves of their last seven matches.
It’s hard to put a finger on what the exact issues are and even Raiders coach Ricky Stuart seems lost for answers after yet another blunt press-conference that last under two minutes.
Canberra now head to Gosford to take on the Sydney Roosters on Saturday night, 29 May at Central Coast Stadium in Indigenous Round. The Roosters are coming off a shock 34-16 loss to the Broncos last week and will be desperate to rebound with a win.
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