Storm defeat Bulldogs in Perth season opener
Premiers the Melbourne Storm have defeated the Bulldogs winning 36-18 in round one at Perth Stadium.
The Bulldogs were the first to trouble the scorers, with Kieran Foran laying on a try for Raymond Faitala-Mariner after two minutes before Ryley Jacks got the Storm on the board moments later.
A Curtis Scott four-pointer at the 16th minute saw Melbourne secure a 12-8 advantage, before Matt Frawley threw a brilliant cut-out ball to send a diving Brett Morris over in the corner to level the match at 12-all.
Successive tries to Josh Addo-Carr and Kenny Bromwich helped the Storm to a 24-12 half-time lead.
The Bulldogs got first points in the second half, with Frawley pouncing on a loose ball to score at the 54th minute before Moses Mbye converted to reduce the margin to six.
But tries to Josh Addo-Carr at the 62nd minute and Suliasi Vunivalu at the 73rd minute wrapped the game up for the Storm.
Melbourne Storm 36 defeated Canterbury Bulldogs 18 (Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Brett Morris, Matt Frawley tries; Moses Mbye 3 goals) at Optus Stadium, Perth. Crowd: 38,824
