Jack Bostock returned to NRL football for the first time in 10 months on Friday night and scored two tries inside 10 second-half minutes as the Dolphins beat Melbourne 28-10 at Suncorp. The result extended the Storm's losing streak to seven games, a club record under Craig Bellamy and the deepest hole the purple have been in since the 1998 expansion era. The 18-point margin, Storm's third loss to the Dolphins in their last four meetings, was as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests.
Bostock Back, Dolphins Storm Home
Bostock got a late call-up to start at centre after Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow trained with concussion protocols all week. The 24-year-old's first NRL appearance since his ACL injury 10 months ago was the spark the Dolphins needed in a contest that had been level 10-10 deep into the second half. Max Plath, who finished with the kind of performance Wayne Bennett trotted out as one of the best Dolphins displays of his tenure, broke the line through the middle. Bostock sprinted diagonally from 20 metres out to score his first try in 10 months. The Suncorp crowd lifted.
The second came minutes later. Isaiya Katoa launched a high ball, Bostock outjumped a contest, and grounded it under the posts. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki iced the result at the death with a barnstorming run from 30 metres. The Dolphins finished with the win, the points, and the kind of momentum that suggests the wooden-spoon talk that followed Round 1 was wildly premature.
Storm Reach a Number Bellamy Has Never Seen
Seven straight losses is the worst sequence of the Bellamy era. The previous Melbourne club record was six, set this season three weeks ago when Souths put 48-6 on them at AAMI Park, and pushed to seven on Friday night. Tyran Wishart, in for the concussed Jahrome Hughes, struggled to direct the side, and Hugo Peel's NRL debut on the wing was a quiet introduction. The Storm are now 12th on the ladder with a points percentage that has dropped under 100 per cent, a number nobody around the club had even considered as recently as Round 6.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow's late return for the Dolphins, after his concussion, set up Jamayne Isaako in the corner for the Dolphins' equaliser at 10-10 mid-second half. Selwyn Cobbo's earlier try in the first stanza, set up by a precise Plath cutout, gave the Dolphins their early platform. Across all 80 minutes, Plath was the controlling force, finishing with try-assists, line-engagements and the steady hand the Dolphins have always needed at hooker.
Where the Markets Land
The Storm sat $1.85 favourites at kickoff at dabble with the line at -8.5. The +8.5 came home by 26 points. The Dolphins' premiership market has firmed from $51 to $26 across the night at Picklebet, while Melbourne have drifted from $4 to $9. Round 9 closes Sunday with the Panthers hosting Manly at CommBank in the marquee fixture, with Penrith $1.62 favourites and the Sea Eagles $2.30 the underdog. The line is at -5.5.
Friday's full match details and Bostock's post-match interview are available at ABC Sport. Markets at Ladbrokes have shifted Saturday morning on the back of Friday's results.