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Melbourne 50 Souths 4
SOUTH SYDNEY star recruit Adam MacDougall's season ended tonight after he snapped his Achilles tendon in his side's belting by Melbourne at Olympic Park.
MacDougall, 29, fell awkwardly in a tackle with less than two minutes to go in the National Rugby League clash.
The disconsolate former State of Origin and Test back, who had been outstanding for the Rabbitohs so far this season, was helped from the field by a trainer.
His and Souths' worst fears were confirmed immediately after the match.
"Adam's out for the season he's pretty upset," Souths coach Paul Langmack said.
"It just went in the last tackle, moved forward and fell over right at the end."
It capped off a dreadful night for the Rabbitohs, who were given a defensive lesson in a nine tries to one shellacking by the Storm.
Late Storm inclusion Jake Webster, who replaced injured centre Ben MacDougall in the starting side, grabbed a hat-trick while Storm forward Danny Williams celebrated his 200th NRL game with two tries.
The Storm scored four tries in the first half to race to a 22-0 halftime lead, then killed off the game as a contest inside the first minute of the second half when Williams scored his first try to open the floodgates.
But it was Melbourne's brutal defence that laid the foundation for their win. The Storm set the tone midway through the first half when they withstood five straight sets of six tackles, eventually got the ball, then sent it straight back up the other end for a try to Webster.
"When we had that five sets on our line, the try came from us and that was a great sign for us," Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said.
"Our challenge now is to back that up week in, week out on a consistent basis."
In contrast, Souths slipped off tackles and made several handling errors that cost them dearly.
But Rabbitohs coach Langmack said his side just had a bad day at the office, suggesting his side's five-day turnaround from its defeat by Parramatta on Easter Monday did not help his side's cause tonight.
"Everyone has off-days," he said.
"The first four weeks we've been mentally up there and it's pretty hard week in, week out."
To compound the Rabbitohs' problems, skipper Bryan Fletcher admitted he was continuing to struggle with a foot injury which needed constant treatment leading into tonight's game.
Both the Storm and the Rabbitohs now have two wins and three losses from their five matches so far this season.
MELBOURNE 50 (J Webster 3 D Williams 2 D Cooper D Kidwell M Orford C Smith tries C Smith 5 M Orford D Williams goals) bt SOUTHS 4 (L Hookey try) at Olympic Park. Referee: S Lyons. Crowd: 8553.
SOUTH SYDNEY star recruit Adam MacDougall's season ended tonight after he snapped his Achilles tendon in his side's belting by Melbourne at Olympic Park.
MacDougall, 29, fell awkwardly in a tackle with less than two minutes to go in the National Rugby League clash.
The disconsolate former State of Origin and Test back, who had been outstanding for the Rabbitohs so far this season, was helped from the field by a trainer.
His and Souths' worst fears were confirmed immediately after the match.
"Adam's out for the season he's pretty upset," Souths coach Paul Langmack said.
"It just went in the last tackle, moved forward and fell over right at the end."
It capped off a dreadful night for the Rabbitohs, who were given a defensive lesson in a nine tries to one shellacking by the Storm.
Late Storm inclusion Jake Webster, who replaced injured centre Ben MacDougall in the starting side, grabbed a hat-trick while Storm forward Danny Williams celebrated his 200th NRL game with two tries.
The Storm scored four tries in the first half to race to a 22-0 halftime lead, then killed off the game as a contest inside the first minute of the second half when Williams scored his first try to open the floodgates.
But it was Melbourne's brutal defence that laid the foundation for their win. The Storm set the tone midway through the first half when they withstood five straight sets of six tackles, eventually got the ball, then sent it straight back up the other end for a try to Webster.
"When we had that five sets on our line, the try came from us and that was a great sign for us," Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said.
"Our challenge now is to back that up week in, week out on a consistent basis."
In contrast, Souths slipped off tackles and made several handling errors that cost them dearly.
But Rabbitohs coach Langmack said his side just had a bad day at the office, suggesting his side's five-day turnaround from its defeat by Parramatta on Easter Monday did not help his side's cause tonight.
"Everyone has off-days," he said.
"The first four weeks we've been mentally up there and it's pretty hard week in, week out."
To compound the Rabbitohs' problems, skipper Bryan Fletcher admitted he was continuing to struggle with a foot injury which needed constant treatment leading into tonight's game.
Both the Storm and the Rabbitohs now have two wins and three losses from their five matches so far this season.
MELBOURNE 50 (J Webster 3 D Williams 2 D Cooper D Kidwell M Orford C Smith tries C Smith 5 M Orford D Williams goals) bt SOUTHS 4 (L Hookey try) at Olympic Park. Referee: S Lyons. Crowd: 8553.
great game storm 
