WILLIE Isa took a small step towards filling Israel Folau's big shoes with a two-try haul as Melbourne beat Newcastle 32-24 in their NRL trial match at Princes Park.
Playing their only trial match in Melbourne, the Storm were almost at full-strength with World Cup stars Greg Inglis, Billy Slater and skipper Cameron Smith in their ranks, while the Knights left big guns such as Kurt Gidley, Jarrod Mullen and Steve Simpson at home.
With
Folau departed for Brisbane and the retirement of veteran Matt Geyer, the Storm have two vacancies in the centres.
Joe Tomane and Will Chambers are the front-runners, however, with Chambers (knee) only playing in next Saturday's final trial against Brisbane in Caloundra, 20-year-old Isa took his chances against the Knights.
The former Penrith junior, who joined the club at the end of last season, grabbed two tries in a nine-minute period early in the first half as the Storm raced to a 22-0 lead against the shell-shocked Knights.
The visitors weren't helped by a poor kicking display by half-back Luke Walsh.
The remainder of Melbourne's six first-half tries were shared, with Inglis also getting among the point-scorers.
The 22-year-old, who spent the early part of the second half in the centres with Smith playing five-eighth and Ryan Hinchcliffe at hooker, looks a man mountain.
Now weighing around 106kg, Inglis also appears to have lost none of his pace, or his strength, as Knights hooker George Ndaira found out through a trademark Inglis fend as he raced through to score.
Both coaches made a raft of changes, both positional and in personnel, in the second half as Newcastle got the upper hand and managed to keep the Storm scoreless.
Centre Keith Lulia scored just before the 20-minute drinks break while Zeb Taia touched down with the converted try closing the gap to eight points, which proved the final score.
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy rested his No.1 half-back Cooper Cronk from the match with his replacement James Maloney, new to the club from Wentworthville, impressive.
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