NRL: Storm win spoils Inglis return

Greg Inglis of the Rabbitohs was unable to steer his side to victory over the Storm. Photo / Getty Images

Storm 16
Rabbitohs 6

Greg Inglis has made a successful return to NRL football, but he was unable to inspire South Sydney to a victory over his former team Melbourne at ANZ Stadium.

Despite a wealth of possession in the second half, the Rabbitohs were unable to crack Melbourne's tryline, with the Storm holding on for a gallant 16-6 win.

Melbourne reclaimed second-spot on the ladder with their ninth win of the season, overtaking Manly on for and against by seven points.

And for once it wasn't the Storm's big guns who were behind the win - with Melbourne's tries coming through rookie prop Jesse Bromwich, and unheralded utility Maurice Blair, before a 77th minute four-pointer to captain Cameron Smith sealed the win.

It was also Blair who did an excellent defensive job on Inglis and kept the Queensland and Australia star to minimal impact on the game.

Inglis, who had not played since injuring his hip in the trans-Tasman Test in April, was limited to just nine runs in an uninspiring display.

South Sydney had every reason to be upset in the 63rd minute when their Queensland hopeful Dave Taylor was denied his second try of the match and locked up the scores.

With Storm defenders hanging off him, Taylor reached out and planted the ball down on the tryline - only to have referee Ben Cummins rule that he'd lost the ball and decided not to send it up to the video referee.

"You were short and then you lost it," Cummins told Taylor before replays on the big screen showed the the play warranted closer inspection.

Taylor was easily South Sydney's best, and opened the scoring in the eighth minute when he leapt above Inglis and Blair.

But it was the Storm who took a 10-6 advantage to the break, which they maintained until fulltime, thanks to two soft-tries at the other end of the field to Blair and prop Jesse Bromwich.

Blair was the beneficiary of some smart work by Justin O'Neill and Kevin Proctor - and a lackadaisical attitude by Rabbitohs' fullback Rhys Wesser - while Bromwich strolled through a non-existent tackle by Eddy Pettybourne to give the Storm a four point buffer at halftime.

MELBOURNE 16 (M Blair J Bromwich C Smith tries C Smith G Widdop goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 6 (D Taylor try C Sandow goal) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins, Chris James. Crowd: 11,528.

- AAP