SYDNEY (AP) Melbourne emphasized its National Rugby League title credentials with a 64-6 win over Souths on Saturday as the contest for playoffs places tightened with one regular season round remaining.
The Storm had already clinched the minor premiership but demonstrated to their rivals that their bid for a third NRL title may be almost irresistible with an 11 tries- to-one win over the 11th-place Rabbitohs.
Suliasi Vunivalu and Josh Addo-Carr scored three tries apiece, while Cameron Smith scored a try and kicked nine goals to finish with 22 points.
Smith said Melbourne smelt ''blood in the water'' as they mercilessly disposed of Souths, scoring their first try through Vunivalu after only two minutes and leading 36-0 at halftime.
''That's one of the most complete performances that the team has produced in quite a long time,'' Smith said. ''It was like there was a bit of blood in the water where the boys went for the kill and that's the pleasing thing.
''We could have put our feet up and counted down the last 40 minutes but we went straight back to work.''
The Roosters edged Cronulla 16-14 to stay in second place, six points behind Melbourne, and to likely ensure a top-four finish. Cronulla, seen by some as the only team with the ability to challenge Melbourne, dropped back to fifth place, two points outside the top four.
The Roosters led for most of the match but appeared to be in trouble when they were reduced to 12 men for the last 10 minutes after Luke Keary was sin-binned. But a strong run from Boyd Cordner won a penalty against Cronulla captain Mitchell Pearce, and Michael Gordon slotted the winning penalty.
Semi Radradra had a hattrick inside 20 minutes and went on to score four tries as Parramatta blitzed Brisbane 52-34 to keep up their title charge. The Broncos slipped to third place on points differential but are under pressure from fourth-place Parramatta, which has beaten Brisbane twice in the last five weeks.
In Sunday's games Daly Cherry-Evans landed a field goal to force extra time and then kicked another to seal Manly's 22-21 win over the Warriors in New Zealand, and a hold on eighth place in the standings, and St. George-Illawarra kept its playoff chances alive with a 16-14 win over sixth-place Penrith.
Earlier in the weekend, seventh-place North Queensland beat Wests Tigers 22-14.
