A young Wests Tigers side have gone down 14-6 to the Melbourne Storm in their second game of the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines tournament today at Eden Park.
The loss leaves Wests Tigers winless in the competition so far after an earlier defeat to the Knights, and means Jason Taylor's men are unable to make the finals of the competition.
After some strong defensive work early in the match, a towering bomb from Luke Brooks almost resulted in a bonus zone try for Wests Tigers, but instead, saw the Storm somehow escape their in-goal and work the ball down field before finishing off with a try through youngster Brodie Croft.
A raid towards the Storm line would again result in a poor last-tackle option, which again the Melburnians would turn into points as Croft tore away down the left for his second try.
Wayward conversions would leave Wests Tigers trailing 8-0 at half-time.
A powerful run from Josh Aloiai would cut the scoreline to 8-4 in second half, with Justin Hunt's conversion reducing the margin to just two points with three minutes to play.
However, a big run from Cameron Munster off the kickoff would put the Storm in great field position, which would see Felise Kaufusi crash over and seal the result for Melbourne.
Melbourne Storm 14 (Croft 2, Kaufusi tries; Munster 1/3 goals) def. Wests Tigers 6 (Aloiai tries; Hunt 1/1 goals) at Eden Park.
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