MELBOURNE were embroiled in another chicken wing controversy last night with prop Adam Blair placed on report during the 28-8 NRL victory over Brisbane at Olympic Park.
Blair was booked by referee Jared Maxwell after pinning and twisting Bronco Michael Ennis’ left arm in a tackle midway through the second half.
It came less than 24 hours after Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy insisted the Storm players were not taught to use the technique which has been dubbed the chicken wing.
Winger Anthony Quinn scored a hat-trick of tries for the Storm as the Broncos lost the league’s only perfect record after starting 2008 with three straight wins. With Queensland coach Mal Meninga watching from the stands, Melbourne fullback Billy Slater made another bid for a Maroons recall with a flawless display.
Slater set up the Storm’s first try for Quinn with a perfectly timed wrap-around pass in the eighth minute and had a hand in many of the home side’s best attacking moves.
Melbourne went 12-4 ahead in the 20th minute when Bronco-to-be Israel Folau outjumped Denan Kemp to claim a Cooper Cronk bomb. Winger Reece Robinson got the Broncos on the scoreboard with a four-pointer in the 31st minute.
Meanwhile, not even Willie Mason could have dreamed up a homecoming quite like this as the former Bulldog returned to devastate his old club in the Sydney Roosters’ 40-12 NRL annihilation at ANZ Stadium last night.
MELBOURNE 28 (A Quinn 3 I Folau R Hoffman tries C Smith 4 goals) bt BRISBANE 8 (R Robinson D Stagg tries) at Olympic Park. Referee: J Maxwell. Crowd: 13,831.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 40 (W Mason 2 A Roberts M Pearce C Fitzgibbon S Sa S Kenny-Dowall tries C Fitzgibbon 5 A Roberts goals) d BULLDOGS 12 (B Roberts C Hughes tries H El Masri 2 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: T Archer. Crowd: 36,526.V
