MELBOURNE Storm continued their ruthless dominance of the Newcastle Knights with a 48-4 demolition at CBus Super Stadium on Saturday night.
It was Melbourne's 10th consecutive win against Newcastle, who have not beaten the Storm since 2015.
Already without senior players Daniel Saifiti and Mitchell Pearce because of injuries, Newcastle suffered further setbacks when David Klemmer and Kalyn Ponga left the field for head-injury assessments midway through the first half.
Both were unable to return.
Aided by Newcastle's handling errors, the Storm racked up a 30-0 half-time lead after tries by Justin Olam, Cameron Munster, George Jennings, Jahrome Hughes and Nicho Hynes.
Jennings and Olam both scored in the second half, along with Reimis Smith.
Hynes finished with 20 points after adding eight goals to his try.
Winger Dominic Young scored Newcastle's only try.
The Knights actually did well to avoid conceding 50 points, keeping their line intact for the final 19 minutes of the match.
It was Melbourne's 14th successive win and lifted them another two points closer to the minor premiership, while the Knights remain 10th.
Newcastle now need to regroup before Friday's clash with Sydney Roosters, who beat North Queensland 34-18 in the first game on Saturday.
