Melbourne's undefeated start to the NRL season has continued in Townsville, with an 18-12 win over North Queensland.
The win was the icing on the cake for Storm captain Cameron Smith, who became the NRL's top point-scorer.
But Friday night's match was marred by a gruesome broken leg, suffered by Cowboys winger Nene Macdonald.
Macdonald's leg was bent the wrong way in a collision with teammate John Asiata in the 73rd minute and he had to be taken off the field on a stretcher.
Adding insult to injury for the Cowboys, forward Josh McGuire will come under scrutiny for an alleged eye gouge on Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster in the 18th minute.
Munster refused to make an official complaint on the field, but television replays clearly suggested the fiery McGuire might have a case to answer from the match review committee.
The evening had started well for the home side, which scored early, when Kiwi fullback Te Maire Martin jumped on a Melbourne mistake in their in-goal, and extended the lead in the 35th minute with a Jordan Kahu penalty goal.
But the Storm machine finally clicked into gear coming up to halftime, with centre Will Chambers running a perfect line to slice through the North Queensland defence and score.
Captain Cameron Smith claimed NRL's point-scoring record with a penalty goal from 15 metres out in the 49th minute. He slotted a further penalty goal late in the game to surpass Canterbury legend Hazem El Masri's record of 2418 points.
From there, Melbourne's class was obvious, with NSW State of Origin winger Josh Addo-Carr scoring a double to condemn the home team to their fourth-consecutive loss.
Melbourne host the Roosters next Friday, while the struggling Cowboys will leave Queensland for the first time this season to face the Warriors on Saturday in New Zealand.
AAP
