On the day he was the centre of attention, Melbourne Storm captain Cameron Smith reminded the AAMI Park faithful how influential he is with a match-winning performance against Manly Sea Eagles on Sunday.
Smith set up four tries in his 350th game as the Storm romped to a 40-6 win over the Sea Eagles in front of 15,036 supporters.
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Storm thump Sea Eagles in Smith's 350th
Cameron Smith has celebrated his 350th NRL match in style, with the Melbourne Storm demolishing the Manly Sea Eagles 40-6 at AAMI Park.
In the lead-up to the game the Storm feared Smith would miss the game after he suffered a minor tear in his pectoral muscle in his previous game but he confounded the doctors by proving his fitness and then dominating the contest.
Smith said he was confident early in the week he would play.
![Jahrome Hughes celebrates a try with Storm captain Cameron Smith](http://web.archive.org./web/20170902140949im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/l/r/d/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxlo8t.png/1501403760918.jpg)
"The medical staff were like 'hang on a minute, let's see how it goes' and Craig Bellamy was of the same opinion and I understand that as we are still six weeks from finals," Smith said.
"It's not worth risking coming back early but as the week went on it got better and better."
The veteran admitted he took a moment to soak in the atmosphere when he ran out but didn't realise he had four tries assists as he was more pleased with his side's defence.
"I don't really go out planning to put blokes over the line, it's just the way it worked out for me today," Smith said.
![Cooper Cronk was caught high by Addin Fonua-Blake](http://web.archive.org./web/20170902140949im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/l/r/l/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxlo8t.png/1501403760918.jpg)
"But it was nice to put some blokes over, I really enjoy when we are scoring tries and showing some 'man-love' here and there, getting in for some cuddles and stuff."
The win keeps the Storm on top of the ladder ahead of the Sydney Roosters who they face in two weeks time while the Sea Eagles remain on the low end of the top eight and need more wins to shore up their finals place.
The only concerns for the Storm will be Cameron Munster's ankle which took a knock in the second half.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy admitted he has doubts Munster will play next game and praised his toughness with the club's medical staff to work closely with the player in the coming days.
Former Storm five-eighth Blake Green had a rude welcome back when he was dumped in a tackle from Nelson Asofa-Solomona. The Sea Eagles chose to take a penalty kick and Matthew Wright booted it over for a 2-0 lead.
Smith came to the fore on 17 minutes when he stepped towards the Manly line only to flick a one-handed pass to fullback Jahrome Hughes who ran over from five metres out.
For the second week in a row Storm fans saw one of their stars hit high with a swinging arm, after Billy Slater was knocked out last round.
This time Cooper Cronk was caught high by the arm of interchange forward Addin Fonua-Blake who was placed on report while Smith converted a penalty kick to push the scores to 8-2 after 27 minutes.
Cronk was left holding his jaw but played out the game.
The Sea Eagles were struggling but on 30 minutes fullback Tom Trbojevic burst wide to the left edge and threw a cutout pass into Wright's chest with the winger scoring.
His conversion missed to leave it 8-6 although that didn't end the scoring for the half as in the final minutes the Storm put together an offload filled spree of passes that got them right to the line before winger Suliasi Vunivalu took the ball from dummy half and forced himself over to make it 12-6 after Smith's conversion missed.
Rookie second-rower Joe Stimson was promoted to the starting side and after Felise Kaufusi forced an early turnover benefited from a fortunate ruling as he was put over by Smith's expert pass and was given a try although replays didn't show conclusive evidence that he touched the ball down.
This meant the try was awarded and the Storm's lead went out to 18-6 after Smith's conversion.
The Storm had both good luck and bad luck in the same play on 56 minutes as Munster was turned over awkwardly on his ankle. He immediately sought treatment but on that same play the home side went further ahead.
With Munster hobbling Cronk put up a high ball into the in-goal and the Sea Eagles couldn't handle it with Kenny Bromwich diving to touch it down right next to the dead ball line to make it 24-6.
The Storm struggled to find their next try until Hughes broke a long run into the Sea Eagles half and then Smith setup Chambers for a try under the posts - the captain converted to make it 30-6 with nine minutes to play.
Smith finished his day with a through ball that wouldn't have looked out of place in an English Premier League soccer side with his grubber kick finding Cronk untouched for another try making it 36-6 in the 75th minute.
Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr topped off the win with a stunning run from half way taking a pass on the left sideline and keeping his lime green boots in-bounds before beating Tom Trbojevic and bolting in to score.
As the siren went Smith was able to finish proceedings with the conversion;Â it hit the post and was perhaps his only miss-cue of the game. It didn't matter.Â
When Smith plays as he did on Sunday, it's not hard to see him playing 400 games and beyond.
The Storm play the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville on Friday night at 7.50pm.
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