Fijian winger Semi Valemei scored a hat-trick of tries on debut for the North Queensland Cowboys as they beat the Melbourne Storm 45-20 in Round 14 of NRL in Townsville on Sunday.
Mid-season recruit Valemei shone in his first game as a Cowboy, replacing veteran winger Kyle Feldt’s regular spot on the right-edge.
The Cowboys got off to a flying start with some slick attacking sets setting from Valemei with back-to-back tries in his first eight minutes showing his pace and skill to finish off a dominant attacking display from playmakers Chad Townsend and Tom Dearden.
Valetine Holmes converted once for a 10-0 lead.
The Storm re-grouped and it was winger Xavier Coates who crossed the line almost untouched in the 22nd minute and Nick Meaney converted to merge the score line at 10-6.
It was Origin star Holmes, who scored the third try for the Cowboys giving them a 14-6 lead at the break.
The Storm came out strong early in the second half scoring a try through Justin Olam and Meaney converted before Valemei crossed for his hat-trick with Coates knocking a looping pass into the hands of Hiku who put the young winger through in the corner to score and Holmes converted.
Meaney tried to bring the Storm back in the game with a converted try but the Cowboys has other plans scoring twice through Murray Tulagi while Nanai and Townsend added further tries and Holmes slotted four conversions.
