Storm down Gold Coast 24-16 in NRL
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Melbourne’s NRL title aspirations remain under a cloud as they were forced to claw their way to a 24-16 win over Gold Coast at home on Friday night.
The victory was their second after a five-game losing streak but the Storm looked far from the pace-setting side that rolled through the start of the season with nine successive victories.
The Titans set up a heart-stopping finish when they scored a converted try with 10 minutes left after David Mead pounced on a pin-point kick by five-eighth Aidan Sezer to close the gap to 18-16.
But the home side sealed the result as the ball went through six pairs of hands on the final tackle before finding try-scorer Gareth Widdop.
Melbourne trailed 10-0 at halftime but responded to a massive blast from coach Craig Bellamy in emphatic style, scoring two tries through Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk in the opening six minutes of the second half to lead 12-10.
The ninth-placed Titans, desperate for some NRL finals action, didn’t lie down but, when Storm lock Ryan Hoffman slid across for a try in the greasy conditions for an eight-point lead, it was an uphill battle for the visitors.
Compounding the task for Gold Coast was losing prop Luke Bailey to an Achilles injury in only the eighth minute and then lock Ashley Harrison midway through the half with a glute injury.
Melbourne took advantage of their opponents’ two-man bench to make inroads up the centre of the field which was something they failed to do in a disappointing first half.
Mahe Fonua became the first Victorian player to make his first grade debut when he was called in for winger Anthony Quinn but he had a nightmare opening 20 minutes.
The 19-year-old dropped the ball with his first touch three minutes into the game, was caught out of position which handed the Titans their first try to centre Steve Michaels, and then spilled a simple Slater pass.
The youngster found his feet and was unlucky not to finish with a try.
Storm coach Bellamy said he “lost his cool” after a disappointing opening 40 minutes, surprised his team had started so badly after their promising effort last week.
“The Gold Coast were out-muscling us, out-working us, they were out-enthusing us,” Bellamy said.
“I was really disappointed in that first half.
“I’m not quite sure what happened after last week – whether we got comfortable.
“You’d hate to think that after five losses.”
He said his side wouldn’t go far into the finals if they didn’t improve.
Gold Coast coach John Cartwright said Bailey’s season was over, although the severity of his Achilles injury wasn’t clear.
Harrison will also have a scan on Monday while Greg Bird suffered rib cartilage damage and could miss their next clash against Parramatta on Sunday week.
Cartwright said the opening 10 minutes of the second half, when the Storm scored twice, was the worst possible scenario when they were down on troops.
“It was the worst thing that could have happened with what we had available to us, it was our worst nightmare.
“It was very hard to recover once they had a sniff.”
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The Crowd Says (5) | Page 1 of Comments
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August 11th 2012 @ 7:57am
Crosscoder said | August 11th 2012 @ 7:57am | Report comment
Storm showed their known class with the big 3,but the forwards in toto played their part.The new Vic born and produced Mahe in his first NRl game was nervous at first and soon settled in ,taking one hell of a high bomb.
Billy did what only Billy can do,score from seemingly impossible positions.Smith making breaks at will,and Cronk at his scheming and directive best.
The Storm will be there when the whips are cracking,at the business end(semis),have no fear.
The Titans as usual put in a strong performance,and gave the Storm one almighty scare.
It is comforting to know the Gold Coast has a sporting team that is more than competitive ,week in week out.
August 11th 2012 @ 9:41am
Noel said | August 11th 2012 @ 9:41am | Report comment
Unfair comment as best , Roar , you sell the Storm short , the Titans would have beaten most teams in the comp , given the half-time lead they took to the shed , however the Storm showed the character of a champion rebuilding to towards a goal after what has been a most arduous season of premiership and representative commitments to come home with a commendable win .
August 11th 2012 @ 10:17am
Albo said | August 11th 2012 @ 10:17am | Report comment
The Storm will finish in the top 4 and they still have the 4 key positions (1,6,7 & 9) covered. and probably the best key foursome in the comp. That makes them very serious contenders, even if the rest of the team are fringe first graders !
August 11th 2012 @ 10:28am
NF said | August 11th 2012 @ 10:28am | Report comment
Pathetic crowd from Melbourne they should be averaging 15k minimum no excuses considering the talent they got on the field they should get better crowds. the ARLC should focus on fixing up things in Victoria with greater promotion, advertising & working on the grassroots the most important thing considering they enter the comp in 98 with none. Keep bringing up Victorian born players like Mahe throughout the years too and they be on the right track.
August 11th 2012 @ 9:33pm
Andrea said | August 11th 2012 @ 9:33pm | Report comment
If the stadium had a roof alot more fans would go there, after all it is Melbourne weather we are talking about and it was absolutely freezing. The people who designed our pretty stadium did not account for the 4 seasons in one day here in chilly,wet Melbourne. Good on the young lad for overcoming his 1st half jitters and almost scoring in his 1st game.