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The Melbourne Storm have advanced to another grand final, with Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk guiding them over a gallant Canberra Raiders outfit by two points in what was an excellent game of football.
Coming off a week’s break, the Storm were put right to the test from the get go, with the Raiders using their usual attacking vibe to up the pressure.
The Storm handled it beautifully for the most part though, their customary defence doing a great job and limiting Canberra to just two tries, with the difference at the end of the game being a solitary penalty goal.
With the Raiders’ right side firing for much of the match, and their halves Aiden Sezer and Blake Austin providing decent ball, it’s a credit to the Storm that they kept the Raiders so low in the points column.
The Storm did that in part by keeping the pressure on in attack. They barely made a bad decision, with Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk playing fantastic matches.
The way they closed out the game, getting repeat sets or putting grubber kicks over the sideline to pack a scrum ten out from the Raiders line was fantastic.
Smith’s kicking game close to the line in particular out of dummy half put the Raiders under endless pressure, while the likes of Cameron Munster and Marika Koroibete were strong running the ball from the back.
The key talking point to come out of the match will actually come out on the back of a Koroibete run. With the Storm ahead by just two points, he made a massive break, running 80 metres before being tackled by Jack Wighton who promptly held on for far too long and was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.
The decision cruelled Canberra, who then gave up a try and a penalty goal in ten minutes and never were able to come back.
In part, that was because of the botched tries the Raiders offered up. Edrick Lee was a repeat offender, and dropped a ball with a clear path to the line at one point, but the onus certainly doesn’t stop with Lee for that.
The scoring for the match took quite a long time to get going, with Smith kicking a penalty goal in the 16th minute before Jordan Rapana could cross in the corner for Canberra.
It came off some ad-lib play, but a wonderful offload saw him dive through the defence and send the Raiders into the lead.
Cooper Cronk would score for the Storm just five minutes later though, running onto a cut out ball from Cameron Smith and ignoring Kevin Proctor to crash over himself.
At half-time, it was 8-6 to the Storm and the game very much was in the balance.
While the scoreboard would suggest it was a slow start to the second half it was anything but, with a ferocious pace to the game.
As mentioned, Wighton was eventually placed in the sin bin before Cheyse Blair ran through a big hole to send the Raiders further into the lead.
Smith missed the conversion, but with Josh Hodgson giving away a silly penalty some minutes later, he would slot a penalty goal and send Melbourne back in front by eight.
Once Wighton got back on the field, the Raiders had the running but simply couldn’t find a way over. Eventually, a shocking pass back into the middle of the ground allowed Sezer and Josh Hodgson to run the ball, with a try eventually set up for Elliot Whitehead in the corner.
The Raiders would make an error on the attack though, and the Storm iced the game with Smith and Cronk both forcing goal line drop outs in the final minutes.
The Storm will now move on to play the Cronulla Sharks in next weekend’s grand final at ANZ Stadium
Final score
Melbourne Storm 14
Canberra Raiders 12
Match Statistics
Tries: Storm (2), Raiders (2)
Goals: Storm (1/2), Raiders (2/2)
Penalty Goals: Storm (2/2), Raiders (0)
Possession: Storm (50%), Raiders (50%)
Completions: Storm (36/41), Raiders (25/33)
All runs: Storm (180), Raiders (151)
All run metres: Storm (1758), Raiders (1419)
Line breaks: Storm (3), Raiders (3)
Offloads: Storm (6), Raiders (12)
Tackles: Storm (304), Raiders (349)
Missed tackles: Storm (24), Raiders (28)
Penalties: Storm (11), Raiders (7)
Errors: Storm (7), Raiders (8)
The Roar’s NRL Finals MVP
3 – Cameron Smith
2 – Cooper Cronk
1 – Aiden Sezer