A rare field goal by Cameron Smith has handed Melbourne a 15-14 NRL win over North Queensland in Brisbane.
The Queensland State of Origin skipper earned bragging rights over his state teammate and Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston with the 70th-minute field goal – just the second of his career – to seal Saturday’s victory.
It’s the second time in as many trips to Brisbane the Cowboys have been beaten by a single point after a golden-point defeat earlier this season to the Broncos.
The Cowboys took the early advantage when Storm winger Suliasi Vunivalu spilled a Thurston bomb straight into the hands of Gavin Cooper.
But it was Melbourne who took the halftime lead after back-to-back tries to Tohu Harris and Kevin Proctor – again off a spilt bomb – to be up 12-8 at the break.
The Storm extended their lead with a Smith penalty shortly after the break.
A brilliant Jake Granville pass to put Michael Morgan over squared things up at 14-15 with 26 minutes to go to set up a grandstand finish.
Both teams had their opportunities in the closing stages.
Vunivalu was brought down by a desperate Thurston ankle tap after finding himself in the clear.
Then Cameron Munster and Harris combined to stop Antonio Winterstein when the Cowboys’ winger seemed destined to crash over in the corner.
That was the premier’s final real chance before Smith’s sealer secured the Storm’s fourth straight victory.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Yes, I noticed that too. Expected a lot more from him when he was on the field but he hasn't provided the spark that he gave them last year. Maybe its injury or form or maybe teams have identified him as a danger man now and gets more attention from the defence than last year when he was relatively unknown. It might be this because they scored a great try when he passed to Morgan off a set piece because he drew a lot of defence along with JT on the outside allowing a huge hole for Morgan so maybe that's the way to play it this year.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Is it just me or does Granville not look 100%? He looked absolutely gassed 10 minutes into the second. just wasn't his usual self and hasn't been for a couple weeks now. Just a form dip or is he lacking fitness or struggling with injury?
Mike from tari
Guest
I agree with you, I just slomoed it & Smith takes off from 2nd marker as soon as the ball is placed on the ground but the interesting thing is that the Cowboys had a blocker who tried to impede Smith, he impeded the player following smith so would have been interesting had Thurston got the FG.
jimmmy
Guest
Yeah Cooper had a bit of trouble with his hands. Usually so good . I forgive him.
Griffo
Guest
Our errors were really costly. We didn't make a whole lot but when we did they were usually pretty important. All in all one no call for offside is less mistakes from the refs than the Cowboys made in the game.
Richard Maybury
Guest
He doesn't play for a NSW club and he doesn't qualify for the blues so of course the Sydney based media will overlook him.
SpongeBob
Guest
He plays for NZ so he's not that underrated I think :)
jimmmy
Guest
Good summary Joe, your bench was very good. Solomona just gets better all the time.mOverall I was extremely happy with our defence too . One try from a Coote mistake and some really sloppy online defence which was out of character. Let's hope these sides come through Origin OK . They will provide some absolute cracking games in the finals if their rosters stays intact.
Dan
Guest
If you pause at the frame, Smith leaves as soon as ball touches the foot of the man playing the ball, which the rules allow.
P.Marlowe
Guest
Really enjoyed the game. I think Tohu Harris has to be one of the most underrated players in the NRL. Great player. Just one observation on the Cowboys from watching it live- they seemed to have Scott, Tamou and Tamololo all off the field for a fair amount of time together - they really seemed to lose their way a bit then.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Great win by the Storm and a great game played by both teams. The Storm are relying heavily on their forward pack as their outside backs stocks are pretty thin and with Hampton gone for a long term injury looks to be even worse. Cheyse Blair is fitting in nicely and Vunivalu is getting valuable experience. Apart from the usual from Cam and Cooper I thought Blake Green was also outstanding, especially his defense. I thought the difference was the bench, with Mclean, Asofa-Solomona, Kaufusi coming off the bench they provided a lot of punch. The desperation in defense was outstanding typified by Harris and Munster's stop on Winterstein and Kaufusi's desperate tap on JTs legs to stop the kick. Hopefully when they get a full compliment of backs in they will be even better.
bbt
Guest
Considering Storm have a totally impromptu line up in the outer backs, that was a terrific effort. Once we get a settled back line, the attack will go up another notch.
Richard Maybury
Guest
Well said Jimmy. It was a great game of football with both sides putting in the effort. There was nothing in it in the end. I think that we as a RL fan base need to stop getting so upset over refereeing mistakes. They have always happened and they will always happen but rarely do they alter the course of a game. All clubs get bad calls and all clubs get the rub of the green at times so lets just settle down on the men in pink and enjoy the footy.
jimmmy
Guest
Not all that disappointed by the loss. Nothing in the game really. We struggled at times to make ground in the forwards and we certainly weren't as clinical in attack as we can be. Yet We still had our chances to win it. Yeah Cam Smith was a mile offside at our field goal attempt but this is the ideal time to have Coote back and to the left and just shuttle it on. I thought our setup for the FG was poor. Melbourne will be in the top four and if it is a choice between playing them, Cronulla or the Broncs in a major semi I would take the Sharks or Broncs cause I think we have them covered . With Melbourne it would be 50 / 50.