Melbourne Storm have moved to the top of the NRL ladder after Cameron Smith secured a golden point win on Saturday night against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Melbourne Storm 15
South Sydney Rabbitohs 14
The Melbourne Storm continue their fight for the minor premiership with a match that they should win easily, against the struggling South Sydney Rabbitohs. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEST).
The battle for the JJ Giltinan Shield is now a race between two now, with the Cronulla Sharks on 37 points, the Storm on 36 and the third-placed Canberra Raiders on 29.
Melbourne and Cronulla will battle in Round 26, and the winner could well claim the top spot on the ladder if both clubs continue their winning ways until then.
The Storm look locked and loaded at the moment, on a five-match winning streak that would have been longer if not for the Origin period.
The streak includes a 48-6 demolition of the Brisbane Broncos and a tough 16-8 win over fellow premiership hopefuls the North Queensland Cowboys last week in Townsville.
The Rabbitohs are at the other end of the spectrum – struggling to just do the basics right. Some of their errors in last week’s loss to the Raiders at home were absolutely pathetic, ones you wouldn’t expect at schoolboy level. They went down by 50, and a turnaround in fortunes doesn’t even look remotely on the radar with the toughest road trip in the game this week.
It extended their losing streak to eight, and Michael Maguire’s troops simply don’t look like they want to be on the field. If their attitude doesn’t change, it is going to be a very long couple of weeks to end the season.
In team news, the Storm add Matt White to their bench as 18th man, while for the Rabbitohs Cameron McInnes, Jack Gosiewski, Luke Keary and Michael Oldfield are all out, with Greg Inglis, Hymel Hunt, Joe Burgess and Thomas Burgess back into the side.
Incredibly, the Rabbitohs have only beaten the Storm four out of a ridiculous 25 times. That gives them a success rate of 16 per cent against the men from the south.
Prediction
The Rabbitohs are just woeful at the moment and I’m not even sure they have hit rock bottom. If they get their attack right, the Storm are going to have a field day.
Storm by 42.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of what could be a very one-sided match from 7:30pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
jacksyd
Guest
Me and 32,725 others for starters.
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
Now there's autoplay for navy ads...
Scott Pryde
Expert
Ha! Thanks Muzz.
Muzz
Guest
You'd probably be the only one on this planet that feels that way but what's new.
Tyrone Koelmeyer
Roar Rookie
Storm dodged a bullet last night. Their first half was, in a word, woeful. Indiscipline was their worst enemy. This would have to be one of their worst performances in recent weeks. A repeat against the Raiders next week, in Canberra, will cost them dearly. Cam Munster, who had an outstanding game, was his usual adventurous self as were the flying Fijian duo. The rest of the team's performance was pedestrian to say the least. Lets hope for a vastly improved performance next week.
jacksyd
Guest
Glad its not Jake Friend
toputz
Guest
Try give credit to the Rabbits, they played better than last week. They came to win but went away with a 1 point loss. There is a bunch of ex storms guys in there including the coach.
Muzz
Guest
I just wanted to say great call and thanks.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Sup?
JR Salazar
Guest
GWS and Storm with uninspiring efforts. If the Storm were a Kanmusu, it would be Tenryuu in heavy damage state but still winning MVP.
Muzz
Guest
Scott, Wait a sec
Scott Pryde
Expert
» Click here to read the full match report Well, that wraps up tonight's coverage of the 2016 NRL season right here on The Roar as the Melbourne Storm took victory in golden point. Hopefully you enjoyed it. There is a stack of sport coming up in the next 24 hours here on The Roar with the Rio Olympics coming into full swing. It'll all kick off with the men's cycling road race from midnight, and then we will have Basketball, Football, Hockey, Tennis, Swimming and all the best highlights from Day 1. Myself, i'll be back for the Boomers match from 3:15am (AEST). I'll also be on for the next NRL game of the round as Jarryd Hayne returns for the Gold Coast Titans from 2pm against the New Zealand Warriors. Riley Pettigrew will then take you through the final game of the round from 4pm (AEST) between the Tigers and Cowboys. Until next time Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Match Results The South Sydney Rabbitohs have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at AAMI Park, as the Melbourne Storm claimed a one-point victory in golden point. The Rabbitohs held the lead with mere seconds on the clock, but couldn't force a repeat set and then Cameron Munster was dumped on his head, with Cameron Smith slotting the penalty goal from 40 metres out. and about halfway to the sideline to tie the game. The Golden point period was back and forth for a few minutes with both teams struggling for metres, the energy from Souths clearly dropping off. However, they were the first to get into position for anything of note with a big break down the left hand side, but Reynolds snapped for field goal a tackle early and off balance, with it going dead. From the impending seven-tackle set for the Storm, they struggled to get up field, but ended up in position with Smith, the hero from regular time snapping a field goal over from dummy half surprising everyone. Earlier in the match though, Souths surprised everyone with just how well they were able to play and hang onto the Storm. After being demolished by Canberra last week, it was an impressive performance and turn around from the Rabbitohs. Sam Burgess led a strong forward effort with everyone putting in while Adam Reynolds kicking game particularly during the first half helped them assert some dominance over the game. Melbourne's execution early in the piece was poor to say the least with Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Blake Green and Cameron Munster struggling to control the game, and making far too many poor decisions and errors. However, the first half was characterised by penalty after penalty. There were 14 by halftime in fact, with the game never looking like it would be allowed to flow or gain any momentum with a stack of errors as well. For a long time it was looking like it might have ended up a scoreless first half, and that perfectly reflected the game. Alex Johnston would break the deadlock though, scoring off an Adam Reynolds chip kick, jumping over Marika Koroibete. The second half got underway with the Storm looking like a completely different team, putting up the first try through Marika Koroibete as he scored off a great cut out ball and a poor defensive spread in the corner to tie up the game. Cheyse Blair would score Melbourne's second try and send them to the lead just a couple of minutes later with a floating pass going over the top, and an obstruction being cleared by the bunker. The Rabbitohs would then quickly hit back through Angus Chrichton off an Adam Reynolds cross field kick to once again tie the scores. Adam Reynolds would then slot a penalty goal about 13 minutes from time, with neither team able to create any meaningful opportunities from that point through to the end when Smith slotted his penalty goal to send it off to Golden Point. In the end, the Storm take victory and go top of the table but it was less than a perfect performance, and they will be looking to get back to their best next week. Final Score Melbourne Storm 15 South Sydney Rabbitohs 14
Joe
Roar Rookie
Yes that's exactly right. The Knights almost beat them twice this season. They have improved though because these were the games they were losing last year when they lost to the last placed team twice and the 2nd last placed team as well while they were sitting in the top four. Ugly as it was they're getting it done.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
If you're on your phone the hit "request desktop site" and you'll get rid of it
Joe
Roar Rookie
That was a close call from the Storm. The Rabbits came to play and they all put in. The Storm only turned up in the 2nd half. I have to say I've notice Suli Vunivalu over the past three games has started to show some serious lapses in defense and in attack isn't backing himself the way Koroibete does. He needs to have a look at how Cheyse Blair is now starting to use his size and back himself in attack instead of cutting back in all the time. Just put head down and have a go at the defense like Koroibete does. It will be hard to drop him because he offers so much in attack especially aerial ability but he'll probably get a word of warning from the coach on his standards.
Scott Pryde
Expert
The Roar's NRL MVP 3 - Sam Burgess 2 - Jesse Bromwich 1 - Greg Inglis
Muzz
Guest
Souths were told that Farah may be joining next season and boom, everyone lifts
Scott Pryde
Expert
STATS Tries: Storm (2), Rabbitohs (2) Goals: Storm (1/2), Rabbitohs (2/2) Penalty Goals: Storm (2/2), Rabbitohs (1/1) Field Goals: Storm (1/1), Rabbitohs (0/1) Possession: Storm (54%), Rabbitohs (46%) Completions: Storm (30/41), Rabbitohs (29/36) All runs: Storm (184), Rabbitohs (156) All run metres: Storm (1521), Rabbitohs (1517) Line breaks: Storm (3), Rabbitohs (4) Offloads: Storm (13), Rabbitohs (6) Tackles: Storm (314), Rabbitohs (394) Missed tackles: Storm (23), Rabbitohs (24) Penalties: Storm (13), Rabbitohs (7) Errors: Storm (10), Rabbitohs (5)
Richard Maybury
Guest
Silly thing is, they often play bad against the weaker teams then lift when playing the better ones. Was the same last year. This ref was a pain tonight though.