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
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Not excuses; I didn't say it was okay, I was explaining how it happened as you seem confused. It's hardly worthy of the hysterics you're going into either, this was minor by the standards of NRL refereeing errors (may have cost Melbourne 2 points, but we wouldn't hear about it had Smith nailed the kick as he would in the majority of cases) -- people make mistakes of a similar magnitude in professional settings every day at work around this country; when you have a situation that deviates from the standard process people make errors, fact of life.
P Air
Guest
Well said Geoff. While I'm not a Raiders supporter I love the way they play the game. Reminds me a bit of Wests from 2005. They should do well in 2017.
zim
Guest
The raiders didn't start that. Smith shoved Croker in the back so he fell over the guys on the ground. That is what started it.
zim
Guest
Melbourne dominated this game. Raiders had almost nothing go right for them and they still almost pulled it off. It's a credit to them that they just kept coming back at them. As for the "staying down" stuff. You could see on numerous replays Hodgson was folded like a napkin in that crusher. No idea why it wasn't put on report. That for me was probably the worst decision of the game considering they got multiple looks at a replay.
Doug Graves
Guest
@ Alex L Pathetic excuses. What you are describing is complete amateurism. And people wonder why the refs are viewed with such disdain in this game! If the ref is unsure where the kick should be taken from then surely reason suggests he should ask for assistance not take a wild guess? All he had to do was ask the bunker to review where the grounding took place, I don't care if they have to get the measuring tape out, the refs cannot be allowed to stuff simple things like this up, it's a complete disgrace to the game. Why you would seek to make excuses for staggering incompetence is bizarre.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Sour grapes - yes - and for good reason based on some of the decisions made. The first penalty that wasn't, the questionable sin binning of Wighton and the forward pass ruled against Austin for a start. Anyway despite the ref blunders that favoured the Storm the Raiders still could have won despite having two centres busted and Austin and Hodgson playing at 50%. Not sure what you are inferring with the glass houses comment - at least the Raiders don't base their whole game structure around strangling the opposition and slowing down the play the ball. I know every team does it but the Storm have reduced the game to a long, grinding dull, turgid game of trench warfare. Bellamy has almost single handedly been responsible for a decade of dull, stodgy unattractive rugby league, But as I've said elsewhere the challenge is there for coaching staff of opposition teams to develop a style of play that can overcome these tactics and make the game exciting to watch again.
Richard Maybury
Guest
It was the fact that the Raiders caused a scuffle while waiting for the bunker result. That scuffle took the ref's attention and he then gave the kick from where the scuffle took place and not where the try was scored. A simple mistake but one that usually gets ignored because it was the Storm and everyone is focused on knocking them. Just like that obstruction that ruled out the storm try late in the second half - a doozy that one but lets forget that, lets talk about wrestling again shall we. Comes out every time the storm play an important match. Lets all whinge about wrestling in the hope it gives the other team an advantage.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
I thought Jack Wighton had a very bad last 30mins or so. So many dumb things.
Deez
Guest
Sour grapes? People in glass houses?
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Well Doug, it's pretty basic... the refs can't see from the POV of the cameras and the bunker was too busy looking at the scuffle to make sure the kick was being taken in the right place.
Doug Graves
Guest
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/melbourne-storm-complaint-may-rule-referees-out-of-decider-after-basic-error-20160925-gro35u.html Can anyone explain how the above is possible? How can the refs get the conversion position wrong? Seriously. This is beyond a farce considering the amount of cameras filming the game.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Actually I thought Sezer played one of his best games of the season. Took the line on and made lots of metres, would have contributed to the match winning try if Edrick Lee had held on to the ball with the line wide open, and kicked two brilliant conversions from out wide when Jarrod Croker was injured. Would have liked him to kick a few more in to the in goal to get a few repeat sets but apart from that was very good. I think he will be even better next year.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Austin got smashed in the head by a swinging arm and Hodgson got his neck crushed in a typical Storm crusher tackle but of course nothing to see here. No penalty - play on. Just ask the coach of the Cowboys who had 3 players with neck injuries after they last played the Storm. All teams know they are going to get their heads and necks crushed when they play the Storm but that's the way they play and they continue to get away with it. I'd have a bit more respect for the Storm for the success they achieved if they didn't resort to the ugly, scragging, wrestling tactics to slow down the play of opposition players.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
The Storm will be smashed next week. They are a dull, boring robotic team that has to resort to negative strangling of the opposition to achieve results. They were very lucky to win last night. Don't think they will add to their one legitimate premiership trophy and once Smith, Cronk and Slater are retired they will be a very average side who will be lucky to make the 8.
Deez
Guest
Storm were clearly the better side last night and deserved to win. They could have lifted if needed but did enough to win. They had one eye on next week. Think we should all be applauding Melbourne...they are a great side and have an impressive trophy cabinet for such a young franchise. For a side no one rates very highly...Raiders had a great year. At the end of the day they are not a top-4 side. Next year they will find it a struggle as teams will take them seriously.
Doogs
Guest
Yeah. That was a shame to see that. Even though I was going for Storm I don't like having to criticize the Raiders but I was surprised at their tactics. Last week I thought that they would not be able to muck around in the ruck when they go to Melbourne. It turned out to be true. They consistently held down last week and then this week. But the feigning injuries was the most frustrating and a bad look. Bugger, because they are a great team and don't need to do that.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Sezer would've set up two tries if Lee and Croker had been able to catch the bloody ball...
Lovey
Guest
Two points in it, and Melbourne given two from a dodgy penalty decision. A couple of botched tries. This could so easily have gone the other way.
johnnyball
Guest
In a close game I did think the refs were a little over zealous with some of their calls. There must have been about 4 penalties where two tacklers arrived together and second penalized for supposedly being too late. When both sides were guilty of headhunting and driving in elbows to head in the tackle but no penalties. As a Storm supporter I am glad for the win but the game was just a ref mish mash of indeterminate penalties that ruined the game in many aspects
E-Meter
Guest
I thought Sezer was very ordinary. Canberra need a better halfback than him.