In a battle of two Origin-depleted teams, the Melbourne Storm have edged out the North Queensland Cowboys 23-22 in a golden point thriller at AAMI Park.
Filling in for Queensland halfback Cooper Cronk, 19-year-old Brodie Croft emerged as Melbourne’s hero in extra-time. First, he put in a grubber kick to earn a repeat set for the Storm, and then he calmly slotted a field goal in the next set to earn the two points for his team.
The Cowboys had a 10-6 lead at half-time, with winger Kyle Feldt scoring all of North Queensland’s first half points.
He kicked two penalty goals and a sideline conversion to go with an eighth-minute try. That try was created by Jake Granville going down the blindside and putting Justin O’Neill through a gap. O’Neill then put Feldt over in the corner.
The Storm hit back later in the first half with a try to 19-year-old centre Curtis Scott in the 32nd minute. He did well to score after good lead-up work from Brodie Croft and Cameron Munster.
The Cowboys went further ahead five minutes into the second half when Coote grounded a Jake Granville grubber. That made it 14-6, with Feldt unable to convert.
The Storm then went on a three-try blitz in a five-minute period of the second half, beginning in the 52nd minute.
First it was replacement hooker Brandon Smith burrowing his way over from dummy half. That was followed two minutes later by centre Curtis Scott scoring his second try of the night, after great lead-up work from Croft, who used his step to make a break before offloading to Felise Kaufusi who put Scott over.
Kaufusi scored himself from close range just three minutes later to take the Storm put to 22-14 at the 57-minute mark.
The Cowboys hit back in the 78th minute when Kane Linnett barged his way over out wide after running onto a Ray Thompson pass. Feldt’s conversion from the sideline made it 22-20, and then he slotted a pressure penalty from 35 metres out near the uprights to level the scores on full-time.
The win allows the Storm to consolidate their position on the top of the ladder, while the loss anchors the Cowboys in seventh spot.
Final score
Melbourne Storm 23
North Queensland Cowboys 22
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