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The Storm have done what the Storm do so well, grinding out a victory at home against the rampant and confident South Sydney Rabbitohs.
There was something a little groundhog day in the result, as the Storm continued its domination over the cardinal and myrtle south of the border.
In a tightly-fought first half the Bunnies struck early with a try to Dane Gagai, before four pointers to Curtis Scott and Suliasi Vunivalu put the Storm in front 10-8 after 32 minutes.
It was a first half of drama and injury. Greg Inglis was wounded twice, after a completely legal hit to the ribs from Vunivalu and another typically Melbourne attack on his shoulder ten minutes earlier.
Storm captain Cameron Smith was working with fifty per cent vision throughout much of the half after suffering a poking of the eye Burgess style. Brother George ran in support of Sam and knocked the rake flying with a wild finger attack to the face.
The Storm celebrate (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Apparently the brothers are now permitted to run as a team and cannonball defenders as they attempt to tackle their siblings.
If the play had occurred in a try scoring situation, it would have been deemed obstruction. Smith suffered with blurred and troubled vision for the remainder of the contest.
Greg Inglis crashed over in the 37th minute, as Vunivalu bizarrely ignored his defensive responsibilities. The winger mysteriously preferred to engage in conversation with the touch judge; pleading for an illegality in a try that just wasn’t there.
The Storm were to make the final statement of the half as Vunivalu crossed late to give Melbourne a 16-12 lead at the break.
Even though Smith was struggling to sight the posts, he converted the late try and the notion of poking the bear would come back to haunt Souths later in the contest.
Melbourne started well in the second half and had a Burgess in the sin bin, as well as a Smith penalty goal after six minutes.
Then, all of a sudden, the Rabbitohs came to life with tries to Greg Inglis and Robert Jennings. Adam Reynolds’ conversion of the Inglis try saw the Bunnies led 22-18.
Cheyse Blair crossed for the Storm soon after and set the game up for a grandstand finish at 22 all, after ‘cyclops’ Smith missed the conversion.
Cam Smith played with one eye open. (AAP Image/Craig Golding)
Then, the referees struck. This time it was Ashley Klein who awarded a dubious forward pass decision against the Storm and the Rabbitohs capitalised with a try to Cam Murray.
Frankly, it looked like a done deal for the Rabbits at 28-22 with little time remaining.
Miraculously, Melbourne broke free down the left soon after and a Josh Addo-Carr kick found Blair on the inside. He scored without being touched on the way to the line. Eye patch Smith’s conversion saw the scores level at 28.
Then Melbourne morphed into the team that everyone fears and the one that has ground others into the dirt in tight situations over the last decade.
The Storm have done it far too many times for fluke to even be mentioned and Cameron Munster slotted the coolest of field goals in the 77th minute to take a 29-28 lead.
The Storm managed the remainder of the contest and the Rabbitohs will lick their wounds after, once again, suffering defeat in Melbourne.
It was a long way from the Harbourview Hotel in Sydney and just what rugby league needed after a week where tabloid nonsense detracted from the product itself.
The Storm move within a game of the Grand Final and the Bunnies live to fight another day.
What matters most is the product that was on display. It is far more attractive than a newspaper’s focus on clickbait content.
The match tonight was the best clickbait the NRL could ever have.