Melbourne have survived throwing away a 14-point lead to defeat South Sydney 15-14 in golden point extra time.
Despite the win, Craig Bellamy’s 500th game was more deserving of one of his famous sprays rather than celebration, such was the manner in which his team nearly lost.
The Storm had led 14-0 after just 26 minutes following a disastrous South start, but failed to score from that point on until Ryan Papenhuyzen’s 83rd minute field goal.
Souths, who had failed to make any attacking combinations stick all night, suddenly found their form in attack with ten minutes to play as Cody Walker, Lachlan Ilias and Latrell Mitchell manage to square the defensive line and find space on the outside.
Mitchell was both hero and villain: he took the game to golden point via a spectacular, barely-believable two-point field goal, but missed all three kicks off the tee that could have won the game in regular time. Similarly, Harry Grant missed two attempts early on that would have made a big difference down the line.
Souths coach Jason Demetriou made a serious impact on the game, too. His decision to hook Damien Cook after 70 minutes and shift Siliva Haivili to dummy half preempted a change in the Bunnies’ attacking emphasis away from the run-first mentality of Cook to moving the ball more readily to the wings.
Initially the word was that Cook was injured, but it was later revealed that he had simply been withdrawn.
South were assisted by a near-total Melbourne collapse: they got caught in a cycle of cynical defending that resulted in Justin Olam being sent to the bin. The combination of the more expansive Souths style with the extra man created the conditions for Alex Johnston, Jaxson Paulo and Campbell Graham to get Souths within touching distance.
The last 60 seconds of regular time were pure chaos. Melbourne kicked off, with the ball going dead in goal. The Souths short dropout bounced well within the ten, only for a fortuitous bounce to send it straight into the arms of Ilias.
The Bunnies took the ball to 40m, cut it back and Mitchell did the rest to force extra time – only for Ryan Papenhuyzen, dormant for nearly an hour, to seal the victory.
“We just couldn’t seem to get any decent ball or do much with it,” Bellamy said of a second half in which Tepai Moeroa and Justin Olam were sin-binned and his team missed 40 tackles.
“I think we only completed one set in the last 20 minutes of the game so we were under pressure and then for 20 minutes we were a man short. I’m not quite sure how we got there at the end; got lucky I guess.”
Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou was heartened by team being able to bounce back after such a poor start.
“I’m pretty proud of them. At 14-0 down and with a 50 per cent completion rate in the first half that game could have gone anywhere,” he said.
“The players were keen at half-time to get out and right a few wrongs and we did that.”
We probably should have seen the start coming. Souths are 0-17 in Melbourne. The Storm are celebrating Craig Bellamy’s 500th game.
Few would have expected the sort of one way traffic that defined the first half at AAMI Park, however. Melbourne went to the sheds 14-0 to the good, but it could have been anything.
Ther were early scores for Xavier Coates and Ryan Papenhuyzen, but it was the third try, in which Harry Grant raced 60m untouched from dummy half before putting Cameron Munster in, was emblematic of the Rabbitohs’ lacklustre early performance.
“Embarrassing for South Sydney, their middle defence decimated,” shouted Andrew Voss on commentary, and it’s hard to disagree.
The numbers made for terrible reading for Jason Demetriou: in the first half, his team had a 50% completion rate and 10 errors, hardly the sort of ball control on which wins against the Storm are built.
There were other moments, too. Lachlan Ilias missed touch from a penalty, but was reprieved by the Melbourne player being unable to bat it back in. Nelson Asofa-Solomona managed two ball steals. Cameron Murray threw the ball straight past Taane Milne into touch.
It was dispiriting stuff from South Sydney, perhaps more so than that scoreboard itself.
“South Sydney look rattled,” said Cooper Cronk on Fox League. “They look like they can’t handle the ability of Melbourne Storm to spread it wide, or the tenacity and power through the middle. Harry Grant is having a field day.”
“It doesn’t matter where on the field, Melbourne Storm look like a threat.”
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Yes if Latrell’s field goal attempt hits the post and misses, they don’t deserve a point. They will keep it because it is good for ratings and the advertisers like that a few ads can be squeezed in. I don't like it but I can switch off.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. Rugby League is always changing so we could return to draws and dump the two point field goals. . 2. That's okay if it is a field-goal kicking contest in the 80 minutes. 3. I asked what makes you say this a myth and you say I'm trying to shift the goalposts. What makes you say this a myth?
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
No they don't deserve a point. So if Latrell's field goal attempt hits the post and misses, they don't deserve a point? All of the sudden, their effort has changed? The rules are the game is not played over 80 minutes anymore when the scores are level. If you don't want the score to be level after 80 minutes, score more points in the first 79. Kick a conversion.
Gauss
Roar Rookie
1. So was the unlimited tackle rule, the corner post rule and no time off for injuries. Rules change, and it's been golden point for two decades now. 2. Plenty of games are decided by a field-goal kicking contest. 3. The myth is your repeated assertion that the rule was changed on a whim by Gallop after a spurious interaction with a fan. And your attempt to shift the goalposts here suggests that you know it's a myth.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Souths deserved a competition point because the scores were equal after 80 minutes. No need for a field-goal kicking contest to decide the result.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. Yes draws have been a valid result since 1908. 2. We got a draw that the NRL don't like so the game is decided by a field-goal kicking contest. Your team was denied a competition point but it was okay because it was an exciting field-goal kicking contest? 3. It was Gallop who brought it in after seeing it used in an NFL game. What makes you say this a myth?
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
It has extra time each way in the finals games and if it is still even at the end of extra time then GP is used. I don't know about other games but I don't like it used in the rounds because the game is decided by a field-goal kicking contest.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. Defence is important in determining who gets first shot at goal but it is just a field-goal kicking competition. A golden try would be better. 2. The team that had two draws have not won them, they have drawn them. If no field-goal is kicked both teams will get one point. 3. The game points are awarded on the result of the field-goal kicking contest. That's silly. 4. It is not fair that a team that wins a place in the finals by winning games can be replaced by a team that draws games but wins a field-goal kicking contest.
steveng
Roar Rookie
The usual excuses from a Storm supporter that didn’t either see the game or hasn’t got a clue what RL is all about? Mate, have a look again at the Storms tactics that is thei pattern of play every game e.g., slowing the ruck down, hands on the ball in every ruck, intentional offside(s), certain tries obstructed by an intentional holding back of a player (which should have been a 100% sin bin but wasn’t) all these tactics by the Storm are not only in this game but have been going on for 10 years plus. Have a look at the game again as the Bunnies have no excuses about our sides poor showing and why we lost, even though we only lost by 1 point!
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Flip a coin to see who gets first shot at a field goal? I don't know the exact stats, but how often does the team receiving the kick off march up field and have a field goal attempt? It would be not often. Unless they get a penalty, they usually are tackled their own side of half way and kicking for field position. Your things about it not being fair to other teams makes no sense. Everyone has the same rules. In your example, the tigers are not converting 2 draws into golden point wins, they are 2 wins.
Simoc
Guest
Strange game really. Souths couldn't get anything right for the most part, took off the star hooker and looked likely to win after that unexpected move. Its early season stuff and I expect both teams will improve a lot. Still a very entertaining game. With organisation around the ball play earlier Souths would have won this game easily.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Exactly.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
I saw Mitchell in the change room and he's carrying a bit of extra beef. He's bucking the trend.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. Yes GP is over twenty years old and will be around for longer than me but I dislike it immensely. They flip a coin to see who gets first shot at a field goal. 2. I say it is not fair to the other teams in the competition. Say the Dragons are in 8th place after winning 14 games but the Tigers won 12 games with two draws converted to GP wins. So Tigers are 9th but we allow a FG contest to determine the finals teams because we don't like draws.
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Storm understandably weakened through injury, but some of those are long term. Add to that no Fox, no Finucane, no Hynes this year. Souths almost beat them with a #7 who doesn’t really look like a first grader. It’s definitely a worry for old Bellyache.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Yes there won't be much field goal kicking against the Panthers.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. You've got to look at the big picture. The rounds are for collecting points that will determine the top 8 teams. All games should be 40 minutes each way with a point for a draw and two points for a win. 2. Playing extra time affects table integrity as does playing some teams twice. 3. Finals games must be won or lost so there is extra time each way and Golden Point if equal after extra time.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Dude, stop saying 'it is not fair. It is fair', because that is what the rules are. It would be unfair if it was applied differently to different teams. The best team (which) in any game is based on opinion) doesn't always win. A try from a lucky bounce, or a missed forward pass can be the difference. Two teams can both score 5 tries, but if one teams tries just happen to be all under the posts and the other teams just happen to be all out wide and they inevitably lose, is that fair? The game isn't played over 80 minutes. It is played over 80 minutes, unless the teams are tied after 80 minutes.
Gauss
Roar Rookie
1. According to you. 2. We didn't get a result I liked last night, and I still thought it was a great finish. 3. You've now repeated this myth about Gallop a number of times here. Please stop it. And again you're attributing the "rather lose than draw" line to me, which is another of your fabrications. You seem weirdly exercised by this issue, but that's no reason to make things up.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
So in lasts nights example Souths deserved a competition point because after 79 minutes they were behind, after 80 minutes they were level and after 82 minutes they were behind again...? .. but then Souths deserve both competition points if Mitchell kicks even one conversion and Melbourne would deserve ... none? All seems rather arbitrary.