The Melbourne Storm have been knocked out of the NRL finals by their home-hoodoo team, with the Canberra Raiders progressing to week two of the finals after a 28-20 victory down at AAMI Park.
Canberra were out to show the competition they weren’t just making up numbers after finishing the regular season in eighth spot, putting in a brilliant performance against a stunned Storm side.
“It was a tough night. There were some tough calls, we didn’t get any 50-50 calls tonight and you need them,” said Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.
“The way the players hung in tonight makes me so proud as their coach.”
Joseph Tapine was one of the best on field, running for 202 metres, making five tackle busts and one try assist. The strong carries, the hard tackles, the perfect short passes – there was nothing he couldn’t do.
“For me, he’s one of the best props in the world at the moment,” said Raiders captain Elliott Whitehead.
“He’s led our middles all year….he deserves every bit of credit he is getting.”
Melbourne were in unfamiliar territory heading into this finals match with no second chances. They not only now say goodbye to season 2022, but to Brandon Smith who has signed on with the Roosters, as well as Felise Kaufusi, Jesse and Kenny Bromwich who are headed to the new Dolphins franchise.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’m sure when I’m cleaning out my locker it will really sink in,” said Jesse Bromwich.
“This place has done a lot for me and my family. I’m really going to miss this place.”
“They’ve been tremendous for us,” added Storm coach Craig Bellamy on the departing players.
“They deserved to go out on a better note.”
Melbourne looked rattled and frustrated throughout the match, and despite a few flashes of brilliance were unable to play their usual game.
They were soft as butter, that was the disappointing thing,” said Bellamy.
You don’t win finals games by letting the opposition score 28. It’s been a hard year and a long year with the injuries we’ve had and obviously a few other things happening. I think the guys have done a good job to finish where we finished but to go out on that performance, especially defensively, was disappointing.”
Canberra were the dominate side from the early stages, holding Melbourne out for the first quarter of the game. They weathered an early onslaught from the home side, with Melbourne unable to come up with points after repeated sets of six.
Canberra took that confidence and made their way up the other end with Matthew Timoka eventually throwing Cam Munster off him to cross in the corner for the opening try in the seventh minute.
The Storm were close to hitting back when an unlikely chip kick into the in-goal came from Kenny Bromwich, but it couldn’t be regathered cleanly by Nick Meaney. Bromwich tried his new trick again, earning his side another set of six when Savage had to tap the ball out of play for a goal line drop out.
The Storm capitalised, when a beautiful ball from Grant out of dummy half was spread wide to Xavier Coates who dived over the corner for Melbourne’s first try.
The home side started to apply the pressure, forcing Canberra to another goal line drop out shortly after. Hughes showed why his presence was such a necessity for the Storm’s success when he put up a cross-field kick that landed perfectly in Coates’ breadbasket for his and his sides’ second try.
Canberra breathed a sigh of relief when they received a much-needed penalty to get them out of their end. They couldn’t turn the opportunity into points, as a kick on the last tackle made its way over the sideline before Jordan Rapana could catch it.
But wasn’t long before the Green Machine received another opportunity close to the Storm line. Jamal Fogarty received the ball from the scrum and produced a powerful run to cross the try line, carrying a few Melbourne defenders with him.
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The Raiders found themselves back on the attack in the Storm’s half after Felise Kaufusi was called for obstruction. A beautiful short ball from Tapine close to the line saw Elliot Whitehead cross for Canberra’s third try of the night, and the Raiders went to the break leading 16-8.
The momentum seemed to swing at the start of the second half, with Melbourne taking the first points after the break. Centre Marion Seve made a bust up the right-hand side, offloaded to Munster who found Coates who streaked away to cross for his third try of the night.
Munster had a chance to level the scores after the Storm were awarded a penalty after Tapine was put on report for contact with Hughes’ head, but the kick was waved away.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona was able to grab the lead for his side, barging his way through the Canberra defence for a 20-16 scoreline.
But the try-scoring machine that is Hudson Young stole it back for the Raiders beating Munster to a Wighton grubber to score.
The final 15 minutes was everything one could wish for in finals footy, with both sides throwing everything they had at each other. Canberra eventually put the final nail in the coffin when a tap-on pass from Xavier Savage ricochet off Sebastian Kris’ head to land in the in goal for Rapana to score.
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