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Xavier Coates has stolen the victory in the most spectacular style possible for Melbourne, landing one of the all-time great finishes to deliver a dramatic 30-26 victory over the New Zealand Warriors.
With the game on the line, the Storm spread through hands and found Coates ten from the line, with the PNG Kumul taking to the air from well in the field, throwing his entire body outside the touchline amid contact from Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, with only the ball in the field of play.
It was devastating for the Kiwis, who had themselves produced an epic comeback to turn an 18-6 deficit at the break into a 26-18 lead, only for Ryan Papenhuyzen, then Coates, to dash their hopes.
“That finish was quite unbelievable and to come up with that in the last ten seconds was unbelievable,” said Craig Bellamy.
“You feel for the Warriors a little bit. We probably had the best of it for 25 minutes but after that they dominated the game.
“They slowly but surely built up points and then they were in front. To come back when we probably weren’t playing well is a pretty good sign.”
Coates wasn’t sure if his match-winning play would get confirmed.
“I don’t really know, it’s a bit of adrenaline going,” he said. “I didn’t even know if I got the ball down.
“All the boys were rushing up all around me. I didn’t know if I got the ball down so I couldn’t really celebrate with them. But it sort of popped up on the big screen and I ended up getting the try.”
This is the 15th straight defeat for the Warriors against the Storm, and none could have been more heartbreaking.
“Oh my gosh … that is the best try I’ve ever seen,” Fox League analyst Michael Ennis gushed.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
Prior to Coates’ intervention, it had been Roger Tuivasa-Sheck who was set to be the big story. The returning superstar had come up with a piece of magic of his own, catching a high kick and offloading in one motion for Jackson Ford to spark the comeback.
Andrew Webster has now seen his side go 0-2 without doing a great deal wrong. Indeed tonight, they did plenty right and will take a heap of positives.
“It’s gut-wrenching,” said the Warriors coach.
“It’s one of those ones where it hurts, obviously. There’s parts where I’m so proud, and then there’s parts where I want the boys to realise that if they do that for the 80 minutes we wouldn’t be in that situation at the end.
“When you’ve got a winger you can jump over a skyscraper and put the ball down in the corner, it’s pretty amazing but it’s hard to cheer them when you’re feeling this way.”
Bellamy, as ever, will ask for more – not that he can from Coates. That’s about as good as it gets.
The spine is really the trump card for Melbourne, with arguably the best in the comp across all four positions.
Within that, there’s an argument that Cameron Munster is the best of the lot, and without him, it’s always going to be a little weaker.
Lucky for Bellamy, he has seen the other three step up massively.
Munster and Hughes play hybrid roles in the halves, with neither confined to the traditional 6 and 7 jobs, which does assist when one is missing.
Hughes runs a lot more than the average halfback and stepped up that side of his game, with Jonah Pezet, who has generally played at 7 in the lower grades, more than capable of taking on organisational duties.
On top of that, Ryan Papenhuyzen is growing in the NRL every week, crossing the stripe here and impressing in all the ways that he used to: quick off the mark, challenging on the edges and threatening with the ball.
Throw in Harry Grant and it’s no wonder that the Storm fired themselves to another win.
It’s interesting from a tactical perspective because, beyond the spine, this isn’t that star-studded a side.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona is still missing. Christian Welch and Tui Kamikamica are solid but diminished on what they were a few years ago. There’s more than a few youngsters, like the excellent Joe Chan and Alec MacDonald.
That Melbourne remain this good is a tribute to Bellamy’s style. He’s always managed to empower his best players and raise the floor with everyone else.
Now, even with two huge stars out, it doesn’t drop at all. It’s why they remain among the very best.
The NRL world had been waiting for Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to do something spectacular, and in the 50th minute, it happened.
It wasn’t, like many might have expected, a jinking run or a spectacular finish. Instead, it was a high-flying catch followed by a miracle offload that got Jackson Ford over the line and changed the face of the whole game.
That’s the thing about Roger: few can match him for moments, and simply making things happen around him.
That’s not to say that he didn’t also bring his running game.
Refashioned as a centre, he has shown a huge appetite for the less glamourous parts of the job, averaging over 10m per carry and proving a constant handful to bring to ground.
Many might have taken the injury to Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad as an opportunity revert RTS to fullback, but instead, Webster trusted youngster Taine Tuaupiki and was richly rewarded.
Though small in size, he showed superb evasion with the ball and regularly broke the first tackle from kick returns, buying his side the chance to start sets.
It might have been a gamble, put it is paying off.