Storm hold out fast-finishing Bulldogs in NRL thriller
Melissa Woods |
Melbourne have locked down a top-two ladder position with two rounds to play after holding out Canterbury in their blockbuster NRL showdown.
Following a golden-point victory by Canberra over Penrith earlier on Friday night that put the Raiders in prime position to claim the minor premiership, the Storm were forced to work hard for a 20-14 win over a much-improved Bulldogs outfit.
The match also almost went to golden point when Canterbury looked to have scored with just over a minute remaining off a Matt Burton bomb, which would have locked up the match with a successful conversion.
But the bunker ruled a knock-on by skipper Stephen Crichton.
The AAMI Park victory put Melbourne four points clear of third-placed Canterbury, but they have a far superior points differential.
While his team lacked some finishing polish, Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo praised their effort and preparation – which he said last round had been off.
“We had our moments where we had the opportunity to get the job done, but Melbourne’s scramble defence is really good,” he said.
“We’ll walk away with plenty of lessons tonight, in what we could have done better to get the job done.
“The way they trained during the week and the way they prepared, I knew we were going to come here ready to put in a good performance, so that’s the main thing I was looking for tonight.
“The result would have been great, but the main thing was the way we performed and we prepared to win and we played to win.”
The Storm took a 12-0 lead into halftime but hooker Bailey Hayward burrowed over from dummy-half to put his team on the scoreboard in the 43rd minute.
Melbourne then lost prop Tui Kamikamica to a head knock and skipper Harry Grant to the sin bin for a no-arms shot on Harry Hayes.
It looked like the visitors would take advantage immediately but Ryan Papenhuyzen managed to dislodge the ball from Jacob Kiraz as he dived over the tryline.
Instead, it was the Storm pushing the margin out to 18-6 when Jonah Pezet put through a pinpoint crossfield kick into the in-goal for Xavier Coates to score.
Canterbury, who last week were humbled 32-12 by the Sydney Roosters, showed their fighting spirit with halfback Lachlan Galvin mixing up the attack with a fresh running game.
Hayes looked certain to score after he made a 35-metre dash but lost the ball thanks to a heavy tackle from Coates.
They were finally rewarded in the 69th minute with a Kiraz try before Crichton caused some nervous moments for the home side.
Craig Bellamy was happy with his side’s first half but the master coach was disappointed with some of their ill-discipline, with Grant Anderson allowing their opponents back into the match with a penalty for tapping on Matt Burton’s head.
“We played real well in the first half, played a real controlled game and stuck to what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it but there our second half showed a lack discipline,” Bellamy said.
“We give away a couple of penalties, rubbing blokes on the head, hitting them after they’d passed the ball, you’re not going to get away with that if you do too much of that in the finals.”
AAP
