Cronulla 31 26 Melbourne Match Report & Highlights

The Storm came out from the sheds at half-time to defend a 28-game winning streak when leading at half-time in a final under Craig Bellamy and, for at least the first 18 minutes of the second half, were not assured of a 29th. “Like this thing of ‘you’ve had a failed season if you don’t win the grand final’, that’s a load of crap. The game appeared to be out of reach for the Sharks once Hynes blew a golden attacking opportunity by dropping a slightly wayward fourth tackle pass just ten metres out, and when the Storm won a Captain’s Challenge in attack three minutes later, the crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Sharks hit back for their second try of the game in the following set when Billy Burns broke the line and made space for Katoa to reach out for the line on the right wing after surviving an unsuccessful tackle from Xavier Coates that brought him to ground. Reigning Dally M medallist Jahrome Hughes, managing a broken arm with screws, plates and electromagnetic technology to speed up the healing process, certainly showed what the Storm were missing during his absence earlier in the finals series as their key playmaker with a game-high eight tackle busts. Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen extended the lead to six early in the second half with a penalty from straight in front, but failed on a tougher second penalty goal attempt that would have extended the lead to eight in a low-scoring game.

• Melbourne will now face the winner of Brisbane and four-time defending premiers Penrith in Sunday’s other preliminary final at Suncorp Stadium.
• Melbourne have given themselves a shot at grand final redemption, with the club’s new big four booking a spot in the NRL decider with a win over Cronulla.
• That relief turned to elation when Xavier Coates scored his first finals try in three years to extend the lead out to an unassailable 12 points.

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Papenhuyzen also produced a vital try-saver on Briton Nikora midway through the second half, albeit while conceding a high-tackle penalty in the process. The Storm have not won a premiership since Cameron Smith’s retirement after the 2020 grand final, with the new era desperate to claim a title of their own. Braydon Trindall gives a penalty away for an illegal steal, and Melbourne opt to take the kick to push it out to an eight-point lead.

– 26 v Penrith (a)

Melbourne allowed Cronulla to enjoy parity for only a few minutes and again it was Stefano Utoikamanu and Jahrome Hughes doing some fine work. The Sharks were considered premiership hopes pre-season, but more than halfway into the season and they sit outside the top eight. Back in Round 11, Cronulla upset the Storm 31-26, but having lost three of their past four games, they’ll need to turn things around sharply if they’re going to defeat the Storm in Melbourne. Mulitalo was big on the lip in that Sharks win and he clearly got the Storm players offside who were up in his face with every Sharks defensive breakdown.

That got Cronulla back in the game at 16-10, but another penalty allowed Melbourne to go out to an eight-point lead before Coates’ match-sealing try. Melbourne will now face the winner of Brisbane and four-time defending premiers Penrith in Sunday’s other preliminary final at Suncorp Stadium. Melbourne have given themselves a shot at grand final redemption, with the club’s new big four booking a spot in the NRL decider with a win over 1xbet login Cronulla. Now Craig Bellamy’s men will face the winner of Sunday’s clash between the Broncos and the Panthers in the grand final on October 5. “At the end of the day, it’s hard to get into a grand final, and it’s extra hard to win one. They know how to win grand finals, as we’ve seen in the last few years,” he said.

That relief turned to elation when Xavier Coates scored his first finals try in three years to extend the lead out to an unassailable 12 points. It was a third consecutive week where Cronulla conceding the opening try and they showed plenty of resolve to stay in the game on this occasion as well, striking in the 11th minute when the off-contract Will Kennedy dummied Cameron Munster and Jack Howarth before scything the pair and slinging it out wide to Sione Katoa for the first of his two tries prior to half-time. Legendary NRL coach Craig Bellamy has booked himself an 11th Grand Final appearance after his Melbourne Storm held on for a nervy preliminary final win against the Cronulla Sharks. But it was third time unlucky for the Sharks with Faalogo collecting a Nicho Hynes tap-on cleanly and out-sprinting speedy Sharks fullback Will Kennedy over 90 metres to score and give the Storm a 10-0 lead.

Storm 18, Sharks 10 with 14 minutes to go Nick Meaney slots the ball easily and Melbourne hold an eight-point lead. It’s an easy kick from in front, following a stupid decision from Trindall. Storm 18, Sharks 10 with nine minutes to go Storm 22, Sharks 10 with four minutes to go It started with Harry Grant running the ball from dummy-half, catching cronulla off guard.

Watch: All the highlights from Melbourne’s win over Cronulla

The pressure was telling on the visitors and Hughes produced a centimetre-perfect pass to put Katoa into a hole for the game’s opening try. It was a sour note on an otherwise stellar afternoon, with the Storm improving to 10-4 on the season and making it 10 wins in succession at fortress AAMI Park. Katoa had a game to remember, scoring the game’s opening try with two try assists, 139 run metres and 32 tackles.

And Grant led from the front, forever testing the Sharks line and even setting up the final try. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. You can translate text, handwriting, photos, and speech in over 200 languages with the Google Translate app.