In the NRL semifinal, Melbourne Storm defeated Sydney Roosters in a last-minute Will Warbrick make an attempt?
Will Warbrick’s score in the 79th minute turned around Melbourne’s season and gave the Storm an incredible 18-13 victory over the valiant Roosters.
With only ninety-nine seconds remaining, Warbrick sprang high to grab a cross-field kick from Cameron Munster and then smashed the ball down to put Melbourne into the preliminary final, where they will take on Penrith.
Within the last ten minutes, Sam Walker gave the Bondi side a one-point lead, raising the possibility of another Tricolours boilover.
However, Munster and Warbrick delivered the magic when it mattered most, as the Storm faced an elimination from the playoffs in a straight-set fashion following their crushing defeat by the Broncos last week.
Warbrick, a former rugby sevens player for New Zealand who went on to win silver at the Olympics, has had a great debut season with the Storm and will now be indelibly linked to that team’s history.
Bellamy stated, “He’s scored a lot of tries for us this year.”
Although it took him some time to become acclimated to our game, I’ve been incredibly happy with his growth.
“That play was really significant. That match would have been fair on the road [at the MCG in the AFL].
“If he hadn’t come up with that play, we lose.”
Munster also had another brilliant effort on the biggest stage of the game, helping his team pick up the pace in the second half with many penetrating runs and several bone-rattling tackles.
The Roosters almost pulled off another shock after defeating Cronulla the previous week when Lindsay Collins fell near the posts to tie the score before Walker’s one-pointer.
They needed something special from their big guns since Trent Robinson’s side was completely destroyed by injury, and players like James Tedesco, Brandon Smith, and Victor Radley all came through.
In his match against his former side, Smith crashed over for a try at close range to stop the bleeding after Melbourne got out to a flying start with an unexpected hero opening play.
Tyran Wishart, a junior from Gerringong who is typically a hooker by profession, was called up to play halfback when Jahrome Hughes was injured. He did not waste any time in making an impression on the game, cutting through the Roosters’ defense to score from close range.
Soon after, referee Ashley Klein missed a blatant knock-on by Melbourne hooker Harry Grant, giving the Storm another opportunity to score.
After some fast-paced offloading from the Victorians’ right edge, Klein apologized to Roosters captain Tedesco for the error, but the damage had already been done when Grant put Storm center Marion Seve over for a try.
“It was evident that it was abandoned. There he was, exactly. It struck the earth,” Robinson remarked.
“How are you able to help? It was a mistake.
“Key moments are important; you have to nail them for the officials and both teams.
“I have no complaints. It was our duty to go down and protect. They had no right to score from a penalty that was 10 meters outside of their own line.”
With eight minutes remaining in the game, the Roosters, who had won five straight games to get to the playoffs, displayed their customary tenacity to tie the score and even take the lead.
Since joining the Storm from Canterbury, Nick Meaney has played almost every position in the backfield, but this was maybe his greatest performance at fullback.
Even though Luke Keary and Sam Walker would frequently put him in 50/50 situations on his line, he was really sturdy under the high ball and tucked the ball under the arm for some strong hit-ups. Ultimately, it came down to him making the grab on the little kick-off to seal the victory.
Craig Bellamy, the Storm’s coach, claims that Meaney was their best player tonight.
“I don’t know whether having Paps [Ryan Papenhuyzen] around the last couple of weeks might’ve had him thinking he might be moved to other positions during the game,” he explains.
