The third round of the nineteenth season of
the National Rugby League kicked off with a 2-0 Melbourne Storm side facing the
Brisbane Broncos, who had so far notched a win and a golden-point loss.
Overshadowing the clash between these two supernovas of modern rugby à treize was the return of the
king, Billy Slater, and the addition of Benji Marshall to the Broncos.
In the end, the appearance of neither was
the decisive factor in a game which had it all. Slater’s entry into the fray
came in the twenty-ninth minute, coterminous with a penalty which put his side
8-6 ahead. The preceding half-hour had seen one try and one disallowed try
apiece, with the most spectacular being James Roberts’ interception and
length-of-the-field run with Josh Addo-Carr hot on his tail.
Somehow, a Storm outfit which was tackled
eighteen times in its opponent’s quarter and which completed fourteen of its
twenty-two sets went into the sheds only slightly scathed. The Purple Curtain
looked like it was about to burst open soon after the break, when Ben Hunt sold
it the dummy and left a diving Slater in the dust to put the men from
Bananaland 12-8 ahead.
La
viola had an opportunity to regain control a few
minutes later, when Suliasi Vunivalu and Darius Boyd had a to-do, but the
selfsame Fijian winger fumbled out of bounds to blow what should have been an
easily convertible penalty set. And it continued to feel as if the footballing
gods had been angered by the hosts: Addo-Carr was denied a try by a Ben Hunt
tackle, Cameron Munster clashed heads with Corey Oates and retired to the
bench, Will Chambers lost the ball centimetres short of the line to flash up
the big red ‘NO TRY’, and Jesse Bromwich knocked-on just shy of the paint.
The final flourish came with less than
three minutes on the clock. It’s still a blur to me. Melbourne gained some
territory thanks to consecutive penalties. Ryley Jacks with the ball…a Bronco
knocks it back…another Bronco fumbles…and Addo-Carr levels it. Cameron Smith,
as is his wont, doesn’t miss the conversion.
This was the Melbourne Storm at their best:
dominant, professional, and born to inspire much fear and loathing in
opposition supporters.
Melbourne 14 (Jacks, Addo-Carr tries; Smith 2/2 convs.; Smith 1/1 pen.) – Brisbane 12 (Roberts, Hunt tries; Kahu 2/2 convs.)
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