Melbourne sustain a record collapse an 18-0 lead to go down 22-18 to Canberra

The Storm have given up the biggest ever lead in their history, letting an 18-0 head start go begging in a 22-18 defeat to Canberra.

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The race for the NRL minor premiership is not over yet.

Ladder-leader Melbourne Storm had a chance to all but shut the door on the chasing pack of teams last night — and blew it.

An 18-0 lead finished a 18-22 loss to Canberra Raiders in an extraordinary match at AAMI Park.

It was a serious statement from the third-placed Raiders not to count them out of premiership calculations — and somewhat of a wake-up call for Storm.

The loss was just Melbourne’s second in 13 games and only its third defeat of the season at home.

Storm sat three games clear atop of the table last week, but last night’s loss raised questions of whether they are as head and shoulders above the rest of the competition as that position suggests with three rounds of the regular season to go.

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Melbourne shot out to a big early lead. AAP Image/Scott Barbour.

LUCKY START

Canberra was its own worst enemy in the opening half as Storm got off to a flyer.

The Raiders had not one but two players sin-binned in the first 16 minutes and the home side took advantage.

Jack Wighton was sent to the sin bin in the fourth minute of the game for a professional foul.

Storm scored through Justin Olam, set up by a lovely kick from Cameron Munster, just over a minute later.

Minutes after Wighton returned, the Raiders were back down to 12 men on the field after Joe Tapine was sent off striking at the 16-minute-mark

The Storm worked the ball from halfway to the try line and Josh Addo-Carr scored 30 seconds later.

Suddenly the Storm had a 12-0 lead.

Canberra slowly worked their way back into the game. AAP Image/Scott Barbour.

MIGHTY COMEBACK

Melbourne looked in complete control leading 18-0 after 29 minutes when Cameron Smith’s third conversion from as many attempts came following a Suliasi Vunivalu try.

But the Raiders’ really got going after hitting the scoreboard with a controversial Jarrod Croker try with seven minutes left on the clock before halftime.

The visitors went into the main break down 18-4 but refused to give up as they gave Storm everything they had in the second half and dominated play with strong ball movement.

Croker scored again at the 51-minute-mark and when Jordan Rapana scored the Raiders’ third try with 10 minutes to go, the heat was on Melbourne and the momentum with the visitors.

Josh Papalii broke through with five minutes to go to secure the most unlikely of wins.

Storm’s defence in the second half was desperate and gallant, but its attack dropped away.

Josh Papalii crashed over for the winning try. AAP Image/Scott Barbour.

BRAGGING RIGHTS

Storm coach Craig Bellamy and Raiders coach Ricky Stuart are best mates.

They played together at Canberra in the late 1980s and early 1990s and put business aside to catch up for a beer on Friday night.

Yesterday was the 21st time they had come up against each other in the coaches’ box — and Stuart finally took the bragging rights once again.

The Raiders’ win was their first over Storm since Round 23, 2016 — ending a five-game losing streak.

Overall Bellamy still leads 15-6 in the battle of the best mates, but it was Stuart who left smiling.

CANBERRA 22 (J Croker 2 J Papalii J Rapana tries J Croker 3 goals) bt MELBOURNE 18 (J Addo-Carr J Olam S Vunivalu tries C Smith 3 goals) at AAMI Park. Referee: Ben Cummins, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski. Crowd: 17,769.

Originally published as Melbourne sustain a record collapse an 18-0 lead to go down 22-18 to Canberra