Canberra Raiders warm up for finals with outstanding performance to beat Melbourne Storm

SORRY Cronulla and Canterbury fans, but the NRL grand final looks set to feature two non-Sydney clubs for a second successive year.

Joey Leilua was sensational for the Raiders.

SORRY Cronulla and Canterbury fans, but the NRL grand final looks set to feature two non-Sydney clubs for a second successive year.

Canberra and Melbourne traded blows in an absorbing Monday night battle that could have easily been a dress rehearsal for the first Sunday in October.

The Raiders saluted 22-8 on the back of a try-scoring double to Joey Leilua and some magnificent desperation defence.

Somehow, the Raiders made a miraculous 49 tackles inside their own 20m. And there were some bell-ringers, too, including Josh Papalii’s shot on Queensland Origin teammate Cooper Cronk, and Jarrod Croker on Cameron Munster.

Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith said Canberra were happy to give away penalties on their own tryline.

“They were pretty happy to give away a penalty, and that’s why there was such a high number (of tackles inside 20m),’’ Smith said.

“Have you got the stat on how many penalties we had inside their ten metres?

“But we weren’t crisp enough with our attack inside their 20m. They scrambled well and their line speed was good.’’

When four Raiders players shoved Cheyse Blair into touch with 15 minutes left on the clock, the brilliant 15,707 crowd erupted. Had there been a roof on GIO Stadium, it would have been blown off.

Melbourne’s loss means they remain competition ladders, one point ahead of Cronulla with three rounds remaining.

Canberra’s win allowed them to leapfrog Canterbury back into third spot.

Just as North Queensland beat Brisbane in last year’s decider, it will be tough to look beyond the Storm and Canberra for a premiership winner based on their ding-dong battle in the nation’s capital.

Cronulla have taken just one point from their past three games. Canterbury keep winning but have a non-existent kicking game.

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said Canberra were the ‘’team on the up’’.

“We all know Cronulla were beaten on the weekend, we know the Cowboys were beaten, and we all now know we were beaten,’’ Bellamy said.

“Those teams have plateaued a bit the last couple of weeks, and we need to find a way to get better.

“At the moment the Raiders, they’re lifting their execution, just their all-round game ... they’re the team at the moment.’’

Canberra counterpart Ricky Stuart said: “I just hope we don’t plateau. A few of those teams have been up for a long time, and they’ve plateaued a bit, but they’ll bounce back and be better in three or four weeks time.’’

The Raiders made it seven wins on the trot. Stuart will need to call on every ounce of experience to keep them humming along for another seven weeks. Every side peaks.

The home side could not have asked for a better start when Leilua started and finished a wonderful 70m try inside the opening minute.

His second featured more brute force, shooing away Blair and then powering past Munster and Tohu Harris.

The Storm enjoyed a wealth of possession and field position, but could only cross the line once when Cooper Cronk picked on the heaviest bloke on the field, prop Shannon Boyd, and showed too much toe to get to his outside.

Canberra host Parramatta on Sunday. It could get ugly. Uglier than two non-Sydney teams fighting it out on grand final day again.

CANBERRA 22 (J Leilua 2 S Boyd tries J Croker 5 goals) bt MELBOURNE 8 (C Cronk try C Smith 2 goals) at GIO Stadium. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Chris Sutton. Crowd: 15,707.

Originally published as Canberra Raiders warm up for finals with outstanding performance to beat Melbourne Storm