NRL Round 20: Manly Sea Eagles win 18-16 over Melbourne Storm

Manly’s top-eight hopes have received a massive boost, surviving a second-half fightback to upset the Melbourne Storm at home on the back of a controversial penalty at the death.

In a highly controversial and emotional finish, Melbourne Storm captain Harry Grant was penalised for dangerous contact on a Manly Sea Eagles field goal attempt by Luke Brooks and it decided a thrilling game between two old rivals.

With scores level on 16-apiece and Brooks’s kick going well wide, Grant followed through and made contact, albeit soft, with the legs of Brooks, resulting in a penalty.

Sea Eagles winger Reuben Garrick decided the game, making no mistake from the resulting penalty 10 metres out to give the Sea Eagles a stirring 18-16 win at AAMI Park on Saturday night and put his side back into the top eight.

It drew the ire of the Storm fans who booed referee Wyatt Raymond from the ground, but the Sea Eagles did not care, as they celebrated their victory with gusto.

Harry Grant is penalised and the Sea Eagles have a penalty goal to go ahead 😮

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After turning the corner in recent weeks with wins over the Tigers and Rabbitohs, the Sea Eagles have now claimed the big scalp they yearned to remind the rest of the competition they can threaten in the back end of the season.

The Sea Eagles produced a near perfect performance for 65 minutes, before having to stave off a late Storm comeback attempt, sparked by a hat-trick of tries to Xavier Coates.

The result brought an end to Storm’s 10-game winning streak at their home fortress, where they had been undefeated in seven games this season.

The Sea Eagles have upset Melbourne at home to give their finals’ hopes a massive boost. Picture: Getty Images

COATES TRIPLE TREAT

One of the tries of the season sparked Storm’s fightback from 10 down to make it a cliffhanger finish.

The Storm looked a beaten side before a remarkable 95-metre try that went through three sets of hands turned the game on its head.

Storm half back Jahrome Hughes gathered a spilt ball from Sea Eagles centre Tolutau Koula, set Grant Anderson on a 40 metre run, who produced an audacious 30-metre pass to Coates, who had it all to do to touch down in the corner.

On the totality of the night, the Sea Eagles deserved their win.

The visitors came out with a ferocity that is only reserved for their rivalry clash with the Storm.

A three-tries-to-one opening half was a true reflection of the dominance of the Sea Eagles as they took a commanding 16-6 lead into half time.

Storm celebrate after one of Xavier Coates’ three tries. Picture: Getty Images

NEAR PERFECTION

The Sea Eagles completed at an incredible 22 of their 23 (95%) sets in the opening 40 to leave the Storm fans shell shocked at what they were witnessing.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy could barely watch on as his side’s first half was littered with uncharacteristic errors and ill discipline.

The rot set in early for Storm when the inform Eliesa Katoa fumbled on his first involvement, paving the way for Sea Eagles kicker Reuben Garrick to give the visitors the lead after Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes was penalised for stealing the ball with two in the tackle.

Against the run of play, Storm’s big three got involved, with captain Harry Grant jinking to produce an inside pass to Hughes, who shared it with Cameron Munster, who produced a spectacular looping pass to Coates in the corner for the game’s opening try.

MANLY AIM UP

Such was the Sea Eagles intent, they had no fewer than five players wrapping up Hughes in a tackle to force a goal line drop out, which resulted in a try the next set when Tolutau Koula, the team’s try leader, powered across the line.

The Storm’s errant ways provided seasoned Sea Eagles operators Daly Cherry-Evans and Luke Brooks with plenty of attacking possession and that was fraught with danger as they starred in the middle.

It was Brooks who set up Garrick for a tough try in the corner to give the Sea Eagles a 10-point lead at the half.

The Storm looked to have trimmed the margin back when captain Harry Grant produced an incredible solo run to score, but it was wiped off after a video review showed Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona elbowing Jake Simpkin in the lead up.

Asofa-Solomona’s actions, which saw him placed on report, might have been retribution for a Simpkin shoulder that splattered Grant Anderson’s nose and had him on report, but it was also costly because it kept the Sea Eagles in command at half time.

Coates took a skyscraping catch to score his third try before Nick Meaney levelled the scores at 16-apiece off the boot before Garrick called game.

Originally published as NRL Round 20: Manly Sea Eagles win 18-16 over Melbourne Storm