Cameron Smith falls short of NRL points in thrilling win over Bulldogs
Close but no cigar for Cameron Smith. The Storm captain helped end Canterbury’s impressive AAMI Park streak but will have to wait another week to crack Hasem El Masri’s NRL points record.
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Close but no cigar for Cameron Smith.
The Storm captain needed nine points to surpass NRL record holder Hasem El Masri but had to make do with just the six in the hard-fought 18-16 win over Canterbury Bulldogs at AAMI Park.
With NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg and El Masri (death-riding the Storm skipper) in the house, Smith came close converting three tries from close range to give the record a shake but ultimately the pleasantries, for arguably the NRL’s greatest, must wait at least a week.
The Bulldogs had a chance to take the game into extras but Rhyse Martin shanked the conversion with under a minute on the clock.
THE TACKLE(S)
Jahrome Hughes has stones. Big ones. Twice on Sunday night the Storm fullback brought down rampaging Bulldogs winger Jayden Okunbor in open territory to save certain tries. Giving up 24kg in weight and 22cm in height the Storm No. 1 didn’t look like shirking the contest, going low and hard to take out Okunbor at speed, with a full head of steam. The Storm was unable to score off the first try-saver, despite a mountain of possession inside the Bulldogs 30m, following an error and separate penalty, but the Purple team cashed in midway through the second half, when Tui Kamikamica crashed over to give Cameron Smith the chance level the scores with 27 minutes to play. In a close game, the little things, coaches often talk about, mean the most and Hughes did them to perfection. The vision, of both efforts, will be shown on loop in the review, make no mistake about that.
THE INTENT
Felise Kaufusi set the tone early in the piece with a bone-jarring hit on Dylan Napa, which ultimately ended the Bulldogs enforcer’s night after only a handful of minutes. Napa would play on to complete the next set before he was led into the bowels of AAMI Park - under the concussion protocol - and not seen again in regulation. In worrying signs for the Bulldogs, Napa was seen in a moonboot and diagnosed with syndesmosis (high ankle sprain). Melbourne knew what Canterbury would bring, a hard defensive slog, which the Dogs, to their credit, duly delivered on, but the Storm would not be denied. Suliasi Vunivalu and Cameron Munster chased kicks like greyhounds hunt the lure at Sandown Park, while Jesse Bromwich’s pack mauled the Bulldogs through the middle.
THE SPARK
Who else but Cameron Munster? As the Bulldogs threatened to run up the scoreboard in the first half the Dally M Player of the Year contender, who feasts on eyes-up instinctive play, went into PlayStation mode last night to help the Storm open its account with a sweetly-timed kick into space, allowing Will Chambers to run onto the ball, soccer it forward, and then draw a penalty try after being taken out illegally over stripe. With the game on the line, scores locked and only 10 minutes to play, it was Munster again who provided the spark, slicing through a weary Bulldogs line to give the hosts an 18-12 lead after Vunivalu, earlier in the set, disrupted Okunbor’s bid to defuse a highball, forcing an error which the Storm capitalised on. Munster finished with 101m, three tackle busts, two offloads, a try assist and the match-winner. If the season ended today, Munster is the best in the competition bar none.
THE COACH
There is no bigger praise in rugby league than Storm coach Craig Bellamy talking up an rival’s defence. The Storm premiership mastermind did that and then some last night after the “pretty lucky” two-point win at AAMI Park. The Bulldogs, or puppies if we’re being honest with a cavalcade of emerging NRL talent in blue and white jerseys, threw everything at the Storm early, hung on grimly through the middle stages and then launched a rearguard which came within a conversion of forcing the contest into extra-time. But as is often the case, the 4-0 Storm, the only unbeaten team in the NRL this season, just find the way to bank points. “They defended unbelievably well, I don’t know how many times we were pulled down right on the try line,” Bellamy said.
“It was just looking like it wasn’t our day, they’re going to find ways of stopping you, so for us to keep hanging in and believing what we want to do I think that is a good sign for us. You can’t take anything away with the way they defended in that first half, they scrambled for everything.” After trailing 0-12 the Storm rallied to score the next three tries under immense pressure. “You just can’t go chasing willy nilly when you get behind,” Bellamy said. “I suppose a really important part of that was keeping our cool and trying to stick with what was working for us.” But Bellamy will run a microscope over the right edge, which leaked the first two Bulldogs tries. Curtis Scott and Suliasi Vunivalu were both drawn off the line in the first half, creating big enough holes for the visitors to rush through. “Without a doubt we probably lacked a bit of patience,” Bellamy said. “Especially the second one. They’re things we don’t like happening to us... our right side needs to improve.”
Originally published as Cameron Smith falls short of NRL points in thrilling win over Bulldogs
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