Dragons’ 25-year Melbourne stunner brings Storm back to the pack
The Melbourne Storm were cruising to the minor premiership, but a shock 25-year first has left the side no room for error.
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St George Illawarra Dragons have defied history in a major upset over top-of-the-ladder Melbourne Storm, hanging on for an 18-16 for their first win in Melbourne since 1999.
It was a win that was 9100 days and 25 seasons in the making as the Dragons toppled the Storm in front of a shell-shocked 18,103 Storm fans at AAMI Park.
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After 16 straight losses, the Dragons finally got to sing their song in the Victorian capital after a standout two-try performance from Dragons forward Jaydn Su’A.
Not only was it a significant win in a historical sense for the Dragons, it was huge for their 2024 season as it catapulted them into the top eight.
The Dragons improved to 10-9, while the Storm has some work to do to secure the minor premiership with the defending champion Penrith Panthers given the chance to move a win out of first place.
Captain Harry Grant tried his utmost to get the Storm over the line with a tryscoring double, but it was to no avail as his team’s seven-game winning streak came to an end in a spectacular way.
It was a fast and furious start, but the Storm has a knack of making you pay for your errors.
With the Dragons threatening 10 metres out from the line, Hame Sele made an error in the play-the-ball and from the next set, the Storm opened the scoring.
Grant caught the Dragons defenders flat footed and found halfback Jahrome Hughes, who exploded past Dragons forwards Jacob Liddle and Luciano Leilua to hand it back to Grant for the game’s first try.
It could have dispiriting for the Dragons, but they immediately threatened the Storm line eventually finding their way through when captain Ben Hunt produced a delightful grubber kick for Su’A to score unopposed.
The Dragons continued to press with Tyrell Sloan, who had been dropped to reserve grade last week and only earned a reprieve due to Mat Feagea’s concussion, sparking the visitors with a try from inside his own half.
The Storm replied through Grant Anderson, who has now scored four consecutive games, to trim the margin at halftime to two points.
The Dragons thought they had the dream start to the second half when Sloan found a gaping hole to score, but were denied when the Bunker found that Leilua had impeded Storm’s Trent Loiero.
But soon after, the Dragons made no mistake a Hunt whizzed past Shawn Blore and assisted on a Su’A double to make it 18-10.
Grant took it upon himself to get the Storm back in it, scampering from dummy half for his second try of the game, trimming the deficit to two, but it was a bridge too far.
Originally published as Dragons’ 25-year Melbourne stunner brings Storm back to the pack
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