NRL 2020: Melbourne Storm defeat Sydney Roosters 27-25
He may have produced the knockout blow in an epic golden-point win for Melbourne against the Roosters but Cameron Smith’s transition from the No.9 role to five-eighth is a work in progress.
NRL
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Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has admitted he will consider playing Cameron Smith at five-eighth again following their epic 27-25 golden point thriller at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
Queensland’s adopted fourth NRL team staged an incredible come-from-behind victory, finished off with a Smith penalty goal to win it, in what many have dubbed as the game of the year.
For 85 gruelling minutes, the two premier clubs of the competition of the past decade battled it out for one of the most entertaining displays of rugby league.
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A Morris brothers mauling shaped to have the Storm dead and buried, down 10 points with 10 minutes to go. But two late tries to Jahrome Hughes and Paul Momirovski helped end the Roosters five-game winning streak.
Bellamy described the epic match as “tough”, “ultra-physical” and “incredibly proud”.
His late switch to play Smith at five-eighth paid dividends and he said he would consider playing him there next week.
“In the end it turned out pretty good for us but there were probably a couple things that didn’t work all that well for us,” Bellamy said.
“If we want to go there again, we will.
“If we want to change it around, we will.
“With all due respect, when I asked his opinion and said he was playing in the halves, perhaps he was quite nervous, to be honest, which may sound strange for a guy who has played that many games.
“But to play in a new position, to his credit, he said if that was what was best for the team, that’s what I would do. I thought he played a steady hand out there tonight.
“He made a bit of a difference when he went back into the middle.”
Roosters coach Trent Robinson described it as an “epic”.
“It was a great contest but too many errors on our part,” Robinson said.
“Too many crucial errors throughout the second half with the play-the-ball and completion rates”.
CAM SMITH’S SIX APPEAL
Smith has done everything in the No.9 but it might be some time before we see him in a No.6 jersey permanently.
The Melbourne veteran was thrown into the five-eighth role just hours before kick-off and didn’t disappoint. But he didn’t blow the game open, either.
His playmaking skills caught his Melbourne teammates off guard on more times than one but his attacking ability was required in the absence of superstar Cameron Munster.
Smith admitted after the match it was one of the most nailbiting games he’s been part of.
“It’s been quite some time for a game like that,” he said. “It’s going back to playing these guys in Adelaide. If people weren’t entertained by that, I don’t know what will.
“It was just going end-to-end (football).”
DEFENSIVE CHOOKS
The 2019 premiers have scored 179 points since the competition resumed and only conceded 40 points and Thursday night’s thriller was built on their defensive effort.
On two separate occasions, Melbourne looked certain to post points with all the momentum going their way.
But the Roosters held firm on their own tryline to deny the Storm any chance of scoring.
Take these stats for example.
Melbourne were tackled 40 times in their opposition 20-metre line to the Roosters 11 and the game still went to golden point.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Like a fine wine, these two just get better with age.
At the ripe-old age of 33, both silver-foxes Brett and Josh were pivotal in breaking through Melbourne’s purple wall to get the Roosters on the board.
Both Morris twins proved age is just a number by scoring a treble between as they tried to edge the powerhouse Storm.
Brett was seventh on the NRL’s all-time top tryscorer list – with 160 tries - and edged one step closer to overtaking Manly’s Brett Stewart (163) in sixth spot.
The pair now boast more than 300 tries between them.
And scoring points wasn’t the only thing they were doing last night, both wracking up crucial tackles during the match.
SUNSHINE COAST STORM
After spending the week at Camp Sunshine Coast, Queensland’s adopted fourth team found a vigour in attack to become the first team since Round 1 to score more than 12 points against the Roosters.
And it exposed that small chink in the Roosters armour which has been almost impossible for teams to find since the COVID lockdown.
It also continues Melbourne’s incredible record at their home away from home - Suncorp Stadium – with an 81 per cent winning record and undefeated in their past six games.