Melbourne produce magnificent effort but just fall short in NRL grand final

THE Storm produced one of the mightiest efforts in grand final history headlined by Cameron Smith’s 72 tackles. But it wasn’t enough to take victory from Cronulla.

Storm's Cameron Smith looks to offload. Picture: Gregg Porteous

CAMERON Smith made a staggering 72 tackles, but not even the future immortal could save Melbourne.

The Storm were forced to simply make too many tackles and ran out of petrol.

Melbourne have the best defensive reputation in rugby league. On Sunday night they lost no admirers.

But it was not enough to deny Cronulla their fairytale.

They somehow were still in the game when Jesse Bromwich stormed over with three Cronulla defenders hanging off his back in the 50th minute.

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The Storm just couldn’t hold on.

They then had the nerve to hit the front with 15 minutes on the clock through Will Chambers.

Smith thought once Chambers had crossed to make it 12-8, the Storm would soldier on to their third premiership.

“I was thinking, ‘let’s just ice this game and finish it off like we always do’,’’ Smith said.

“The first half was very taxing. We didn’t have much ball, and we played that first 40 minutes down our end, defending our tryline. To finish the half, I think we had four consecutive sets on our line.

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“We’re quite a resilient side, we’re mentally tough and physically tough and fit.

“Coming in at halftime we backed ourselves to get back in the game, and we did that, even after the Sharks started a little bit better than we did in the second half.’’

When halftime arrived, Melbourne had made nearly 70 more tackles and just 39 per cent of possession.

Smith proved his worth again by getting through a mountain of tackles. Naturally he looked pooped at the post-match press conference.

Cameron Smith was amazing in defeat.

Like his workhorse skipper Smith, coach Craig Bellamy knew a comeback was more than a reality.

“I was really glad to see halftime come to give us a rest and suck in some deep breaths and to see where we’re at and what we needed to do,’’ Bellamy said.

“I wasn’t surprised we fought back like we did because these guys have been doing that all year, they’ve been fighting all year and been resilient all year.

“It was a tremendous effort to be only 8-0 at halftime. To get back in the game and actually lead was a tremendous job.

“At the end of the day we finished minor premiers, we had the best for and against in the competition, we made our way to a grand final.

“I know there will be a lot of negative stuff in the press about what we did and didn’t do, but at the end of the day it’s hard to get into a grand final, and it’s extra hard to win one.’’

Rugby-bound winger Marika Koroibete was a standout for the Storm with his barnstorming runs. His final carry right on the fulltime siren would have had the thousands of Sharks fans on edge.

Fellow winger Suliasi Vunivalu was also brilliant, as was centre Will Chambers. Blake Green made a try-saving tackle in the first half, yet Dally M winner was well contained.