Storm coach Craig Bellamy says his team was lucky to hold on in golden-point thriller against South Sydney

Ryan Papenhuyzen had hardly kicked in pre-season because of a bad ankle injury, but his boot worked when needed.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy rode every second of Thursday night’s thriller. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy thought Ryan Papenhuyzen had missed the golden-point wobbler that sealed a “lucky” victory in his 500th game as coach.

Bellamy looked every bit like he had ridden the rollercoaster when he rolled out post-match a winner, but only just in his milestone match that went down to the wire after a stunning South Sydney comeback.

After giving up a 14-0 lead, then losing two players to the sin bin in the second-half, Bellamy wasn’t sure how his men hung on for the 15-14 victory.

“I think we only completed one set in the last 20 minutes of the game, so we were under pressure and then for 20 minutes we were a man short,” he said.

“I’m not quite sure how we got there at the end; got lucky I guess. But sometimes you deserve your luck.”

OHHHHH YESSS!!!
RYAN PAPENHUYZEN WITH THE OOS TO BOOOOM 🥵
#NRLStormSouthspic.twitter.com/1T5AL4JOc1

— a a ron (@a3_mendoza) March 17, 2022

But the golden-point victory, sealed by a Papenhuyzen kick the coach “didn’t like”, was too error prone and even had players taking “short cuts” late in defence, which is not the Storm way.

Bellamy revealed Papenhuyzen, who had passed on early goalkicking duties, had hardly done any kicking in practice as he continued to recover from an ankle injury the coach called “a bad one”.

“I knew he was going to take the kick, but I must say I didn’t like his kick. I thought it was going left,” Bellamy said.

“I thought he’d missed it, but then he started jumping up and down. It was an interesting way to finish the game.

“He hasn’t been kicking at all because of his ankle injury. It was a bad injury. I don’t think he actually ran for eight weeks in the pre-season.

“He’s only done kicking this week. We don’t want him kicking because there’s a chance of stirring it up.”

NRL great Johnathan Thurston reacts on the sidelines during the Storm thriller. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Papenhuyzen said he wanted to “put his hand up” to nail the match- winner on a such a big occasion for the club playing its first home game for in 321 days.

“They’re the situations you dream of being in as a kid,” the 23-year-old said.

“It‘s exciting - you’re playing in front of home fans, it’s Bellsa’s (Bellamy) 500th so you want to put your hand up.”

While Bellamy saw mistakes among his men in South Sydney’s late surge as they reeled in a 14-0 deficit to send the game to extra time, he also saw enough effort to be proud of.

Storm played 20 minutes of the second half with 12 men after two sin bins and skipper Jesse Bromwich said they wanted to dig in for Bellamy, his only NRL coach, and someone who made them all want to be better.

“We played half the second half a man down, but it was a huge second half coming off a five-day turnaround and a few injuries last week,” he said.

“I’ve got to give it to Paps (Papenhuyzen), it was a huge play on a huge night for our club.

“It was Craig’s 500th game, and every game he treats as if it was his last, so to do that for him was special.”