NRL 2024: Melbourne Storm win 48-18 over Roosters to secure spot in the grand final despite Nelson Asofa-Solomona sin bin

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson has refused to opine on that high tackle which left his star forward Lindsay Collins concussed last night preferring to pay tribute to a host of departing Roosters.

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson said it was difficult to see his star forward Lindsay Collins concussed on the first play of the game in Friday night’s 48-18 preliminary final loss to Melbourne Storm, but reserved judgment on whether Storm enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona should pay the ultimate price of missing a grand final for the high tackle.

On the kick off, Asofa-Solomona wound up in the defensive line and came in as the second man on Collins, collecting the Rooster with a shoulder.

Collins’ head jolted back and he went down for a HIA and failed his concussion test and took no further part in the game.

“I’ll probably let that go,” Robinson said.

“I probably won’t go into all of that.

“We’re done, it’s not my time now, someone else will make those judgments.”

Lindsay Collins playing the ball the wrong way is scary as hell. Horrible. #NRL#NRLFinalspic.twitter.com/J5x8AQYENh

— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) September 27, 2024

Robinson expected it to be a feisty start to the contest, much like the Roosters semi final clash with Manly Sea Eagles, which saw Sea Eagles’ centre Tolutau Koula off with concussion after a collision with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, who was the ball carrier in that situation.

“It was obviously the fuse got lit sort of early in the week I think with Rads’ [Victor Radley] comments and obviously with how the game started last week,” Robinson said.

“We knew it was going to be on, which is fine.”

The loss of Collins was a significant blow for the Roosters, who felt like they could get an edge in the forwards.

Collins is one of the Roosters stars in the pack and the reshuffle proved costly.

“Obviously it’s tough when you see one of your players, an important player for us, one that we rely on, not be able to play when a first hit up and he’s gone for the game,” Robinson said.

Great respect shown by @storm paying homage to departing @sydneyroosters stalwarts in Jared Waerea-Hardgraves and Luke Keary. Both have been influential figures for the Eastern Suburbs club. Great clubmen. Best wishes to both players next season in Super League #NRLStormRoosterspic.twitter.com/Dzy3A4SyFO

— Daniel Watson Hayesâ„¢ (@dwatsonhayes) September 27, 2024

“That’s difficult, but that’s footy sometimes.

“We were able to enact our 18th man, but in a different position.

“He’s a very good player and he wasn’t able to take any part in the game, so obviously that has an impact.”

It is the end of an era for the Roosters.

Forwards Waerea-Hargraves and Sitili Tupouniua, centres Joseph-Aukuso Sualii and Joseph Manu and five-eighth Luke Keary played their final games for the Roosters.

It hurt Robinson that he could not send off all those stars with a premiership.

“There’s absolute disappointment, the opportunity that was right there in front of us but not good enough,” Robinson said.

“Obviously it’s quite clear that some guys are leaving there.

“It’s sort of the last time for some guys that have put a lot of heart and soul into our jersey and the club.

“We feel really proud about the time that they’ve had with us and it will be the last time for them sitting in the sheds.

“There’s guys that have impacted the club in the right way as much as any guys over the course of obviously 115, 116 years.”

‘NOT A SIN BIN’: BELLAMY HOSES DOWN NAS SUSPENSION FEARS

Storm coach Craig Bellamy admits he is “worried” about the potential of forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona missing out on the NRL grand final after being placed on report in Melbourne’s 48-18 win over Sydney Roosters in the preliminary final at AAMI Park on Friday night.

On his first tackle of the game, Asofa-Solomona was the second man in a tackle on Roosters forward Lindsay Collins and collected him with a shoulder.

Collins went down to the room for a HIA and was ruled out for the game.

Asofa-Solomona faces a nervous wait to see his fate to see whether his dangerous tackle is enough to see him ruled out for next Sunday’s grand final.

Bellamy is holding out hope that his big prop will escape suspension.

“You’re worried about it,” Bellamy said.

“You’d hate to see him miss a big game.

“I didn’t think it was a sin bin penalty ... a penalty I thought was fair enough, but that’s just me.

“I’ve seen it live and I’ve seen one replay, that was my sort of impression, but at the end of the day, I keep going on about the controllables, so I can’t control that.

“We’ll have a closer look at it but I didn’t think there was a whole heap in it.”

The Storm have three players under an injury cloud, including captain Harry Grant (calf), Nick Meaney (knee) and Jahrome Hughes (neck).

Meaney left the field late, while Grant and Hughes battled on, but all are considered likely to play in the decider.

The Storm will face the winner of Saturday night’s preliminary final between Penrith Panthers and Cronulla Sharks in Sydney next Sunday.

STORM SPINE STAR AS MELBOURNE BOOK GF SPOT

It turned into a demolition, but Melbourne Storm had to hold off a fast and furious second half fightback from the Sydney Roosters to punch its ticket to the 2024 NRL Grand Final.

It could come at a severe cost with Storm enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona in danger of missing the biggest game of the season after being placed on report for a dangerous high tackle that concussed Roosters forward Lindsay Collins.

Seemingly in total command, the Storm coughed up two tries in two minutes early in the second half as the Roosters made one last bid to rescue their season after trailing by 16 at half time, but the hosts regrouped to run out 48-18 winners in front of a sold out 29,213 fans at AAMI Park on Friday night.

Melbourne have dominated the Roosters to secure a spot in the grand final. Picture: Getty Images

Inspirational halfback Jahrome Hughes was the cornerstone to the Storm’s victory.

In a total masterclass from the Dally M fancy, he scored a hat-trick of tries, with his third in the second half putting a halt to the Roosters comeback bid, and ran for 85 metre and kicked for 386 metres.

Hughes’s third came under controversial circumstances with Storm’s Alec MacDonald appearing to knock on in the previous play, but it was missed by referee Grant Atkins.

Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen was at his devastating best.

The igniter at the back scored a double and ran for 132 metres, while Cameron Munster also scored a double.

The Storm will feature in their first grand final since 2020.

Craig Bellamy’s men finally found the right recipe in the penultimate week of the season after losing two preliminary finals in the past four seasons.

The Storm will meet the winner of the other preliminary final between Penrith Panthers and Cronulla Sharks next Sunday.

Reaching the big dance was just reward for the Storm, who were a dominant force across the home-and-away rounds, finishing two games clear in top spot.

Jahrome Hughes is a favourite to win the Dally M and it’s not hard to see why, after scoring a hat-trick against the Roosters. Picture: Getty Images

STRIFE FOR NELSON

Asofa-Solomona has risked his place in Storm’s grand final side after overstepping the mark on the first tackle of the game.

The hulking forward was second in on a tackle on Collins and collected him with his shoulder.

Collins went for a HIA and failed, forcing him out for the rest of the game.

It was a fruitful period for the Roosters, who dominated to take a 6-0 lead with Asofa-Solomona in the bin.

The Roosters took advantage of the extra man when Joseph-Aukuso Sualii finding Daniel Tupou in the corner for the game’s first try.

Victor Radley almost gave the numerical advantage back to the Storm with a hip drop tackle on Asofa-Solomona.

While Radley escaped the sin bin, the Roosters could not stop the Storm from scoring through fullback Papenhuyzen, who sliced through a hole on the back of the penalty.

After being under the pump in the early stages, the Storm began to build up a head of steam.

Nelson Asofa-Solomona was sin binned for a high shot on Lindsay Collins. Picture: NRL Imagery

STORM CLASS SHINES THROUGH

The longer the first half wore on, the more influence Storm’s spine of Hughes, Munster and Harry Grant had over the game, while Jack Howarth was dangerous on the edge with 177 run metres.

The Storm eventually took the lead through Hughes after Papenhuyzen dished off to Nick Meaney with a nifty pass on the inside, who found a rampaging Hughes to double the Storm’s lead.

Two smart pieces of play from Xavier Coates had the Storm in total control with 10 minutes to go in the first half.

Ryan Papenhuyzen produced his best performance of the season, as Storm booked their spot in the GF. Picture: NRL Photos

The Storm winger firstly caught a high ball and dragged a toenail on the chalk to earn a 20-metre restart.

From the quick tap, Coates unleashed a furious Papenhuyzen, who made a 30-metre dash before passing on the outside Jack Howarth to score on the sideline.

The Roosters were starting to get sloppy and Sualii’s dropped ball 20 metres out was punished when Hughes barged over the line to blow the score out to 22-6 at half time.

It was beginning to look grim for the Roosters.

Terrell May gave the Roosters hope when he spun out of a weak Tui Kamikamica tackle to score under the dot – the first sign of fragility from the Storm.

And in a heartbeat, the Roosters made it two tries in two minutes when Papenhuyzen dropped a high ball and Nat Butcher swooped to trim the deficit to 24-18.

Joseph Manu came close to scoring again for the Roosters, spilling a high ball one metre out from the tryline, before the Storm ran riot once more with tries to Papenhuyzen and a Cameron Munster double sealing the deal.

— Lance Jenkinson

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Originally published as NRL 2024: Melbourne Storm win 48-18 over Roosters to secure spot in the grand final despite Nelson Asofa-Solomona sin bin