Emerging superstar Mark Nawaqanitawase turned the game on its head in the second half as Sydney Roosters came roaring back from 10 points down at half-time to spoil Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy’s 600th game as coach at AAMI Park on Friday night.
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MATCH CENTRE: Storm vs Roosters teams, scores, videos, updates
Scoreless and searching for answers at the break, the Roosters turned to their rugby union convert winger Nawaqanitawase to completely change the course of the game.
The 24-year-old produced four tries in 25 whirlwind minutes.
It was a game to savour for Nawaqanitawase, who’s impact was so important for an eighth-placed Roosters side that has opened up a two-game gap over top eight chasers Dolphins and Manly Sea Eagles.
Nawaqanitawase brought up his 20th try to move to the top of the NRL try scorers list on a night he ran for 161 metres and had four line breaks and four tackle breaks.
The Roosters piled on seven unanswered tries in a remarkable secon`d 40 minutes after being repelled by a Storm brick wall in the first half.
It ended the Roosters seven-game losing streak against the Storm, who were undermanned without captain Harry Grant, Xavier Coates, Josh King, Nick Meaney and Tui Kamikamica.
The loss has all but ended Storm’s chase for the JJ Giltinan Shield, which will be over with one more Canberra Raiders win, who have two games to play.
It was a feisty first half with a finals-like intensity.
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Both sides had to defend their line in a ferocious opening 20 and did so with aplomb.
If the Storm were to gain anything out of a game that had no significant consequences having already locked in a home qualifying final, it was whether they could repeat the incredible defensive efforts they displayed the previous week.
They managed to do that for 40 minutes before their spectacular second half collapse where they coughed up 40 points unanswered.
Every time the Roosters threatened in the opening 40, the Storm answered the call.
A demonstration of the Storm’s defensive buy-in came late in the first half when Savala made a tasty line break only to have his progress halted by an ankle tap from Cameron Munster, then his offload to Victor Radley was chopped down by a lunging tackle from Bronson Garlick.
Eventually the Storm had their way on the attacking end.
On the back of a Tyran Wishart try saving tackle on Billy Smith and consecutive penalties to Smith and Roosters forward Angus Crichton, the Storm slingshotted to score the game’s first try through forward Shawn Blore, on the back of a fast play-the-ball from Trent Loiero.
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It was a first half to forget for Crichton.
The 29-year-old gave away multiple penalties in a running battle with Storm’s Joe Chan, who seemed to get under his skin.
Then a missed tackle from Crichton on Storm speedster Alec MacDonald led to the concession of a second try, this time set up by a perfectly weighted Jonah Pezet kick to Will Warwick, who rose high to tap the ball back to winger Grant Anderson for a 10-0 Storm half time lead.
It was a dream return to the field for Warbrick, who had endured a long and frustrating absence through concussion symptoms.
The 27-year-old looked confident on his return and could be a wildcard for the Storm in the finals.
ROOSTERS SHOW FIGHT
Knowing what was at stake with their top eight position under threat, the Roosters ramped up the intensity at the start of the second half, with halves Hugo Savala and Sandon Smith controlling the tempo, and the ever-dangerous James Tedesco producing 10 tackle breaks among his 159 run metres.
The freakish skills of Nawaqanitawase breathed life into the game.
The 24-year-old skirted the sideline under heat from Bradley and he managed to contort his body to avoid going into touch and slam the ball down to trim the margin to four.
Storm’s first defensive break down saw Egan Butcher slice through a gaping hole to put Siua Wong in first a try and in an instant the Roosters were ahead.
The Roosters made it 18 unanswered points on the back of an offside penalty to Storm forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona, where he was ruled not to have returned behind the play-the-ball.
Nawaqanitawase took advantage of a tiring Storm defence to score in the corner from an unselfish pass from Robert Toia, who made it a certain try.
And Nawaqanitawase was not finished, making it a hat-trick of tries, again showing his athleticism to avoid the corner post and a diving Munster.
Then he added a fourth to complete one of the great individual performances before Storm’s Nelson Asofa-Solomona put a high shot on him and wound up on report.
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TEAMS
Storm: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. Kane Bradley 3. Marion Seve 4. Grant Anderson 20. Will Warbrick 6. Cameron Munster 7. Tyran Wishart 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Bronson Garlick 17. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 11. Shawn Blore 12. Joe Chan 13. Trent Loiero 10. Alec MacDonald 14. Jonah Pezet 15. Ativalu Lisati 16. Lazarus Vaalepu. 18th man: 5. Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown
Roosters team: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Billy Smith 4. Robert Toia 5. Mark Nawaqanitawase 6. Sandon Smith 7. Hugo Savala 8. Spencer Leniu 14. Benaiah Ioelu 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Angus Crichton 12. Victor Radley 13. Naufahu Whyte 9. Connor Watson 15. Egan Butcher 17. Siua Wong 19. Blake Steep. 18th man: 18. Ethan King
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