It was built up as being one of the games of Magic Round, and it certainly delivered on the promise, with the Raiders winning a golden point thriller over the Storm in a clash marred with plenty of late drama.
Canberra won 20-18 after Jamal Fogarty converted a penalty goal from right in front as time expired in the first golden point period. The win moves the Raiders to second on the NRL ladder.
The penalty was awarded when Storm lock Trent Loiero was deemed to have collected Hudson Young high in a decision that will spark plenty of discussion in the coming days.
“I’ve got to say that’s pretty harsh. What’s he meant to do there,” Kevin Walters said in commentary.
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MATCH CENTRE: Raiders v Storm, scores, stats, blog
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It was the second penalty the Raiders received in a minute. With the Storm metres out from Canberra’s line and lining up for a field goal, Stefano Utoikamanu was penalised for elbowing Tom Starling in a tackle. That started a fracas which led to Utoikamanu and Josh Papalii going to the sin bin.
Loiero had a game to forget. Earlier in the game, he gave away a penalty in the 75th minute which took a Storm field goal off the board. That would have given Melbourne a seven point lead.
Instead, the Raiders trailed by just six points and in the game. They would score those points and force golden point inside the final two minutes when Raiders fullback Kaeo Weekes crossed for a sensational try.
Weekes found open space following a lovely Matty Nicholson offload and instead of trying to take Ryan Papanehuyzen on, Weekes chipped over the Storm No. 1 and chased down the kick to score.
Storm winger Sua Faalogo was outstanding for Melbourne, as was Nick Meaney and Ryan Papenhuyzen, with the latter not doing his outside Origin chances any harm.
In some bad news for the Storm, star half Jahrome Hughes was struggling with a shoulder injury late in the game but he did remain on the field.
Melbourne started fast as they usually do, jumping out to a 14-0 lead after 25 minutes.
One of the Storm’s early tries was a beauty, with Sua Faalogo putting up a pinpoint kick back inside at full speed to an open Papenhuyzen which looked like a sequence you’d see in an AFL game.
“He’s a magician,” Papenhuyzen said at half time in an interview with Jake Duke.
The Raiders showed plenty of resolve to fight back, scoring two tries late in the first half to trim the margin to two at the break.
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