MELBOURNE STORM 20 CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 14
TOM SMITH, AAMI Park, Friday

MELBOURNE held off fast-finishing Canterbury to secure a vital victory in the second game of the NRL’s top-of-the-table Friday night double header. 

A sold-out crowd packed AAMI Park for this clash of second versus third, where the big-game experience of veterans Cameron Munster and Harry Grant came to the fore. 

The Storm carried a 12-0 lead into half-time, but they didn’t have things all their own way after the restart, losing Tui Kamikamica to a failed head-injury assessment and skipper Harry Grant to the sin bin minutes into the second half.

The outstanding Viliame Kikau kept the Bulldogs in the battle, before Jacob Kiraz’s 70th-minute score gave us a grandstand finish. 

But when the Bunker denied Stephen Crichton’s juggled grounding of a Matt Burton bomb with two minutes on the clock, the hosts had wrapped up a vital win. 

Melbourne have now beaten Canterbury in nine of their past 10 meetings, and this win effectively locks in Melbourne’s eighth top-two finish in the last 10 years. 

While Canterbury won’t be thrilled with their third defeat from their past four starts, Canberra’s incredible victory over Penrith earlier in the evening does make it hard for the Dogs to drop out of the top four. 

Seven days after a humbling loss to the Sydney Roosters, the trip to the Victorian capital presented another stern test of Canterbury’s premiership credentials. 

After their hot start to the season, the Dogs have cooled off, dropping five of their last nine to fall out of the minor premiership race. 

Melbourne, on the other hand, do what they always do: bank enough wins to position them beautifully for an annual tilt at September. 

They came into this one on the end of four straight victories, despite missing halfback Jahrome Hughes to a shoulder injury and fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen to concussion last week. 

Craig Bellamy recalled Papenhuyzen here, although left enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona in the reserves following a stint in the second-tier Queensland Cup. 

A Tyran Wishart bust sent Eliesa Katoa in for the opening points on 16 minutes, before Papenhuyzen marked his return with a signature four-pointer, scything through Lachlan Galvin’s attempted tackle. 

Up 12-0 at the break, the Storm hit some hurdles three minutes after the restart. 

First Bailey Hayward darted over from dummy-half to finally get the Dogs on the board. 

Then referee Adam Gee binned Grant for his shoulder charge on Harry Hayes, and Kamikamica succumbed to a head knock. 

Despite the numerical mismatch, Kiraz’s bobbled grounding and Jonah Pezet’s lovely wide kick to Xavier Coates meant the Storm extended their lead while down to 12. 

Kikau and Kiraz crashed through for the visitors, but a Nick Meaney penalty-goal against his old club and Papenhuyzen’s try-saver on Hayes kept the Dogs at bay. 

And once Crichton failed to control Burton’s probing kick in the in-goal, it was game over. 

Both these teams now look forward to monster prime-time clashes in round 26: the Bulldogs tackle the Panthers this Thursday at Accor Stadium, before the Storm host the Roosters on Friday night at AAMI Park. 

GAMESTAR: Back at stand-off with Ryan Papenhuyzen returning, Cameron Munster marshalled a typically gritty Melbourne display in the middle. 

GAMEBREAKER: The Storm’s two competition points weren’t secure until the Bunker turned down Stephen Crichton’s 79th-minute try claim.

MATCHFACTS
STORM
21 Ryan Papenhuyzen
2 Grant Anderson
3 Marion Seve
4 Nick Meaney
5 Xavier Coates
1 Cameron Munster
7 Tyran Wishart
8 Stefano Utoikamanu
9 Harry Grant
10 Josh King
11 Joe Chan
12 Eliesa Katoa
13 Trent Loiero
Subs (all used)
6 Jonah Pezet
15 Alec MacDonald
16 Tui Kamikamica
17 Ativalu Lisati

Tries: Katoa (16), Papenhuyzen (25), Coates (51)
Goals: Meaney 4/4
Sin bin: Grant (45) – shoulder charge

BULLDOGS
1 Connor Tracey
2 Jacob Kiraz
3 Bronson Xerri
4 Stephen Crichton
22 Marcelo Montoya
6 Matt Burton
7 Lachlan Galvin
8 Max King
9 Bailey Hayward
10 Samuel Hughes
11 Viliame Kikau
12 Jacob Preston
13 Jaeman Salmon
Subs (all used)
14 Kurt Mann
15 Harry Hayes
16 Josh Curran
23 Sitili Tupouniua

Tries: Hayward (44), Kikau (57), Kiraz (70)
Goals: Crichton 1/3

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0; 12-6, 18-6, 18-10, 18-14

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Storm: Cameron Munster; Bulldogs: Viliame Kikau

Penalty count: 6-3
Half-time: 12-0
Referee: Adam Gee
Attendance: 25,693