Cameron Smith’s second-half penalty helped Melbourne Storm edge out Sydney Roosters 14-12 at Adelaide Oval and move six points clear at the top of the NRL table.
Latrell Mitchell gave Sydney the lead with a penalty early on but the Storm opened the try scoring on 17 minutes. Josh Addo-Carr broke down the left, cut inside to find Munster who passed the ball on to Ryan Papnhuyzen to finish.
The Roosters responded within ten minutes when Daniel Tupou squeezed in at the left corner. Then with half-time approaching, Joseph Manu managed to crash his way over to extend Sydney’s lead.
But the Storm managed to level the game before the break when Brodie Croft’s kick wasn’t’ dealt with by James Tedesco allowing the kicker to clear up and score.
Both sides had spells of pressure in the second half but it was Cameron Smith who won and kicked the penalty that sealed a vital victory for his side.
Roosters: Tedesco, Tupou, Morris, Manu, Ikuvalu, Mitchell, Cronk, Liu, Radley, Taukeiaho, Cordner, Aubusson, Butcher; Interchanges: Tetevano, Crichton, Faamausili, Lam
Tries: Tupou, Manu; Goals: Mitchell 2
Storm: Papenhuyzen, Vunivalu, Chambers, Olam, Addo-Carr, Munster, Croft, J Bromwich, C Smith, Welch, Kaufusi, K Bromwich, Finucane; Interchanges: Asofa-Solomona, B Smith, Stimson, Kamikamica
Tries: Papnhuyzen, Croft; Goals: C Smith 3
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.
