The Melbourne Storm are, for the time being in first place on the NRL ladder after an impressive 18-12 win over the Sydney Rooster at Allianz Stadium on Thursday night.
Melbourne, for the first time this season looked back at 100 per cent, with the imposing Nelson Asofa-Solomona making his season debut after recovering from a horrid preseason.
The Roosters were missing several notable names but also welcomed back their inspirational skipper James Tedesco from concussion related issues.
After being on the backfoot during the early stages of the game, Melbourne turned the tide in its favour and opened the scoring shortly after.
A sensational effort and eventual pass from Eli Katoa gave Jahrome Hughes the avenue to bolt towards the try line where he shrugged off the challenges of Nat Butcher and James Tedesco to put his side on the board first.
Both sides went into the typical rugby league arm wrestle as the first half continued but it was the Roosters’ effort that saw them level the score.
A last-ditch attempt from Jared Waerea-Hargreaves forced an error out of Will Warbirck which saw the ball pop up perfectly for Michael Jennings to get the Roosters’ first try.
The arm wrestle continued as both sides’ attack began to fizzle out slightly with the minutes ticking away in the first half.
Katoa was the hero once again for the Storm as he broke through a group of several Roosters defenders close to the line to put his side back in the lead.
After starting off slow it was Melbourne who went into the break up by six points and looked more promising in the final period of play.
The second half started off in a similar fashion to the first but it was two crucial errors that defined the opening sector after the restart.
Cameron Munster was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul, leaving Melbourne with 12 men but the Roosters continued to blow their chances in front of the line.
Melbourne slowly fell behind the pace in the final 15 minutes as the home crowd urged on the Roosters to get an unlikely win.
The constant pressure from the Roosters paid off as a brilliant pass from Joey Manu set up Joseph Suaalii in the corner to level the scores for a second time.
However, that was short-lived for the hosts as a perfectly placed kick from Harry Grant gave Xavier Coates the chance to barge over in the 75th minute and win the game for the Storm.
Melbourne temporarily moves to the top of the ladder with the win, whilst the Roosters limp off with a 3-4 record for the season as they hang in and around the top eight.