Melbourne snatch a miracle win at AAMI Park with a try for the ages.
Melbourne – 30 (Papenhuyzen 22', 78', Warbrick 4', Meaney 14', Coates 80' tries; Meaney 5/6 goals)
Warriors – 26 (Watene-Zelezniak 11', 45', Ford 49', Montoya 59' tries; Metcalf 5/7 goals)
On a Saturday night at AAMI Park in which not much happened, the extended highlights are worth a watch.
Wow. Before looking at the final five minutes in a bit of depth, let’s go back to the start.1
A fast start
Melbourne were on the immediate attack and bar for a mistimed decoy run from Tui Kamikamica, should have had first points via Jonah Pezet in the second minute of the match before the Warriors had even touched the ball. While the video referee correctly confirmed the no try ruling there, Melbourne wouldn’t be denied a fast start, scoring off their next possession.
Looking like he was in a mood to dominate, Jahrome Hughes first scythed through the Warriors in the middle of the field and two plays later his pin-point kick to the right corner had Will Warbrick out-jumping Marcelo Montoya to score out wide. Nick Meaney slotting the conversion to put Melbourne ahead of the clock.
Not everything was going to plan though, when Eliesa Katoa was taken off for a HIA inside the first ten minutes,2 and the visitors would hit back on the scoreboard after a soft penalty gave them an extra set to attack the Storm line. The try coming through Dallin Watene-Zelezniak who got on the end of a fine left-to-right passing move with Shaun Johnson and Taine Tuaupiki prominent.
Very good Jahrome
After making an important tackle to shut down a potential Warriors line break, Hughes popped up again to cause the visitors issues in the middle of the park. Jumping out from a Ryan Papenhuyzen offload inside Melbourne’s 20m zone, Hughes exploded, stepping around defenders to pass to Nick Meaney to run 60m to score under the posts.
Meaney would add the extras, and another two points a few minutes later to extend the Melbourne’s lead to 14–6. Hughes was dictating terms for Melbourne in his personal battle against fellow halfback Shaun Johnson.
Pouncing on an error from Montoya, Melbourne would score again to stretch the margin out to 18–6, with Joe Chan throwing a fantastic short ball on the inside to Ryan Papenhuyzen to score untouched in the left channel. Chan would play the full 80 minutes, again looking busy and composed on the left edge.
Losing control of the contest
When looking back at the back end of the first half, you could see how the Warriors worked their way back into the contest. A couple of penalties and set restarts gave the visitors chances at the Melbourne line, and the introduction of Bunty Afoa and Dylan Walker shifted the balance of the Warriors attack. Tohu Harris and Johnson looked like the leaders that they are in trying to bring their teammates along with them to bridge the margin.
The visitors went over the line six minutes from half time, but some desperate defending from Hughes kept Montoya from scoring what should have been an easy try in the corner. Again it was Johnson who was pulling the strings for the Warriors, but it was Melbourne’s halfback that came up with the critical play, this time in defence.
Just before the break, Christian Welch would leave the field for a HIA from which he would not return, and coming out from half time Melbourne were on the back foot for what felt like the next 20 minutes.
The Warriors forwards seemed to be eating the metres in the middle, while their edge players looked dangerous on every tackle. Melbourne had only a handful of tackles inside the Warriors half of the field, and their plight was worsened when Harry Grant lost a captain’s challenge gambling on a dodgy play-the-ball. DWZ would then first points of the second half, scoring in the corner for his second try on the back of another Johnson pass.
The margin would be pegged back to just two points a few minutes later when Jackson Ford scored off the back of a Johnson bomb that was caught by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck up against Warbrick, with the dynamic Warriors centre able to offload to Ford. Video referee Matt Noyen finding enough evidence to overturn referee Chris Butler’s decision to initially deny the try.
That bit of luck put the Warriors on a roll that looked impossible to stop. Playing mistake-free rugby league and helped by a string of set restarts and penalties, they would first level the scores, then capitalise on a error from Xavier Coates under another tricky bomb from Johnson. Montoya crossing over for the try to put the Warriors in front with the Wahs fans inside AAMI Park in raptures.3
Down by 8 points
Two penalty goals put the Warriors out by eight points. The first with 15 minutes to go was just pure shithousery from Harry Grant. It’s just dumb to try and do that since the rule change a couple of seasons ago. The second was frustration from Papenhuyzen after he lost the ball in a tackle. With just over eight minutes to go things looked pretty dire for the home team as the Wahs fans increased the volume.
With five to go Melbourne tried their first trick shot, finally getting possession deep in the Warriors half of the field. A little chip kick from Papenhuyzen was caught by Montoya, who was forced back into the in-goal area. The next set again it was Paps forcing a drop-out this time with a deft grubber to trap DWZ. These two sets seemed to put Melbourne back into the mode they were in early in the match, putting the visitors into survival mode.
Paps does his thing
After kicking on the last tackle of the previous two sets, Paps this time did what he does best — working off a magical inside ball from Katoa to slide over untouched. Meaney would convert the try to bring the margin back to two points with a few ticks over two minutes left.4
Anatomy of a magical moment
78:35 — On the third tackle after the restart, Jahrome Hughes sends a long ball out to Will Warbrick who makes a half break down the right flank. He’s stopped 40m out from the Warriors line. The Warriors struggle to get back onside after Warbrick’s powerful run.
78:55 — Jonah Pezet tries a similar play to Xavier Coates, but a high pass to Coates puts him slightly on the backfoot, and he’s tackled for the fifth tackle around about 35m from the Warriors line, but positioned outside the left flank hashes.
79:03 — Pezet receives the ball from Harry Grant, steps back outside the 40m line to attempt a two-point field goal. The attempt is charged down by Mitchell Barnett, with the ball ricocheting across the field into the hands of Hughes, who immediately offloads to Papenhuyzen. The referee signals six again as Papenhuyzen dashes down the right flank.
79:12 — Papenhuyzen offloads to Warbrick who is tackled 25m out from the line. Nick Meaney collects the ball and runs from dummy half, evading one tackle to eventually be tackled inside the Warriors 20m in the left channel.
79:25 — Grant collects the ball, he passes to Hughes. Outside him Trent Loiero runs a perfect decoy through the line, Hughes passes to Pezet, with the five-eighth immediately passing to Papenhuyzen who has sprinted across the field on a deep angled run. Papenhuyzen has the choice to pass to Joe Chan, but Chan runs the decoy perfectly for Papenhuyzen to pass to Reimis Smith.
79:33 — Smith drags his opposing centre Rocco Berry into a cover tackle, engaging the Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak just enough to provide space for Xavier Coates.
79:34 — Coates jumps from what looks like 6m out from the Warriors line, hangs in midair and while inverted, switches the ball to his right hand, plants the ball down in the corner all while clenching his left fist to avoid it touching the grass.
Wow. Cue absolute scenes of delirium at AAMI Park.
It’s not the first time Melbourne have pulled off a miracle play to win a match at Swan Street,5 but you know that Xavier Coates wanted this moment. He trains for that exact scenario. He has the confidence in his ability that he can pull something like this off. Melbourne’s formation with Hughes, Pezet and Papenhuyzen were perfectly positioned, level-headed and balanced to get the ball into the hands of the one person on the field who could either win the game in a moment like this or come closest.
While the finish from Coates grabs all the headlines, watch just how every Melbourne player executes their role perfectly. From the decoy runners ensuring they don’t get in the way of the defensive line, to the timing and placement of each pass. That’s why they train hard and come up with plays like this under pressure and fatigue when the match is on on the line.
That wild finish providing this swing on the win prediction graph:
The Warriors had this game won, but Melbourne were able to turn around the glut of possession that the visitors had in the second half with five minutes of magic to steal the two points. Have to admit I was somewhat dumbstruck in the stands immediately after the game and that the train ride home was spent just poring over the replay. Praise the rugby league gods that Warren Smith did the moment justice and that the input of Michael Ennis wasn’t terrible either. Moments like that are made better when the best in the business has the microphone.
Stat offloads
It was Melbourne’s 15th consecutive win against the Warriors.
The win was Melbourne’s 11th straight victory at AAMI Park, a new club record.
Marcelo Montoya scored his first try against Melbourne in his eighth appearance against the Storm.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored his second straight double against Melbourne, taking his tally against the Storm to seven tries in 12 matches.
Nick Meaney scored his 24th try for Melbourne in his 50th appearance for the club.
Ryan Papenhuyzen scored his first tries in Victoria since round 9, 2022. His first of the night was his 50th in the NRL, in his 74th appearance for Melbourne.
Xavier Coates’ match-winning try was his 50th in the NRL in his 72nd match (32 matches and 17 tries for Brisbane). It was his ninth try in six matches against the Warriors.
Post match quotes
It was a happy Storm press conference:
We’ve had a couple here (magical finishes), to comeback with five minutes to go and score two tries, especially that last try, it was pretty much out of the box for Xav to even get over there. That finish was quite unbelievable. To come up with that in the last 10 seconds.
You feel for the Warriors a little bit. We probably had the best of it for the first 20-25 minutes, but after that they pretty much dominated the game, especially field position.
But to come back is a pretty good sign.
[Xavier Coates] practices that. Since he’s been here he’s been one of our hardest workers. If he doesn’t practice that he doesn’t score that try tonight. He’s one hell of an athlete. We know he’s put in the work and he’s getting the rewards for that.
Harry Grant:
We knew we had it in us. Paps, Hughesy and Xav got really involved and they knew they had to get involved in that time of the game. We were pretty calm as a group with what we had to do. Xav is one hell of a competitor and athlete. He’s worked so hard over the last few years and for him to ice that moment, there’s plenty of moments where he’s won us a game and played to his strengths.
Was it worth it?
Another warm and dry evening after a big day of rugby league in Melbourne.
Thankfully there was an announced crowd in excess of 21,000, although because this match wasn’t on ANZAC Day evening, the percentage of Wahs fans was closer to 50%. That influx of once a season fans and curious other sports fans who usually attend Melbourne’s only marquee game missed out on a classic. With ANZAC Day a Friday in 2025, I can already see Melbourne missing out on hosting any match in the prime time slot, with The Bad Place media and Broncos Night Football coming into play. It will be a pity.
In the final ten minutes of Storm games, I’m trying to work out what my instant reaction caption will be for my game graphic. Usually I have it ready to go right on full time. This week I had this missive ready to go:
S27E02 #NRLStormWarriors
Game 689 – 24-26The Michael Moore Trophy leaves Melbourne with the Warriors winning against the Storm for the first time since 2015. A disappointing second half from Melbourne as the Wahs held firm.
Instead we got that finish and the Michael Moore Trophy stays in Melbourne until round 15 when the Storm will have the try to retain the trophy at what will likely be a packed Mt Smart Stadium (maybe they should play more at Eden Park…)
Also a certain mug punter pulled of a $28 four-leg $1 multi which was a nice win.6
8/10
Storm Machine Player of the Year
Honourable mentions to Joe Chan this week, along with Eliesa Katoa. The pair of them are looking good as the edge forwards, combining well with those around them and defending strongly. I also enjoyed the work of Nick Meaney in his milestone match. On a night when Melbourne had a lot of defending to do again, Josh King continues to put his hand up to do the hard work.
But the difference makers for Melbourne get the points this week. Hughes bossed the first half, faded when the Warriors held the ball for extended periods, but found the right plays when it mattered. Papenhuyzen might have made one crucial error, but he was clearly Melbourne’s best and the spark for the comeback in the dying moments.
Nothing more needs to be said about Xavier Coates.
Round 2 points:
3 – Ryan Papenhuyzen
2 – Xavier Coates
2 – Jahrome Hughes
1 – Trent Loeiro
Leaderboard:
4 – Xavier Coates
3 – Ryan Papenhuyzen
2 – Harry Grant, Jahrome Hughes
1 – Jonah Pezet, Tui Kamikamica, Eliesa Katoa, Joe Chan, Trent Loiero
Around the grounds
Harold Matthews Cup U17s — Melbourne Storm 0–34 Parramatta Eels
In the first of two games at Gosch’s Paddock, the undefeated Eels were too good for the young Storm outfit, running in six tries to none. Melbourne are now 10th with two matches left to play.
SG Ball Cup U19s — Melbourne Storm 16–46 Parramatta Eels
Trailing 16–6 at half time, Parramatta launched a second-half blitz with a couple of late tries little consolation for the Storm. Melbourne drop to 13th on the ladder.
Jersey Flegg Cup U21s — Melbourne Storm 36–10 Warriors
After a tight first half with Gabriel Satrick scoring a double, Melbourne held a 12–6 lead. The Warriors would score first in the second half, but the home team steadied and powered away to take their win for the season.
Queensland Cup — Northern Pride 38–12 Brisbane Tigers
A rampant second half from the home team condemned the Tigers to a second-straight defeat to start the season. The Tigers couldn’t score in the second half after Coby Williamson scored the first try of the match.
Queensland Cup — Sunshine Coast Falcons 10–30 Mackay Cutters
By all reports the Falcons had a day to forget against the Cutters. Grant Anderson was named at fullback, with Young Tonumaipea, Aaron Pene and Jack Howarth all getting game time for the birds.
New South Wales Cup — Warriors 18–38 North Sydney Bears
In Pukekohe, a first half hat-trick to Sua Fa’alogo and a double to Dean Ieremia saw the Bears return to North Sydney with the two points in a strong showing from the 2023 NSW Cup runners-up. Shawn Blore and Keagan Russell-Smith also featuring for the red and blacks.
Next up
Round 3 vs Newcastle Knights – Sunday 24 March, 6:15pm @ McDonald Jones Stadium
Watching the end of the Knights golden point loss to the Cowboys in the tunnel at AAMI Park was amusing. But after last year, there’s no underestimating this Knights team under Adam O’Brien.
For Melbourne, Christian Welch must be in some doubt after failing his HIA. It could mean that one of Tepai Moeroa, Shawn Blore or Kane Bradley come into calculations to come into the squad off the bench. From what we’ve heard out of the Storm football department, I don’t think they will look to play NAS or Munster this week.
However that decision with Munster could be left in the hands of the NRL Judiciary. There is no way that Melbourne should accept the Grade 2 Contrary Conduct charge levelled against Jahrome Hughes for his contact with referee Chris Butler. I can only assume Butler’s report was that the contact was forceful given he was put on the turf, but as we saw in other games this weekend, referees are getting into bad positions far too regularly to start the season. The precedent set last year when Jarome Luai intentionally pushed a touch judge when not in the play should see this charge downgraded to a fine. Anything more is an absolute joke. A Grade 1 allegation, with Melbourne able to enter an early plea was what the NRL should have done here. Instead this is going to be a thing when it shouldn’t have been. Instead, Butler should come under scrutiny for his positioning in my view.
Update: Melbourne accepted the suspension.7
Preview post and a look back at a past Storm match against the Knights coming later in the week.
This is when I usually bemoan the commentary track for the replay, but somehow the NRL have posted the version sans commentary this week…
Thankfully he would return.
My thoughts on what happened between the referee and Jahrome Hughes in this play are later on in this post.
The jeers that Nick Meaney received while trying to convert the try were super loud from the Wahs fans, as was the cheers when the ball sailed through from the Storm fans.
Spoiler alert: I’ll got one of those lined up to look back at in a few weeks.
Well you can, but you get sued for defamation.