Great Escape for the Storm

Melbourne Storm has beaten the Bulldogs in what that can only be described as an extraordinary game of rugby league at Olympic Park.

No doubt the clichés spoken of about this game will be endless, but the most fitting would be that ‘you had to be there to believe it’.

With only seconds remaining on the clock, and with the Storm down 12-10, Cronk put a kick over the defence in a last ditch attempt to salvage something from the game.

Ryan Hoffman, who was sensational for the Storm all night, gave everything he had to get on the end of the kick. The ball sat up perfectly for him, and when he gathered, two defenders converged.

Hoffman somehow managed to get the arms free, offloading to Jake Webster who was in support. With three seconds on the clock, Webster out-sprinted the retreating defence to score in the corner and send the 10,373 home fans into unbridled ecstasy.

Cameron Smith then converted the try to end the contest at 16-10, a scoreline only the most optimistic of Melbourne Storm fans would have thought possible in the dying moments.

After an error-riddled first-half by the Storm, where their countless handling errors put them in danger of throwing the game away, the 4-0 scoreline to the Bulldogs courtesy of a Sonny Bill Williams try was fortunate to say the least.

What transpired in the second-half is sure to go down in Olympic Park folklore.

Six minutes into the second-half, a Smith burst through the Bulldogs defence saw him free with only Bulldogs fullback Luke Patten to beat. Front-rower Antonio Kaufusi provided the support and he scored under the posts to put the Storm in front.

The joy was short-lived for the Storm as consecutive sets of six allowed the Bulldogs to advance deep into enemy territory, and Trent Cutler took full advantage when he scored in the corner. Hazem El Masri, as is customary, converted from the sideline to give the visitors a 10-6 lead.

El Masri stretched the Bulldogs lead out to six when the Storm were penalised for stripping, and it seemed the historical dominance the men from Sydney had over their southern opponents was going to continue.

However, this is where the incredible turnaround began.

In the 74th minute Hoffman once again saw a hole, hitting it at speed, before offloading to Webster to score in the corner.

That brought the Storm within two points and when Smith’s conversion attempt hit the upright, it seemed the God’s were conspiring against Melbourne.

However, all the God’s were doing was merely delaying what was a truly remarkable finale.

With seconds to go, the Cronk kick, the Hoffman gather and offload, and the Webster try maintained the Storm’s unbeaten record of 12 victories at Olympic Park in the most amazing way.

“We were very disappointed at half-time with the way we played,” said Craig Bellamy, a relieved Melbourne Storm coach.

“We defended ok, but we certainly deserved to be down further than 4-0.

“But as I said to them after the game, what I was really happy about was the perseverance we showed.

“We sort of out-Bulldogged the Bulldogs. They’re famous for winning those sorts of games like that, going right down to the wire.

“It was nice to see the guys hang in there and show that much spirit and never give up.”

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