By Matthew Sullivan
Copyright news
Brisbane came from behind to beat Melbourne 26-22, with Broncos fullback Reece Walsh producing a performance for the ages to steer his side to their first premiership victory in 19 years.
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Melbourne led 22-12 at halftime but couldn’t score a point in the second half as the Broncos ran in three tries and completely ran over the top of the Storm.
The Storm had a couple of chances to score when Ryan Papenhuyzen and Eli Katoa made breaks down the field, only to cough up the ball or be denied by one of Walsh’s many trysaving tackles.
Papenhuyzen was run down and denied by Walsh, while Cameron Munster couldn’t find the right last-tackle option in the dying stages of the game.
Much had been made of the fact the Storm were chasing their first premiership win following the retirements of Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater.
Craig Bellamy has made 11 grand finals in 23 years with the Storm, but his record in grand finals is now five wins and six losses.
The Storm have prided themselves on never losing two grand finals in a row, bouncing back from grand final defeats to triumph in 2007, 2009 and 2017. But after losing back to back deciders, there is a question mark on Bellamy’s men.
Speaking on Nine’s post-match coverage, Smith said Melbourne’s second half fade out against Brisbane was symbolic of the Storm’s season as a whole.
“I’m not too sure what the feeling would be in the dressing sheds right now,” Smith said.
“I know it would be a pretty empty feeling especially knowing they’ve lost two straight.
“It’s an ordinary feeling to lose one, but to lose two consecutively, I just don’t know how they’d be feeling at the moment. They put in so much hard work.”
Watch Cameron Smith speaking about the Storm’s loss in the video above.
Melbourne lost the 2024 decider 14-6 to Penrith in a heartbreaker, and Smith was disappointed his former team couldn’t get redemption as he had predicted.
“I spoke at this desk 12 months ago and said, ‘Back the Storm, they’ll win it in 2025’,” Smith said.
“And I still believe it was theirs to lose. They just couldn’t get it done in the second half.
“At halftime when they were up by 10, I thought this is made for the Melbourne Storm. They’ll just ice the game, control the tempo, kick long, defend strongly, and they didn’t do it.
“The thing that’s come back to haunt them — I still remember this from my playing days when Craig Bellamy would speak to us — the last game, whatever that is in your season, it’s usually a reflection of your entire season.
“When you hear Craig Bellamy speak in all of his press conferences this year, what’s the common word that he’s used? Inconsistent.
“That was the Melbourne Storm tonight in both halves. Super in the first half, looked very good, had a 10-point lead, looked really comfortable
“Second half, couldn’t find a point (and) let in some pretty … I wouldn’t say easy tries but they just went away from their game.”
Bellamy’s coaching record is remarkable, and reaching so many grand finals is a credit to him. But the fact he only has three premiership wins (2012, 2017, 2020), discounting the two grand final wins stripped for salary cap breaches, will be a tough pill to swallow.
Munster won two premierships alongside Smith, and Jahrome Hughes and Papenhuyzen played in the Storm’s 2020 premiership win.
Storm hooker Harry Grant is still without a premiership ring, a fact Nine host James Bracey described as “mind-blowing”.
The “big four” of Munster, Hughes, Grant and Papenhuyzen have long been touted as one of the best spines in the NRL, but their legacy may be defined by whether they win a premiership together.
“We defended too much in the back end there and gave them too much ball. The result speaks for itself,” a gutted Munster said post-game as the chance for a third premiership ring went begging.
Bellamy rues missed chances, unstoppable Walsh
The Storm had their chances late but couldn’t ice the moments, with Bellamy warning his players that a big pre-season is coming up.
“There were a couple of things we thought we learnt from last year, but obviously we didn’t,” he conceded.
“That’ll be doubled down on in the pre-season. Hopefully we can have a good season next year.
“It’ll be dependent on everyone at the club – the staff and the players – and how hard they want to work next year.
“If you don’t want to work hard then we won’t be back here next year. If you work hard then you’re a chance.”
The Storm led by 10 points at the break and should have gone further in front when Tui Kamikamica appeared to ground a Cameron Munster grubber just a few minutes into the second half.
But replays showed a clear knock-on, with Broncos centre Gehamat Shibasaki punishing the mistake three minutes later with a try at the other end.
“It’s tough losing a grand final whatever the situation is,” Bellamy said.
“With that lead we had (we should have won), and I made that point with the dropped ball over the line was a big turning point.
“It was a no try and it would have made it 20 points in front. They then went up the other end and scored a try so that was a huge turning point.
“I think it was a pretty big turning point, but you’ve got to give the Broncos some credit for coming back because they’ve been coming back the whole finals series.
“We were pretty disappointed with how we let a few tries in, but we just weren’t good enough on the night and the Broncos were.
“We’re disappointed with the result, but to make a grand final is hard work and the boys did a good job to do that. We would have loved to have won, but we didn’t.”
Walsh destroyed them on the edges and through the middle with one of the solo tries of the year, while he also came up with some huge defensive plays.
Bellamy was asked if his side had a plan to stop the livewire fullback.
“It didn’t work,” was his response.
“There are some things you can do like tackle him. Obviously we didn’t.
“He’s a good player, he’s quick and he’s strong – and that’s the X-factor in him because everyone knows he’s strong in contact. We didn’t do much of a job (to stop him).”
– With NewsWire