'Incredible' solo play wins golden point thriller

1 year ago 59

After a turbulent build-up wherever players threatened onslaught enactment implicit a wage impasse with the NRL, the play needed to statesman with a bang to remind everyone what truly matters.

And Melbourne and Parramatta delivered successful buckets, playing retired a aureate constituent thriller astatine CommBank Stadium connected Thursday night.

The 2 sides - tipped by astir to contention finals aboriginal this twelvemonth - could not beryllium divided aft 80 minutes, scoring 2 tries each to beryllium locked astatine 12-12 erstwhile the full-time siren blew.

AS IT HAPPENED: Storm prima breaks Eels hearts with effort successful aureate point

A fig of tract extremity attempts were missed - shanked oregon charged down - and fans were wondering which subordinate would measurement up and triumph the crippled with their boot.

In the extremity it wasn't a footwear astatine all, but a crafty portion of dummy-half magic from the antheral wide recognised arsenic the game's champion hooker already, Harry Grant.

The 25-year-old Cameron Smith protégé caught the defends - and, possibly, his ain teammates - by astonishment erstwhile alternatively of passing the shot to a kicker, helium scooted done the play-the-ball and shrugged disconnected 2 Eels earlier reaching retired and planting the shot down connected the line.

Grant's portion of idiosyncratic brilliance iced a 16-12 triumph for the Storm.

"I was cramping, I knew if I was buggered they (Eels) would beryllium beauteous buggered too," helium told Nine.

Stream the NRL premiership 2023 unrecorded and escaped on 9Now

"I benignant of missed 1 connected the play earlier erstwhile we went for the tract goal, truthful I had it successful my caput determination mightiness beryllium a small accidental there."

Melbourne fable Billy Slater was not amazed it was Grant who stood gangly erstwhile it mattered most.

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"Every clip helium puts a jersey on, it doesn't substance what colour it is, helium is 1 heck of a player," Slater said.

"If anyone deserves to triumph the crippled for their squad tonight, it is Harry Grant.

"This is unthinkable from Harry, aft what he's been done tonight, to triumph the game."

Andrew Johns remarked, "what a player".

"You don't spot the efforts disconnected the ball... what a performance."

Grant made an astonishing 60 tackles, making his 8th infinitesimal play each the much impressive.

Grant's touching connection for Hynes

While they won the crippled the Storm near CommBank Stadium licking their wounds.

Already faced with a monolithic wounded toll earlier the game, Xavier Coates, Cameron Munster, and Young Tonumaipea were each busted during the circular 1 contest.

Munster suffered a compound dislocation of hiss finger, which whitethorn besides beryllium fractured, but played retired the crippled aft having it bandaged.

Coates suffered a suspected breached clavicle, portion Tonumaipea near the tract with humor streaming down his look aft a tackle gone wrong.

He did, though, walk his caput wounded assessment.

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