The Melbourne Storm have done it again, ending Canberra's fairytale run with a 14-12 victory to set up a date with Cronulla on the final weekend of the season.
Melbourne's premiership campaign was meant to be over after the first round of the year when news of Billy Slater's season-ending injury rocked the club.
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Melbourne hold out a desperate Canberra Raiders side in a frantic last ten minutes, winning 14-12 to advance to the Grand Final.
Yet somehow Craig Bellamy, Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk have found themselves back in the big dance for the second time in five years and will be looking to break the hearts of another success-starved club at ANZ Stadium next Sunday.
The game was in the balance with Melbourne holding on to an 8-6 lead with 20 minutes remaining when Canberra fullback Jack Wighton was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.
His departure paved the way for the Storm to land the killer blow, scoring an unconverted try and slotting a penalty goal to send the Raiders back to the national capital without the win they were so confident of earning.
In front of 28,161 at AAMI Park on Saturday night, the Raiders set up a thrilling finish when they reduced the deficit to just two points with four minutes remaining, but the Storm held on to book their passage alongside Cronulla in the decider.
Jarrod Croker's night was hampered by a knee injury that forced him to relinquish the goal-kicking duties and spend the majority of the match limping around the paddock.
It was a cruel blow to the skipper, who despite a mass exodus of local juniors stayed true to his beloved club through some pretty dark days prior to the Raiders returning as genuine title contenders.
He wasn't the only Canberra player walking wounded, with Joseph Tapine, Josh Papalii and Joey Leilua all picking up knocks in the bruising encounter that left the Raiders searching for replacements.
Ricky Stuart had done a fantastic job turning the perennial underachievers into a premiership force with a roster that hardly struck fear into the opposition coming into the season.
Just like his counterpart Craig Bellamy has done throughout his incredible coaching career, Stuart helped turn discards and last-hopers into resilient footballers.
Iosia Soliola, a mediocre first-grader at best in his previous NRL stint, has developed into one of the most influential forwards in the competition since returning from the English Super League.
Joseph Leilua, always considered a prodigious talent, didn't realise his potential until arriving in the nation's capital.
Then there's Blake Austin – a bits and pieces player at his previous two clubs who evolved into a representative-calibre playmaker at the Raiders.
For so long Canberra had invested in its own, only for off-field controversies or rival clubs to deny the club of reaping the benefits of what they had spent so long nurturing.
So they went out and bought a team, but unfortunately Stuart will have to wait another 12 months for a shot at winning the club's first title since 1994.
Melbourne were first on the board through the boot of Cameron Smith, but it was the Raiders who set the tone when winger Jordan Rapana wove his way to the line to give his side the first try of the night and a 6-2 lead.
But in his 300th game, Storm halfback Cooper Cronk celebrated the milestone in style when he stepped on the gas to poke his nose through a hole to give Melbourne a 8-6 advantage at the break.
Cheyse Blair then stretched Melbourne's lead when he sliced through to capitalise on a 12-man defensive line while Wighton was in the bin.
Elliott Whitehead crossed late to set up a grandstand finish but the Raiders never got another shot inside the Storm half to steal the win.
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