The agony of State of Origin was replaced with the ecstasy of a golden-point thriller on Saturday for halfback Mitchell Pearce who's superb field goal was the difference between the Sydney Roosters and the Melbourne Storm at the Adelaide Oval.
Pearce's 35m strike was successful despite serious pressure from Cameron Munster, and completed a remarkable 12-point comeback in front of a stunned 21,492-strong South Australian crowd.
Just three nights ago Pearce was left slumped on the turf of ANZ Stadium after Queensland broke NSW hearts with a late comeback of their own to force a decider in Origin game three.
But that was all forgotten, momentarily at least, as the Roosters closed the gap on Melbourne at the top of the NRL ladder to just two points. As it stands, both the Roosters and the Blues remain capable of achieving big things in 2017.
"It hurt big time [Origin], it hurt all the boys pretty bad but there's another game to go," Pearce told Fox Sports.
"We were pretty bad in patches tonight, we had a real lack of energy across the whole board. When it mattered most that last 10 minutes the boys found something.
"I'm just lucky it [the field goal] went over.
The headline acts were pulled from the bill but South Australian rugby league fans were still treated to a rugby league thriller.
Pearce was one of three Roosters backing up from State Of Origin, while Melbourne were missing Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Will Chambers after the roles they played in Queensland's bruising win on Wednesday night.
And Craig Bellamy's youngsters looked to have upset the second-placed Roosters after a Jahrome Hughes try 12 minutes from time. Cameron Munster missed the regulation conversion leaving the margin at 12, which was just enough for the Sydney-siders to erode.
Daniel Tupou scored a try in the left corner which Michael Gordon expertly converted, before Blake Ferguson flew highest to claim a Luke Keary cross-field kick, and cross the stripe in the final minute.
Gordon again slotted the conversion, this time from the opposite side of the field, and the 21,492 fans witnessed the rather foreign concept of extra time, something not on offer in the AFL.
The Roosters are now just two points behind Melbourne after 16 rounds in the NRL, and still well and truly in the minor premiership hunt although this was still an ominous showing by the Storm despite the loss.
Depleted and written off by many experts before kick off, they knuckled down and produced a supremely professional performance for 70 minutes.
The likes of Hughes, Munster, Brodie Croft and Josh Addo-Carr were excellent, but this time they came up short in golden point following their extra-time win over the Cowboys last start.
This was a rare treat for an Adelaide crowd which had been starved of rugby league since the last game played at this venue in 2011, when the Storm beat Canterbury by 10 points, avenging their loss to the same club a year earlier.
And this was Melbourne's fourth appearance in Adelaide since the Rams era, which ended after two short years in 1998, and was played in front of the biggest rugby league crowd this city had produced in the intervening two decades.
The Storm certainly didn't read the Adelaide Oval script, which suggested this would be a walkover for the heavily favoured Roosters missing only captain Boyd Cordner from Wednesday's gruelling Origin.
When Mitchell Aubusson left Young Tonumaipea flat footed and strolled over to open the scoring after 15 minutes, all seemed to be playing out as predicted.
But even without their big three, Melbourne remain a formidable and still somewhat underestimated force.
And they received the perfect kick start when Aidan Guerra's stray pass landed on Josh Addo-Carr's chest, and the Storm flyer sprinted 90m to exhilarate the South Australian crowd, not required to bounce the ball every 15 strides as is typically the case at this venue.
Then it was Croft, the man being groomed to take over from the departing Cooper Cronk next season, who scored his first try in the NRL, adding to the match-winning field goal he slotted in last week's win over the Cowboys.
Kenny Bromwich put Felise Kaufusi in a gaping hole, and he drew Michael Gordon before dishing it off to Croft on the inside.
The 12-6 lead they'd built to half-time was another example of how good a football team Bellamy's ladder leaders are. They completed 18 of 21 sets to the main break, and held 55 per cent of possession.
But the Roosters stuck at it and had the last laugh in an interstate triumph for the NRL.
0 comments
New User? Sign up