The race for the minor premiership is still alive after the Storm extended their winning streak over the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
Result
Melbourne Storm 32
Tries: Grant Anderson 2 (16, 32), Sualauvi Fa’alogo 2 (36, 72), Ryan Papenhuyzen (54), Reimis Smith (68)
Goals: Ryan Papenhuyzen 4 (33, 56, 69, 73)
Brisbane Broncos 22
Tries: Jordan Pereira 2 (12, 41), Thomas Flegler (3)
Goals: Josh Rogers 5 (4, 13, 43, 44, 58)
Report
The fate of the J.J. Giltinan Shield remains unknown after the Melbourne Storm claimed a 32-22 win over the Brisbane Broncos in front of 43,271 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
The Broncos will now be relying on the Cowboys to beat the Panthers in order to break a 23-year minor premiership drought, while the Storm move to third, pending the result of the Warriors match against the Dolphins.
It was a perfect start for the Broncos, with Tom Flegler, captaining the club in his final home game, scoring a simple try after just three minutes. Debutant Josh Rogers converted to take an early 6-0.
They made it 12-0 in almost even time when Jordan Pereira crossed out wide, with Rogers landing his second conversion.
The Storm were quick to hit back when Jayden Nikorima grubbered through the line, with Grant Anderson winning the race to the ball.
Anderson looked to have scored his second four minutes later when he dived over in the corner, however the try was overruled by the bunker after replays showed that he stepped on the sideline.
He got his redemption in the 33rd minute when he intercepted a pass from Jock Madden and raced 85m to score. Ryan Papenhuyzen, starting for the first time in 2023, landed the conversion to reduce the deficit to two.
Storm debutant Sua Fa’alogo injected himself into the game in the 36th minute when he made a break up the middle, linking with Papenhuyzen before finishing off the play by scoring in the corner, giving the Storm a 14-12 lead that they took to half time.
The Broncos only took two minutes of the second half to take back the lead, with Tristan Sailor taking a bomb and finding Pereira for his second. Rogers added his third conversion to put the Broncos ahead 18-14.
The West Australian junior added another two points with a penalty goal in the 45th minute, extending Brisbane’s lead to a converted try.
Papenhuyzen marked his first starting appearance in over 12 months with a try in the 55th minute, converting to bring the scores level at 20-all.
Rogers put the Broncos back in front with another penalty goal when Sailor was pulled down after a break, with Reimis Smith sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.
Smith had barely been back on the field for 60 seconds when he snuck over in the right-hand corner, with Papenhuyzen converting to put the Storm ahead 26-22.
Victorian local junior Fa’alogo capped a memorable debut when he scored his second try in the 73rd minute, with Papenhuyzen again converting to extend the lead to 32-22.
Corey Oates looked to have kept the Broncos in the game in the dying minutes, however the final pass was ruled forward, allowing the Storm to claim the ten-point win.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Sualauvi Fa’alogo (Storm)
2 – Tristan Sailor (Broncos)
1 – Tyran Wishart (Storm)
