NRL live: Melbourne Storm vs Sydney Roosters in grand final qualifier

Back to back for the Roosters! They couldn't, could they?

4 minutes agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 11:06am

The Roosters go over to start the second half the right way

5 minutes agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 11:04am

43' The Storm go in. It's no try, but they get a penalty

9 minutes agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 11:00am

1h agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 10:05am

Key Event

4m agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 11:06am

A massive blunder by Ryan Papenhuyzen, dropping a bomb cold as he leaps uncontested, and Nat Butcher swoops and slams the ball down.

We saw the Cowboys put the fear of god into Sharks fans with a dynamite second half last week, and the Roosters are doing it to Melbourne now.

Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i converts and the Roosters go from shellshocked to back within just one converted try.

Key Event

5m agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 11:04am

A costly repeat set is conceded by Jack Howarth after a strong one-on-one tackle on Joey Manu, and the Roosters strike with James Tedesco stepping into first receiver and sending Terrell May over under the posts. Not unlike he did last week.

Key Event

9m agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 11:00am

Jahrome Hughes chases through Cameron Munster's kick and cops a falcon as he leaps into James Tedesco.

Shawn Blore dives in off the ricochet, but Grant Atkins rightly says Hughes knocked on.

The bunker, however, finds Naufahu Whyte took out Harry Grant as he chased the kick, so the Storm will take a penalty goal.

And Nick Meaney slots it for a 24-6 lead.

Tui Kamikamica takes the first hit-up off the kick-off and finds Joey Manu and Dom Young, rather the big middles of the Roosters.

No high shot or sin-bin here.

Any excuse to post this again, Sarah …

You're right, Dom Young absolutely mowed down Ryan Papenhuyzen, then recovered to track down Jack Howarth (although I did think he would make more of an impact with the tackle).

The week off seems to be helping the Storm, because Naufahu Whyte and Victor Radley were very slow to get back to the 30m line there, and Coates and Papenhuyzen took advantage.

Melbourne’s best player as it has been all season is the referee. This is a disgrace.

- Stuie

Ref trying his best to help the Roosters but Storm beating the 14 men

- Thiru

Readers dragging the referee for helping both sides.

For mine, it's been a pretty evenly officiated game by Grant Atkins.

Key Event

30m agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 10:39am

The Storm have come a long way from Nelson Asofa-Solomona being sin-binned for knocking out Lindsay Collins in the first tackle of the game to be leading the Roosters 22-6 with 40 minutes left in this preliminary final.

Once they got back to 13 men, the Storm have looked pretty much unstoppable and are peppering the Angus Crichton-Luke Keary combination. It's yielded three tries so far, two of them to rampant halfback Jahrome Hughes.

The Roosters aren't helping themselves with some ill-discipline, paying the price for some silly penalties and costly dropped balls.

Key Event

32m agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 10:37am

It's like he's sending a reminder that this is HIS season. We all expect him to be named the Dally M medallist on Wednesday night, and he's showing why tonight, this time with a cannonball run to burst through and score between Luke Keary and Angus Crichton.

That's the clear plan for Melbourne tonight, to attack that zone.

Connor Watson is trying to create something out of dummy half and scoots across field before offloading to Sua'ali'i, but he drops it cold.

The Storm have the Roosters shot to bits on the right and Jahrome Hughes tries to kick in behind, but Luke Keary dives like Mackenzie Arnold to bat it down and save the day for the Roosters.

Angus Crichton gets tangled up with Trent Loiero in a tackle, and Grant Atkins warns him before blowing the whistle for a penalty.

Looks like Crichton is saying Loiero had a hold of him, but the referee isn't buying it.

Key Event

42m agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 10:27am

Xavier Coates makes a brilliant play to get back and mark a bomb with his toe on the tryline, then takes off for the 20m tap, finds Ryan Papenhuyzen, who runs rings around Victor Radley facing the wrong way, and Papenhuyzen finds Jack Howarth, who skips past Dom Young and finishes the last 40 metres to score his first finals try.

Cameron Munster pokes his nose through as the Storm run out of their own half and battles to get his hands free to offload to Ryan Papenhuyzen. He eventually does and goes to lengths to pass it backwards as Papenhuyzen overruns him, but Grant Atkins says it went forward.

Key Event

47m agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 10:22am

Ryan Papenhuyzen once again burns his man — this time it's Luke Keary — for pace and flicks a ball back behind for Nick Meaney, who pokes his nose through and offloads to Jahrome Hughes to dot down.

Absolutely impossibly slick stuff from the Storm on the right.

Xavier Coates bats the ball back in an aerial contest with Dom Young, and Nick Meaney grubbers into the in-goal. Terrell May, fresh on the field for Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, gets back to field the ball. And he's bundled back into the in-goal.

And the Storm piece together a woeful set right on the tryline. Never threatened and looked very disjointed the entire time.

Angus Crichton and Victor Radley are cutting everyone they see in half, meanwhile Harry Grant is getting through a mountain of work for Melbourne as the Storm pin the Roosters in their own 40m zone.

Felicity, in short, yes.

I think the only thing that stopped referee Grant Atkins from sin-binning Jahrome Hughes as he took Angus Crichton out in a kick chase was the fact Asofa-Solomona was already in the bin.

Key Event

1h agoFri 27 Sep 2024 at 10:08am

The Storm get a chance on the back of the hip-drop penalty and strike immediately as the Roosters concede a couple of repeat sets, and Jahrome Hughes gives Papenhuyzen early ball, allowing the fullback to simply burn Angus Crichton for speed on the outside.

The Storm giant is back as Sua'ali'i misses the conversion from out wide.

The man he hit, Lindsay Collins, will not be back. He's displayed category 1 concussion symptoms.

Victor Radley has got Nelson Asofa-Solomona with a copybook hip drop, and the Storm get a penalty. Looks like Asofa-Solomona is going to try to run it off.