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Cooper Cronk breaks through the line - Source: Getty -
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Melbourne elevated their standing to sit amongst the greatest
NRL sides of all time as they withstood a furious Parramatta finish
to run out 23-16 winners for their second premiership in three
years at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
Playing in their fourth grand final in a row, the Storm were simply
brilliant as they brought an unhappy ending to the fairytale that
was Parramatta's Cinderella run to the decider, with Billy Slater
named Clive Churchill Medallist for his man of the match
performance.
Not even the relentless defence of Nathan Hindmarsh, who came up
with 62 tackles as he threw his body about in a desperate bid to
erase the memory of his 2001 grand final heartache, could keep the
Eels in the contest.
This was the Melbourne machine at its best, grinding the opposition
into the ground before unleashing the likes of Greg Inglis and
Slater.
The Storm took a vice-like grip early and never let go as they
buried the memories of last year's record loss to Manly, but they
were forced to do it the hard way with the Eels scoring twice
inside the last ten minutes to close to within a converted
try.
With the vast majority of the 82,538 crowd - the biggest since 2001
when the Eels last made it to a grand final - willing them on,
Parramatta surged late with Joel Reddy scoring off a Jeff Robson
bomb before Fuifui Moimoi trampled over several defenders to cross
out wide.
"I was going to call for the trainer to get a change of speedos,"
said Storm captain Cameron Smith with a chuckle when quizzed about
the gaming becoming so tight at the death.
A Billy Slater drop near his own line presented the Eels with
another invitation only for Todd Lowrie to be left with the ball on
the last tackle when any other option would have been better.
The Storm, on the back of a controversial stripping penalty against
Moimoi on Slater, regained composure, before erupting in a series
of hugs and high fives as Inglis piloted over a field goal with
three minutes on the clock.
"This is all I've ever wanted to do," said Storm five-eighth Brett
Finch, who was shown the door by the Eels after four games this
year.
"If I did not do it, I would have had something sitting in the
bottom of my guts for the rest of my life.
"It doesn't matter who we beat, I said that all week."
Having snowballed their way into the grand final on the back of ten
wins from their last 11 matches, the Eels went to water on the
biggest stage with the Storm scoring after just five minutes
through Ryan Hoffman, who ran over a non-existent Robson in
defence.
Having been brilliant against the Bulldogs last week, Robson was a
target in defence, and it seemed to affect his attacking game with
the Eels let down by poor last play options.
The Storm were having no such trouble and it was no surprise when
Cooper Cronk put Adam Blair over for a 10-0 lead which they took to
the halftime break.
The Eels came out strongly after the break with Moimoi leading the
way with some punishing defence - and it carried through to their
attack with Eric Grothe slamming it down for a 10-6
scoreline.
Melbourne weren't about to give this away however and they hit back
with a double blow through their two superstars, Inglis and Slater
scoring thanks to some sensational lead-up work by Cronk.
Like their storming finish to the season, the Eels left their best
until last, but while they closed to within six points, they were
unable to finish the job,
What did you think of this year's showpiece event? Feel free to comment below.
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