Melbourne Storm will get its shot at redemption after superstar Jahrome Hughes made a triumphant return from a fractured forearm to steer his side to a 22-14 preliminary final victory over a dogged Cronulla Sharks at AAMI Park on Friday night.
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The Storm will take aim at their first premiership since 2020 as it gets its chance to atone for last year’s grand final heartbreak against four-time defending champions Penrith.
Hughes, so important to the Storm’s spine that he was risked off a short injury layoff with serious shoulder and forearm injuries, had a target on his back from the Sharks players.
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The bulletproof 30-year-old answered every physical challenge laid down by the visitors to produce a dominant display with eight tackle breaks alongside halves partner Cameron Munster, who ran for a team-high 195 metres.
Barring any reports, it should be a close to full strength Storm in the grand final – minus the suspended Nelson Asofa-Solomona – with Ryan Papenhuyzen superb in his return from concussion and Shawn Blore taking no backward steps in his return from a fractured larynx.
Master coach Craig Bellamy has steered the Storm into his 11th grand final in 23 years at the helm.
The Sharks put the pressure on the highly fancied Storm with Sione Katoa producing a try-scoring double, but the visitors came up short in critical moments.
Trailing by just six down the stretch and building some momentum, Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes dropped the ball cold 15 metres out and his side never recovered from that moment.
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BIG GAME STEF
The game was set up by a first half masterpiece in forward play from Stefano Utoikamanu, who finished with 145 run metres and 45 post contact metres.
It was the 40 minutes that the 25-year-old announced that he is a big game player, backing up from his starring role in the qualifying final win over the Bulldogs.
The recruit from Wests Tigers set the platform for Storm with the brutality in his runs.
The Storm took a 16-8 lead into half-time and Utoikamanu had a massive hand in the game’s opening try, putting up the bumpers up on Sharks forward Billy Burns to give his side momentum, which saw Will Warbrick plant down in the corner in the same set.
Sharks winger Katoa had the fire in his eyes in the first half
Off the back of a needless penalty from Trent Loiero for a shoulder charge on Hynes, Katoa scored the first of his two first half tries after some slick foot work from fullback Will Kennedy scattered the Storm defence.
Utoikamanu again made his presence felt, this time barging aside Sharks forwards Teig Wilton and Siosifa Talakai to put Jahrome Hughes into a hole and give Storm a 10-4 lead.
Ominously for the Sharks, Hughes, returning from a fractured arm, and Munster, ran riot in the first 40.
But the Sharks would not go away with their scrambling defence keeping them in the contest.
Kayal Iro made a last-gasp tackle on Nick Meaney, then Kennedy halted Meaney in another play, which the Sharks turned defence into attack in the blink of an eye with Hynes creating a path to put Burns into a hole, ending in Katoa’s second try.
Bellamy says Hughes return a “big call” | 12:12
FULLBACK GOES MISSING
Just before halftime came a massive turning point when the Sharks carelessly left a gaping hole at fullback and the already damaging Munster needed no second invitation to put in a crafty kick for fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen to pounce and the hosts up eight at half time.
It was hearts in mouth stuff when Papenhuyzen was jolted in a shoulder charge from Braydon Trindall and got up holding his shoulder.
Trindall was already walking a fine line again before he took out Hughes in a wild tackle that saw the two players clash heads.
The Sharks, who had been under siege defensively for 15 minutes, almost broke through when Briton Nikora wound up for the tryline, only to be stopped in a brave two-man tackle by Munster and Papenhuyzen, but the tackle went high and Hynes gleefully accepted the two points from straight in front to trim the margin to six.
With the Sharks pressuring, Hynes made that critical error, halting the momentum his side had built, and then Trindall made the error of stripping the ball second in the tackle, giving Meaney two points to take the Storm’s lead out to eight.
A trademark dummy half run from Harry Grant finally broke the Sharks resistance and Xavier Coates produced the game-sealing try to send the Storm to another grand final.
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TEAMS
Storm team: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. William Warbrick 3. Jack Howarth 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 12. Eliesa Katoa 15. Shawn Blore 13. Trent Loiero 11. Ativalu Lisati 14. Tyran Wishart 16. Tui Kamikamica 17. Alec MacDonald. 18th man: 20. Joe Chan
Sharks team: William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. KL Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Toby Rudolf 11. Billy Burns 12. Teig Wilton 13. Jesse Colquhoun 14. Briton Nikora 15. Siosifa Talakai 16. Oregon Kaufusi 17. Braden Hamlin-Uele. 18th man: 18. Daniel Atkinson