Brickwall Broncos smother relentless Storm

A titanic defensive effort by the Brisbane Broncos has seen them edge out the Melbourne Storm 14-12 in an absorbing game at AAMI Park this afternoon.

The Broncos made over 400 tackles and were forced to make a whopping 11 line drop outs throughout the 80 minutes and were often on the back foot defensively. Broncos hooker Andrew McCulloch made 68 tackles and was backed up by Matt Gillett who hammered his way through 54 tackles.

The Storm, despite having more than 60% of the ball couldn't find there way over the line in the 2nd half and were left to rue a missed opportunity. Even despite the loss there were some real standouts for them - fullback Cameron Munster ran for over 200 metres and was ably supported by Blake Green who crossed for two tries, and Cameron Smith who pushed his way through 46 tackles and had a hand in one of the Storm's four pointers.

Melbourne were the team that started the quicker of the two sides courtesy of a try by Blake Green on 9 minutes. Green, who in the absence of star halfback Cooper Cronk stepped up his game significantly, received a pass from Cameron Smith before stepping off his left foot and using his strength to power over Ben Hunt and slam the ball over the line. The Flat footed defence of the Broncos was surprising but they soon kicked into gear. Hooker Cameron Smith made no mistake with the relatively easy kick at goal and the Storm drew first blood with a 6-0 lead.

However Brisbane were back in the contest only 10 minutes later. It was a very smart try , the Broncos moved the ball from the edge of the left hand side of the field, all the way to the right culminating in a smart pass by Darius Boyd who got on the outside of Kurt Mann to create an overlap, Jordan Kahu finished off the move by sending Lachlan Maranta untouched in the corner. Kahu did his best to level up the scores, however his conversion hit the crossbar and unluckily bounced away.

Both sides chanced their arm in the next ten minutes before the Broncos scored a try that will be shortlisted as one of the tries of the season. The Broncos again chanced their arm early in the set which saw Jack Reed slice through on his way to a 40 metre run. The following tackle saw some ab lib football by Brisbane and the ball travelled through 11 sets of hands which included some amazing offloads by Jordan Kahu and Matt Gillett and finished with a sublime cut out pass by Anthony Milford and the aforementioned Jack Reed slid over out wide. The Broncos never say die attitude to keep the ball alive on the last tackle was a joy to watch and no doubt their fans will be playing that try on replay for weeks to come.

Melbourne had a mountain of possession in the next 10 minutes and it eventually took it's toll on the tired Brisbane defence. Cameron Smith was again the architect running from dummy half and hit Blake Green with a wonderful pass after Green had run a perfect line. He crossed next to the posts and after Smith converted the Storm held a slender advantage 12-8 which they kept until the half time interval. In total the Storm had 9 extra sets of 6 in the first set yet only held a four point lead.

With defence the name of the game in the 2nd half, there was only one four pointer to talk of. This came on 50 minutes when Anthony Milford continued his good afternoon with a smart grubber kick after the Storm defence had rushed up. This meant that Corey Oates, who had come on to replace Daniel Vidot who succumbed to a hamstring injury, was able to scoop up the bouncing ball and cross over out wide. Kahu finally got his radar right and slotted his conversion between the uprights to give the visitors a 14-12 lead.

The next 30 minutes was an arm wrestle as both sides tried to take ascendency over the game. The sheer weight of possession looked like it would get Melbourne over the line, however the Broncos brick wall defence was impenetrable and the Brisbane side held on despite having to make more than 100 tackles then the home side. In what will be marked down as the best defensive effort of the year by any team, Brisbane will be delighted to pick up two points which nestles them into the top spot over North Queensland on for and against. This was their first win against Melbourne since 2010 and snapped a 8 game losing streak against the aforementioned club. Brisbane will travel back home for a home clash against the Knights next Friday night with both Justin Hodges and Corey Parker set to return.

As for Melbourne there was no shame in today's defeat. They completed 35/40 sets and were clinical throughout the whole game. The polish wasn't there at the end of the sets and that will surely return when Cooper Cronk comes back from his knee injury. The Storm had a shining light with the performances of Cameron Munster and Blake Green who were both standouts in a losing side. Melbourne will head to Sydney next Monday night in an intriguing game at Belmore Oval against a resurgent Bulldogs outfit at a ground that hasn't hosted an NRL game since 1998, ironically enough involving both the Bulldogs and the Storm.

Match Details

Melbourne Storm 12 Brisbane Broncos 14
Venue: AAMI Park
Crowd: 14278
Halftime Score: Melbourne Storm 12 Brisbane Broncos 8

MELBOURNE STORM (12)
Tries: Blake Green (2)
Conversions: Cameron Smith (2/2)

BRISBANE BRONCOS (14)
Tries: Lachlan Maranta, Jack Reed, Corey Oates
Conversions: Jordan Kahu (1/3)

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:

3 points - New Person
2 points - New Person
1 point - New Person

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary

Welcome to AAMI Park for today's clash between the storm and the broncos. Both sides fighting to stay in the top 4 and this will be a classic game.
A few changes to mark down. The Storm are without Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk. This is a big blow for them, so we'll see how their younger starts step up. Brisbane lose Corey Parker and Justin Hodges today, replaced by Lachlan Maranta and Sam Thaiday.

Cool conditions down on the field but still nice weather for football. The crowd is building and hoping for 15,000 plus in this one.

Who's your tip folks?

Cronk and Slater is a big loss for the Storm, but one thing is for sure-Craig Bellamby is a great coach and will no doubt have the Melbourne side well prepared regardless of who runs out.
The Broncos are missing both Parker and Hodges who combine for over 500 games of experience, that's a big loss for them

Here comes the Broncos outfit, soonly followed out by the home side the Storm

We're Off!

1: Decent opening set by the Storm, a few strong carries by the forwards. Smith thumps a kick down and Brisbane start their set only 10m out

3: Great set by the Storm, Green sends in a smart grubber and the Storm defence tackles Milford in goal. Repeat set.

4: Smith grubbers it on the 5th tackle but there is no communication and therefore no one chases through. Dribbles dead. 7 tackles for the Broncs now.

6: Broncos attack again breaks down about 20m out from the Storm line, 2nd time that has happened in the first 5 minutes.

7: Hampton puts up a huge, spiraling bomb that is left to bounce by Vidot who collects it and has no idea that Proctor is on his heels and smashes him in the in goal! Line drop out.

8: TRY MELBOURNE STORM
Scored by Blake Green. Kick to come.
Blake Green is given heaps of time when passed the ball and he just runs at the line and powers his way through Hunt and plants the ball down on the line. TRY!

9: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MELBOURNE STORM
Conversion attempt by Cameron Smith successful.
The kick by Smith is high and straight by the Storm Captain. 6-0

10: Great follow up set by the Storm, Chambers kicks it on the 5th and Milford is grounded 15m out, Broncos under the pump at the moment

11: Munster is held down by Hunt in a silly play by the Brisbane half back. Decent set beforehand by the Broncos, Storm off the hook and now on the attack 40m out.

13: Lovely little grubber by Green, Maranta gets there and slaps it dead, 3rd line drop out to come!

14: Another line drop out! This pressure is insane! Green kicks cross field for Fonua but the ball goes over everyone's heads and bounces back into the in goal and Fonua grounds Vidot in goal!

16: Rolling grubber by Hampton and the Broncos clean up through Gillett, outstanding defence by the Broncs.

19: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Lachlan Maranta. Kick to come.
Maranta scores! Great ball movement by the Broncos, spread out by Hunt to Boyd who creates the overlap and finds Kahu who in turn sends Maranta cruising over in the corner.

20: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Jordan Kahu unsuccessful.
Kahu hits the crossbar! bad luck! 6-4

23: End to end stuff at the moment, both sides starting to chance their arms

24: Line Drop out by the Broncos again!

25: Grubber by Minster is knocked dead again by the Broncos! Line drop out! Going for a world record perhaps?

27: Try saving tackle by the Broncs on Chambers! Great sliding effort by the Brisbane side. Brisbane just seem to have an answer to everything the Storm throw at them

28: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Jack Reed. Kick to come.
WOW! WOW! WOW!!!! This is a great try! They spread it early and this leads to Reed making a break, the ball goes to Vidot who is eventually grounded. On the last the ball goes through about 13 sets of hands including a few no look passes and then Milford gets space and hits Reed with a cut out pass and he slides over! Brilliant! Just Brilliant!

28: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Jordan Kahu unsuccessful.
Kahu's kick shaves the left hand upright and is no good

32: Can the Storm hit back? they have had so much ball and made the Broncos make so many tackles but find themselves behind on the score board

33: As I say that Milford kicks it out on the full and gives the Storm the ball only 30 metres out

35: TRY MELBOURNE STORM
Scored by Blake Green. Kick to come.
They do hit back! Smith drifts across field and hits Green who runs a perfect line and slides over next to the posts! Great work by the Storm.

36: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MELBOURNE STORM
Conversion attempt by Cameron Smith successful.
Smith nails the conversion and the Storm skip out to a 12-8 advantage

37: Penalty to the Storm and the home side have the ball 35m out!

37: A try here will hurt the Brisbane side...

38: UNFORCED ERROR MELBOURNE STORM
Cameron Smith makes an unforced error.
Smith drops it cold! A let off for Brisbane

40: Half time and its 12-8 to the Storm, great quality game and the next 40 minutes will be fantastic!

40: We are up and running in the 2nd half folks.

43: Whos defence will crack first? Both sides moving the ball laterally a lot

45: Smith kicks out of dummy half and gets the home side out of trouble

47: Btw folks Daniel Vidot has been ruled out with a hamstring injury and Corey Oates is on the wing in his place

48: Storm on the attack! 10m out

48: Green is claiming a try but I think it may have gone dead before he gets there

48: No Try!

50: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Corey Oates. Kick to come.
Pinpoint by Milford who chips to the corner and it bounces up perfectly for Oates who scoops it up and scores out wide! Brilliant play and vision from the Broncs

51: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Jordan Kahu successful.
Kahu sneaks it in and the Broncos hit the lead again!

54: Penalty to Brisbane and there on the attack now! Huge set of D coming up for the home side

55: Intercept by Melbourne! Kennar takes the intercept after a bad pass by Milford, looking for that cut out pass

56: Melbourne fighting to stay in this game, however they need a touch of class or magic

57: As I say this it appears that Mann has dropped the ball over the line after a break by Chambers!

57: Try saver by Boyd there, strips the ball out. It's gonna be a drop out for the Storm here.

58: Nice kick by Green, Boyd cleans it up and is crunched by Proctor and its another line drop out!!

59: UNFORCED ERROR MELBOURNE STORM
Will Chambers makes an unforced error.
Chambers over runs it and the Broncs are off the hook. Wasteful by the Storm there.

61: Towering bomb by Hunt and Fonua takes a catch that should be showcased at the MCG! perfect catch. Melbourne move it up the field

63: Milford is penalized for a push in the back in a passage of play where the Broncs nearly score after a good grubber by Hunt, this game is heating up and getting more intense by the minute

64: and for the 9th time today, the Broncos are trapped in their own in goal courtesy of a smart grubber by one C. Smith

65: Gillett looks done for in the in goal but shows great power and pace to get out! Big time play there,

67: 10th Line Drop Out coming up!!

69: Melbourne throwing everything at Brisbane but they keep repelling them at every turn.

71: Smith grubbers into the in goal and Melbourne get another repeat set, great kick chase by the Storm there. Still anyone's game this one, pulsating match

71: The Strom have had 35 sets compared to 26 sets

72: Hunt tries to pick up the grubber by Hampton and he knocks it on! Another set!

73: Proctor backs into the defence and knocks it on! Change over! What a defensive effort by the Broncos!

76: Brisbane just keep turning up defensively, Melbourne cant crack them

77: Brisbane: 385 tackles
Melbourne: 273
Wow!

78: Players are exhausted everywhere, mainly in brown and gold jerseys...

78: Hunt goes to drill it into touch but the ball takes a wrong turn and goes dead! Oh No! 7 tackles!

78: Storm only 30m out now after some strong charges

79: Kafuisi is tackled on the last only 2 metres out! Try saver by Purcell, the Storm were so close there! If the Broncs hold the ball they will win.

79: Amazing defensive performance by Brisbane, just incredible

80: Broncos win 14-12!