Dragons break 25 year drought in Melbourne to pick up historic upset

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Melbourne Storm v St George Illawarra Dragons

The Sydney Olympics were still 18 months away when the Dragons last won in Melbourne but the 25 year wait is over as the St George Illawarra Dragons pick up a famous 18-16 upset win at AAMI Park

The Storm welcomed back Cameron Munster and in the very first set of six, he had an impact as the hosts were able to make easy metres but despite looking dominant early it actually took them nearly 15 minutes to add first points when the headgear combination of Hughes and Harry Grant linked up for the Melbourne captain to score.

Despite being under pressure for the majority of the opening 25 minutes, the Dragons were able level the scores when Ben Hunt put the ball through the Storm defence with Jaydn Su'A successfully chasing the ball.

Just five minutes later, the Dragons took a shock lead when Tyrell Sloan burnt Ryan Papenhuyzen through the middle to score under the post after convincing the Melbourne fullback he was going to kick but ultimately ran the ball to score.

The Storm closed the gap to two points just shy of the half-time break when Cam Munster put a delicate kick through for Grant Anderson to score in the corner. Nick Meaney could not kick the conversion and the Dragons had a 12-10 lead at the break.

The start of the second half wasn't a good one for the Storm as errors put themselves under pressure and the Ben Hunt clinic that was on show for early part of the second half put Jaydn Su'A through for a second try when on last tackle, Hunt showed and go'ed before linkng with the QLD representative who scored under the posts.

Just ten minutes later, the Storm closed the gap to two points when the Dragons were caught napping when they sat back waiting for the kick from the Storm on last so Harry Grant spotted that and raced out of dummy half and scored. Nick Meaney converted the try to close the gap to two.

Despite having 20 minutes and a two point lead with a notoriously leaky defence which was on show last week against Penrith, the Red ‘V' held off every attacking raid from the Storm and held on for the win.

The loss for Melbourne could see their gap at the top of the ladder close depending on Penrith's result as they prepare for a Thursday night battle against Souths. The Dragons confidence will be boosted as they prepare for a game against the Bulldogs at Kogarah next Saturday night.