Raiders steal dramatic and controversial Magic Round win

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Melbourne Storm v Canberra Raiders

Drama and controversy have reigned along with the rain in the final game of Magic Round, as Canberra pulled out a miracle 20-18 victory over Melbourne in Golden Point at Suncorp Stadium.

It was all Purple in the early stages of the first half as the Storm dominated field position and possession after being given the perfect position from the very first hit-up of the game which was lost by the Raiders. The speed of Sua Faalogo set up Melbourne's first try when he found space on the outside of the Raiders before Munster saw the numbers heavily favoured the Storm and instead of risking it through the hands, Munster went to the boot and although aimed for Xavier Coates the bounce went perfectly to Grant Anderson who scored.

A penalty goal for Melbourne put the lead to 6-0 before probably the try of Magic Round and what will be one of the tries of the season lit up Suncorp Stadium. It was the speed of Sua Faalogo again to get on the outside of the Raiders edge defence before kicking back inside and finding Ryan Papenhuyzen on the chest in a play that most AFL players would appreciate. The conversion was good and following another penalty goal, the Storm lead 14-0.

The momentum then swung suddenly as the Raiders scored two tries in the space of five minutes when on the half-hour mark Savalio Tamale was able to get the ball down just inside the corner. The Green Machine then added a second through some unusually poor Melbourne defence when Matt Timoko beat the efforts of three Storm defenders to get it down. Fogarty converted for a 14-12 lead.

The second half was an arm-wrestle for the most part before Sua Faalogo scored for the Storm around the hour mark as he got over out wide. Papenhuyzen's iffy boot hurt the Storm again as he pushed the conversion across the face of the posts.

Drama started to flow more than the rain inside the last five minutes of the game when initially it was thought that Ryan Papenhuyzen had put Melbourne 7 points clear with a field goal however, on the advice of the bunker, a penalty went to the Raiders. It was ruled that in possession Trent Loiero had dropped an elbow into the attacker which was deemed as foul play.

The disallowed field goal gave Canberra hope which they took when some Kaeo Weekes magic when he took on Ryan Papenhuyzen 1-on-1 with a chip over the top to score a try and after Fogarty converted it was 18-18.

The drama didn't stop in golden point as Canberra were penalised for a second effort pushing Sua Faalogo into touch after the held call. The replays showed that Faalogo didn't go into touch however after the kick for touch went out, referee Gerard Sutton then overruled his own penalty call to go back to a late tackle in bizarre circumstances.

The call put Melbourne into attacking position but again when they had the chance to seal the game, a brain snap from Stefano Utoikamanu to lash out at a Canberra player saw him penalised and sent to the sin bin after a first half warning for players coming in which also saw Josh Papalii given ten minutes as well.

The Raiders then went up field and had one field goal attempt charged down and then in the dying seconds Trent Loiero cost the Storm potentially a second time when he was penalised for high contact. The penalty right in front of the posts gave Canberra an easy two points to seal the 20-18 win.

Next week, the Storm take on the Tigers at AAMI Park whilst Canberra play host to the Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium.