Melbourne’s NYC Thunderbolts have secured a sixth straight victory at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night, defeating Brisbane 16-14.
The Broncos got off to the best possible start they could have hoped for, finding the try-line inside five minutes immediately putting the visitors on the back foot.
Taking a 4-0 lead, the home side managed to hold onto the advantage for the remainder of the opening half. With both sides locked in an arm wrestle, Melbourne made intermittent forays forward without finding the killer pass required to unlock the Brisbane defence.
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The struggle continued throughout the early stages of the second stanza, with the Storm defence absorbing plenty of pressure from the hosts. Rebounding from defence to attack, the young Thunderbolts turned the score line around, erasing their deficit through Tony Tumusa and front-rower Nelson Asofa-Solomona. Cameron Munster and Richie Kennar combined impressively for the first try, releasing Tumusa.
Back-to-back tries to winger Paul Byrnes allowed the Broncos to re-take the lead, breaching the Melbourne defence two times, receiving a fortuitous rebound for the second.
A barnstorming run from Francis Tualau and subsequent set the game for a grandstand finish with Munster nailing the conversion to hand Storm a two-point advantage with three minutes remaining.
As it had for the majority of the evening, the Melbourne defence held strong for the final moments of the clash helping Matt Adamson’s side record a fifth straight victory.
Melbourne Storm 16
Tries: Tony Tumusa, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Francis Tualau
Goals: Cameron Munster 2
Defeated.
Brisbane Broncos 14
Tries: Paul Byrnes 2, Tom Opacic
Goals: Jayden Nikorima
Thunderbolts line-up: 1. Cameron Munster, 2. Tony Tumusa, 3. Maxwell Fesolai, 4. Richie Kennar, 5. Latrell Robinson, 6. Brayden Torpy, 7. Billy Kitt, 8. Rhys Kennedy, 10. Joe Stimson, 11. Una Mohi, 12. Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 13. Dean Britt, 14. Jake Turpin, 15. Charlie Galo, 16. Vincent Rennie, 17. Francis Tualau, 19. Ben Halfpenny
