Ahead of Storm's Round 5 clash with the Gold Coast Titans at AAMI Park on Sunday, melbournestorm.com.au takes a look at the last time the two sides met.
Round 26 – Melbourne Storm 23 defeated Gold Coast Titans 22
AAMI Park, Crowd: 13,826
Melbourne Storm 23
Tries: Billy Slater 2, Will Chambers, Sisa Waqa
Goals: Cameron Smith 3, Cooper Cronk
Gold Coast Titans 22
Tries: Anthony Don, Brad Takairangi, Dave Taylor
Goals: Aidan Sezer 5
The players
Melbourne Storm
1. Billy Slater, 2. Sisa Waqa, 3. Will Chambers, 4. Maurice Blair, 5. Justin O’Neill, 6. Brett Finch, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cameron Smith (c), 10. Bryan Norrie, 11. Kevin Proctor, 12. Ryan Hoffman, 13. Ryan Hinchcliffe, 14. Jason Ryles, 15. Tohu Harris, 16. Jordan McLean, 17. Kenny Bromwich.
Coach: Craig Bellamy
Gold Coast Titans
1. Kevin Gordon, 2. Steve Michaels, 3. Brad Taka, 4. Jordan Atkins, 5. Anthony Don, 6. Aidan Sezer, 7. Albert Kelly, 8. Luke Douglas, 9. Beau Falloon, 10. Ryan James, 11. Greg Bird (c), 12. Ben Ridge, 14. Dave Taylor, 15. Luke Bailey, 16. Jamie Dowling, 17. Matt Srma, 18. Mark Ioane.
Coach: John Cartwright
The match
Storm fans will have fond memories of the 40-meter field goal from Dally M Medalist Cooper Cronk that sealed a narrow 23-22 victory over the Gold Coast Titans in Round 26 at AAMI Park.
Victory was snatched away from the Titans in golden point extra time after countless unsuccessful field goal attempts from both sides.
Cronk was at his influential best on the night, not only securing the two points for Storm but also recording two try assists for his efforts.
Gold Coast battled hard throughout the match with Dave Taylor and Brad Takairangi both scoring important tries to keep the Titans in a dominant position.
After the half-time break, Storm weathered an early Titans onslaught and was able to spring into action on the counter-attack. Sisa Waqa completed a Melbourne breakaway, scoring to put Storm ahead on the scoreboard.
A tense final 20 minutes of play ensued before Anthony Don made it over the Storm try-line to square the match up for the Titans. After moving into golden point extra time, Cooper Cronk claimed the victory for Storm thanks to a thrilling field goal.
