NSW Cup Report: Round 21

Melbourne Storm’s NSW Cup side produced a spirited second-half fightback but fell just short, going down 26-22 to the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Redfern Oval in Round 21.  

Storm had an ideal start with K-CI Newton-Whare crashing over in just the second minute after running onto a well-timed short ball from Hayden Watson. Watson then converted the try to give Storm an early 6-0 lead.  

The Rabbitohs responded with three unanswered tries, but failed to convert which meant Storm only trailed 12-6 at halftime. 

Two more tries from the hosts extended the gap but Melbourne refused to go away and turned to try scoring second rower Angus Hinchey, who scored his third try in two games to spark the comeback in the 55th minute.  

The momentum continued in Storm’s favour as Hugo Peel produced the highlight of the afternoon, soaring above the defence to take an aerial catch to reduce the deficit to just four points.  

Just a few minutes later, Alize Clarke crossed over to level the scores at 22-22 and set up a thrilling finish.  

With the match hanging in the balance, the Rabbitohs found a late match-winning try in the closing stages, claiming a narrow 26-22 victory.  

Despite the result, Storm showed tremendous resilience to erase a 16-point second half deficit and will take confidence from another determined performance heading into next week’s clash against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.