Parramatta have fired a warning shot to the NRL’s premiership contenders after booking their place in the top four to set up a qualifying final showdown with Penrith.
Melbourne are now staring down the barrel of sudden-death football after falling 22-14 to Parramatta in front of 23,758 fans at CommBank Stadium on Thursday night.
Melbourne will now look to do what no team has done during the NRL era by winning a premiership from outside the top four. The fifth-placed Storm will face either the Canberra Raiders or Brisbane Broncos next week as their do-or-die path to the grand final begins.
Parramatta’s attention turns to the reigning premiers, a team they have beaten twice this year and pushed to the brink during last year’s finals series.
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy could yet lose sleep over Nelson Asofa-Solomona after the Storm prop was placed on report for a hit on Parramatta halfback Mitchell Moses.
Asofa-Solomona’s disciplinary record has come under fire this week after he was hit with his fifth charge of the season following an elbow on rising Rooster Joseph Suaalii last week. The Storm front-rower is yet to be suspended, leading Bellamy to encourage Asofa-Solomona to continue to play his menacing brand of football in the hope he would not come under extra scrutiny from referees.
Will Penisini’s try helped the Eels seal fourth place on Thursday night to set up a finals clash against Penrith next week.Credit:Getty
The spotlight on Asofa-Solomona may get even bigger following his shot on Moses, which came after his halves partner Dylan Brown broke the deadlock with the opening try.
It was clear Brad Arthur’s Eels had come to play. They arrived as slight outsiders with the bookies but they were up to the task with everything to play for.
Moses brought his teammates to life when he flattened Kenny Bromwich – who failed his ensuing head injury assessment – in the second half. Anything sent down Maika Sivo’s edge was either scooped up or sent over the sideline.
Melbourne were forced to make an extra 60 tackles in the first half as Parramatta took an eight point lead into the sheds. They needed less than four minutes to add to it on the other side of the break through Will Penisini, before a perfect Clint Gutherson cutout pass found Sivo, who went 40 metres to score and secure a place in the top four before Melbourne added two late tries.
Only once since 2011 have Melbourne finished outside the top four, having run sixth in 2014. Every year a forecast says the dynasty will end, but there’s always a Storm in September.
Because while every member of the big three would eventually walk away – Cooper Cronk to Sydney’s east, and Cameron Smith and Billy Slater to retirement – there was always another star waiting for a chance to shine.
The brightest among them is Cameron Munster, the five-eighth spending time at fullback to reignite Melbourne’s attack. Just as crucial to the Storm’s premiership ambitions is halfback Jahrome Hughes, who was a late withdrawal for Thursday’s game due to calf tightness, and Bellamy will need them both firing on all cylinders if they are to be a force in the finals.
Eight times since 1998 has a team outside the four reached the decider, but the ultimate prize has eluded them all.
Clint Gutherson and the Eels are finals-bound.Credit:Getty
Top four appearances have been a rarer commodity in Parramatta than they have in Melbourne.
The Eels have suffered semi-final exits three years running, pushing eventual premiers Penrith before bowing out in week two of last year’s edition.
