The Melbourne Storm’s NRL finals hopes are hanging by a thread after a crushing 14-6 loss to the Sydney Roosters at Sydney Football Stadium on Friday night. The defeat was overshadowed by yet another devastating injury, with Warriors recruit Will Warbrick appearing to have played his last game for the club after suffering a suspected Achilles tendon injury in the first half. Teammates consoled a tearful Warbrick as he left the field on a medi-cab, having fallen awkwardly in the lead-up to Billy Smith’s first-half try. The winger joins Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes, Eli Katoa, Tui Kamikamica, Xavier Coates and Ativalu Lisati in one of the NRL’s most high-profile casualty wards, leaving coach Craig Bellamy with an almost unrecognisable spine for the run home.
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Storm captain Harry Grant expressed his dismay after the game, acknowledging the severity of the situation. “Probably didn’t realise the severity of it at the time, thought he was just receiving some treatment, but yeah the medi-cab was called, and that’s not what you want to see,” Grant said. “And especially for Will, we know what footy he has been playing for us and he only has a little time left at the club. You want to make that enjoyable and memorable and we’ll show our support and stay with him now.” The depleted Storm faced a tough task against the top-four Roosters in their first game without either Hughes or Munster this year, and the absence of their two chief playmakers was evident in a disjointed attacking performance that managed only one try across the full eighty minutes.
Despite the circumstances, Melbourne’s defensive grit kept them in the contest, even as they were out-muscled through the middle and needed 54 minutes to earn a red-zone tackle. The Storm threatened to pull off an unlikely upset after being gifted rare field position from a questionable high-tackle penalty, a decision Roosters coach Trent Robinson labelled as “laughable” after the game. Down 8-0, the Storm were back within two points when Grant caught the Roosters napping and popped a ball up to Stefano Utoikamanu on the fifth tackle, giving the home crowd a flicker of hope. However, the momentum proved short-lived as Melbourne struggled to maintain any sustained pressure against a Roosters defensive line that had been well drilled all evening.
