Uncategorized

Watch: Parramatta Eels recreate that Jack Welsby try for dramatic win over Melbourne Storm

by
Cam Pattison
March 26, 2022

Most bouts of golden point extra time are basically the same both in the NRL and Super League.

Two teams enter a war of attrition for territory until one side slots over a drop goal to seal the win by the skin of their teeth.

However, every now and then a try is scored. Sometimes, this is from some fine rugby league but sometimes we see a bizarre moment hand a team a famous win.

In the 2020 Super League Grand Final, we saw just that when Tommy Makinson’s long range drop goal attempt missed bouncing up for Jack Welsby to score and win the game for the Saints. Granted this wasn’t in extra time, but with seconds of normal time remaining the final had already descended into a battle for the one-point only for this strange but amazing moment to occur gifting St Helens consecutive titles.

Today in the NRL, we saw something akin to a recreation of that famous Super League moment as Parramatta Eels proved that they can hang with the very best teams in the league defeating last year’s Minor Premiers Melbourne Storm in golden point extra time.

There had been little to separate the two all game with the scores level at 12-12 come halftime before being locked at 24-all by the end of the 80 minutes. Nathan Brown and Brandon Smith scored lovely first half tries before scores from Waqa Blake and Nick Meaney ensured the contest was locked at 12 points a piece come the interval.

Meaney scored again after halftime but going into the final 10 Melbourne trailed with Ray Stone, who had been forced to move to centre following injury to Bailey Simonsson, scoring from a Mitchell Moses bomb.

However, you can always rely on a big play from the storm. Their new big three in this modern age combined to deliver it with Smith and Cameron Munster combining to set Ryan Papenhuyzen up for the leveller sending the game into golden point.

It would then fall to Stone, the Dolphins-bound Eel playing out of position, to win the game. Moses attempted a long range field goal which bounced off the post only for Stone to react quickest, scoop up the ball, wrong foot the defence and score the winner injuring himself in the process.

You can watch the match-winning moment which bares massive similarities to that Welsby try in 2020 here: