The National Rugby League premiership race has been shaken up by a tense, rain-soaked clash that ended with a controversial refereeing call and a crucial win for the Sydney Roosters over defending contender Melbourne Storm, leaving Melbourne’s 2024 finals hopes all but dashed.
The 14-6 final result pushes the Roosters to within just two points of ladder-leading Penrith Panthers, but the victory was overshadowed by a soft penalty decision in the second half that has drawn fierce criticism from Roosters head coach Trent Robinson.
Melbourne had failed to threaten the Roosters’ try line for the opening 55 minutes of the match, until referee Gerard Sutton awarded the Storm a critical penalty for an alleged high tackle from Roosters forward Nat Butcher on Melbourne’s Alec MacDonald. The penalty gifted Melbourne prime field position deep in Roosters territory, and two minutes later, Stefano Utoikamanu crossed for the Storm’s only try of the night, setting up a nervy final stretch for the home side.
Replays of the tackle contradicted the referee’s call, showing barely any contact between Butcher and MacDonald with negligible force applied. Robinson did not mince words in his post-match press conference, calling the decision “completely laughable.”
“How do you find that (a penalty)? Why would a referee even look at that? It was laughable. It was completely laughable,” Robinson told reporters. “You’ve got to defend it, and there were some things that went our way against it, but if they have an error on that and then you’re looking at that, then you’re looking at the wrong thing.”
The controversial call left Butcher fuming, and the forward immediately began arguing with match officials, only to be calmed down by teammate Victor Radley—until Radley saw the replay on the stadium big screen. “Nat was blowing up at the time. I was thinking ‘mate, be quiet Nat’ until I saw it on the big screen. I said ‘oh, you’ve probably got a right to blow up there,’” Radley recounted after the match.
Despite the controversial setback, the Roosters’ defensive line held firm through the closing minutes of the game, and a late try from winger Daniel Tupou sealed the narrow win. Robinson acknowledged that the Roosters’ attacking play was far from their best, a issue he attributed to disrupted combinations following the recent State of Origin series and wet, slippery playing conditions. The side earned plenty of field position throughout the match but failed to convert those chances into points, leaving the coach frustrated with his side’s offensive execution.
“We should have defended it, which is disappointing, but it is what it is,” Radley said. “It is reassuring (for us to win those tight games). It didn’t feel great at all, but our defence just held on, which was pleasing. I think those games, it didn’t feel great at the end of it at full-time there, but often those close contest games can be enjoyable. We won in the end, so happy days.”
While Robinson was critical of the refereeing and his own side’s attacking performance, he praised the team’s relentless defensive energy in wet conditions, a result he believes will build critical confidence heading into the Finals series, where close, low-scoring contests are the norm.
“I loved the defensive performance. We didn’t execute well and it wasn’t pretty, but I felt the energy we did have we put into defence, and I felt like we controlled the game through our defence,” he said. “There was a lot of live play, so the ball was in play a lot. There was a lot of kick return footy, both teams were going with high completion rates. If you want to play in decent games, you’ve got to play that style, so that was really pleasing. The execution of our attack was poor. I’ll take that. Just coming out of Origin, I’ll take that with different guys in and out in the wet. Of course I would have liked to have had better combinations and increased that because I thought we had enough field position there to do so. But there are also some really good signs on the defensive side of the ball.”
For Melbourne, the loss all but ends their 2024 premiership campaign, falling further adrift of the top eight with few rounds remaining in the regular season.