If there’s five minutes remaining in a rugby league game and you’re up 36-12, you could almost be forgiven for putting the cue in the rack.
Almost.
For Manly on Thursday night, the decision to do just that very nearly handed the Sea Eagles what would have been the biggest capitulation job this NRL season, bar none.
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The scoresheet says they won the game 36-30 against Melbourne at Brookvale, but what transpired in the final five minutes had to be seen to be believed.
The Sea Eagles were cruising up to the 75th minute, holding an emphatic 24-point lead until the Storm suddenly came to life, scoring four tries before full-time in frantic scenes.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona started the madness when he got the ball from Ryan Papenhuyzen and steamrolled his way over the line.
Papenhuyzen himself went over three minutes later, and converted his own try to make it 36-22.
Justin Olam scored in the next minute to make it 36-26, and then Papenhuyzen burst through a defensive hole and found the line again to make it 36-30.
Melbourne declined the goal kick, giving themselves 14 seconds to receive the kick-off and score a converted try to send it to golden point.
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But Manly kicked deep and made no mistake with the defence this time, sighing when the siren sounded to end the onslaught.
Manly legend Paul Vautin certainly chose an exciting night to return to the commentary box at Brookvale.
“Someone call an ambulance,” Vautin proclaimed at full time.
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“(Call) 20,000 of them (for every member of the crowd.
“There’s not a lot of laughs or smiles from the Manly players.”
Manly leader Jake Trbojevic had left the field with minutes remaining, having completed his assignment for the night.
He could only sit on the sideline and watch the madness unfold.
“I don’t know… 36-12… pretty disappointing finish,” Trbojevic told Nine afterwards.
“To be fair the 75 minutes we played before that was pretty nice. That finish is a bit disappointing, but it’s a win, and we needed it.”
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Despite scoring two of the four late tries, and kicking a goal to almost drag his side over the line, Storm fullback Papenhuyzen found it hard to be upbeat.
“It’s not good enough. We never should have got ourselves in that position,” he told Nine.
“It’s tough chasing them down on their home ground. Very disappointing. I don’t really know what to say.”
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