An injured Jahrome Hughes has helped lead the Melbourne Storm to back-to-back NRL Grand Finals after a hard-fought 22-14 victory against the Cronulla Sharks.
In a back-and-forth contest that was played at a frenetic pace, the Storm hit early through Will Warbick in the corner before Sione Katoa crossed for one of his own five minutes later.
With both sides looking to one-up each other, it was Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes who stood up.
Out of nowhere, Hughes managed to produce a brilliant solo try out of nothing, using his right-step to get past the Sharks' defence before taking on William Kennedy with his acceleration.
Labelled as an uncertainty throughout the entire week due to injury, the reigning Dally M Medal winner showed that the decision made by coach Craig Bellamy to include him in the line-up was worth the gamble.
Donning a cast that looked eerily similar to what Mal Meninga used to wear at times during his playing career with the Canberra Raiders, Hughes was constantly targeted but never backed down, even when he copped a high-shot from Braydon Trindall.
Soon after Hughes scored, Katoa added another onto the scoresheet before a nice set-piece gave the Storm an eight-point lead heading into half-time.
In the final five minutes of the opening half, Cameron Munster placed a chip-kick over the Cronulla defence, which was pounced on by the roaming Ryan Papenhuyzen - a play reminiscent of when the 'Big Three' of Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk played with each other.
Down by eight points heading into the second half, the Sharks tried everything to get back into the match but came up short.
Back-rower Briton Nikora had the chance to level the scores with 20 minutes to go on the clock, but was held up by Papenhuyzen in a tremendous defensive effort.
Trying to keep the game alive, the Sharks entered a more free-flowing game of football but made some easy mistakes on both ends of the field, which saw Xavier Coates put the icing on the cake with his first try in a finals match since 2022.
The premiership favourites since the beginning of the season, the Storm now sit just 80 minutes away from clinching their first title since 2020 as Craig Bellamy enters his 11th Grand Final in his 23-year coaching career.
Making the Grand Final for the sixth time in the past decade, they will now face either the Brisbane Broncos or the four-time consecutive premiers, the Penrith Panthers - the team that defeated them in 2024.
Match Summary
Melbourne Storm 22 (Tries: Jahrome Hughes, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Xavier Coates, Will Warbrick; Goals: Nick Meaney 2; Penalty Goals: Nick Meaney) defeated Cronulla Sharks 14 (Tries: Sione Katoa 2, KL Iro; Penalty Goals: Nicho Hynes)
