- Melbourne Storm took an early 16-2 lead
- Then surrendered the next seven tries
- Coach was left stunned by the result
It is not often Craig Bellamy is lost for words, but the champion Melbourne Storm coach could barely muster up a reaction after his side was belted 42-16 by the Dolphins on Good Friday.
The Dolphins stunned Melbourne in an extraordinary comeback win, with half Isaiya Katoa putting on a masterclass.
Trailing 16-2 after 20 minutes at Suncorp Stadium, the Dolphins scored 40 unanswered points on Good Friday in surely the greatest performance of their short history.
And a shellshocked Bellamy was at a loss to explain how it happened.
‘Yeah, f***, really disappointed. I can’t remember coaching a Storm side that’s been up 16-2 then had 40 in a row put on us. That’s embarrassing,’ Bellamy said.
‘But hopefully we’ll learn from it. It will be a tough review day. I’m not sure what else to say, it was really disappointing.
Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy was left stunned after his side coughed up a 16-2 lead
The Dolphins piled on seven unanswered tries to secure a massive win over last year’s grand finalists
Storm players, including Ryan Papenhuyzen, could not believe what they were seeing in the dramatic comeback by the Dolphins
‘Jahrome (Hughes) just made a good point in the dressing room that we’ve been winning our games off our attack, to be quite honest and today we had to stump up defensively because we kept turning the ball over and we just couldn’t do it.
‘It’s a big concern to rely just on your attack. We’ve been a little bit aware of it, that our defence hasn’t been as good as we’d like it to be.
‘It’s probably more individuals, to be honest, but I just have to have a look through it where we think the problems are and there are a few problems.
‘After the game I thought perhaps it was complacency after getting that sort of start and just putting the slippers on.
‘We’ll do our review and we need players coming in with reasons why tonight might have happened.’
For the Dolphins, Katoa, 21, had five try assists and outplayed opposite number Jahrome Hughes in a performance that earmarked him as the best young playmaker in the NRL.
Tough forward Ray Stone, with two tries, and rampaging prop Josh Kerr, in his 100th NRL match, had the best games of their careers. It was the Dolphins’ first win over the Storm.
The Storm were completely stunned by the hosts, who blew them off the park with razzle-dazzle attack and steely defence.
Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf has now secured three wins in a row and turned their season around
‘I’m really proud of our blokes,’ Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf said after his side’s third win in a row.
‘At 16-2 down, it could have been a very different game.
‘We were up for the fight and when we had our opportunities we were doing something with it. We were outstanding in the second half.’
The Storm had won 79 of their previous 80 games when leading by 14 points.
There was injury carnage with Storm centre Jack Howarth dislocating a shoulder in the 17th minute, after Dolphins forward Max Plath suffered a foot injury two minutes earlier.
Dolphins forward Felise Kaufusi also came off with a knee injury which Woolf said had been diagnosed as an MCL.
