Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Storm's obscene record as Hughes does the unthinkable
SEN • September 27th, 2025 9:42 am
The record is obscene.
The Melbourne Storm are into their 11th Grand Final in 20 years after outclassing the Sharks 22-14 at AAMI Park.
And their record was not even the most astonishing thing on the night.
Just 22 days after breaking his forearm, Jahrome Hughes defied belief and was back on the field and to play a starring role in the showdown.
That was despite his surgeon saying the regular recovery period was 12 weeks.
“Honestly I’m just happy to be out there,” he said after the siren. “I feel like I’ve been out for the whole year.
“Great to be back out with the boys, it’s a great feeling.”
Storm will be forced to wait until Sunday night to know who they face in next weekend’s Grand Final, with the Broncos and Panthers not scheduled to face-off until 4pm Sunday at Suncorp.
In a remarkable fixturing decision – presumably so they don’t clash with Saturday’s AFL Grand Final, the fixturing decisions for the NRL semi-finals grants the Storm a distinct advantage.
Craig Bellamy’s side will have an extra 48 hours to recover and rest compared to their opponents.
Asked about it, Bellamy said it’s clearly an advantage but that he had nothing to do with the decision.
“Yeah I think it is an advantage,” he said. “But with all due respect, we didn’t make that decision.
“A lot of people have been a bit critical as if we (said) ‘we want to play Friday, you have to put them on Sunday’.
“At the end of the day, the NRL made the decision. Not us.”
While Storm will look to avenge last year’s Grand Final heartbreak, for the Sharks it was a tough loss to take.
“They are a quality opposition and we made it hard for ourselves at times,” Nicho Hynes said.
“Sometimes you are just not good enough, and it is not your night.
“We were leading the second half 2-0 at some stage, and then I dropped that ball, made a bit of a crucial error and then (gave away) a penalty and then Briton’s offload.
“We just compounded errors, and that cost us in the end.”
