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Roosters steal the Storm’s thunder in Bellamy’s 600th
Nicholas Quinlan • August 30th, 2025 11:29 am
The Sydney Roosters have won in Melbourne for the first time since 2022 to have all but secured their spot in finals on Friday night with a 40-10 win against the Storm.
It was a momentous occasion for the Storm as they celebrated the career of their coach, Craig Bellamy, who was coaching in his 600th NRL game with Melbourne.
And everything appeared on track to help celebrate the occasion with a win, with the Storm taking the early lead through tries from Shawn Blore and Grant Anderson to lead 10-0 into halftime.
But that all changed in the second half.
The Tricolours would start the second half with winger Mark Nawaqanitawase somehow managing to get the ball over the line in the right-hand corner courtesy of a James Tedesco flick pass.
Siua Wong proceeded to give the Roosters the lead shortly after.
Then Nawaqanitawase managed to score three more tries within the space of seven minutes, all but securing the result, with Tedesco and Robert Toia scoring late to blow out the margin to 30.
The win now means that the Roosters are ahead of the Dolphins on point differential, meaning the Dolphins must win both of their remaining games to still be a chance of making their first finals appearance.
Speaking in the post-game press conference, Roosters coach Trent Robinson was proud of how his team has grown across the last few weeks, having won four of their last five games.
“I’ve seen the growth of our team over the last couple of months,” Robinson noted.
“I’m really proud of where we are getting to. There’s still a long way to go. But we’re on the right track.”
While for Bellamy, he would call the Storm’s performance, particularly in the second half, “embarrassing”.
“I can think of a couple of words (to describe their performance), but I probably can’t say them,” he said.
“On that second half, like that was 40-nil in a half of footy, that’s embarrassing.
“That’s the nicest word I can think of.”
The Roosters will finish their home and away campaign when they play their rivals, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, at Allianz Stadium next Friday.
The Storm will travel to the Sunshine State to play against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium. That will take place next Thursday.
