It wasn’t a win but it was almost as good as one according to Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy after watching his NRL team fall to North Queensland 20-16.
The Storm’s mid-season woes continued as they suffered their third successive loss in a high-quality match at AAMI Park.
But Bellamy didn’t want to dwell on the scoreline; rating his side’s performance as a big improvement on their last-round shock loss to Canberra.
“I thought there was some really good signs out there,” Bellamy said.
“It was pretty even and I thought the Cowboys played really well but we were very competitive and there was some really good improvement in our defence and our attitude to defence so hopefully we’ve turned the corner.”
Apart from 2010, when they weren’t playing for points, it’s the first time since 2002 the Storm have lost three matches in a row and the first time since 2005 that they’ve lost three in succession at home.
It’s also the first time since way back in 2001 that North Queensland have won in Melbourne.
But such is the Storm’s buffer after their stunning start to the season that they remain on top of the table, ahead of the Bulldogs on points differential.
Cowboys centre Kane Linnett scored a double, with their maestro Johnathan Thurston having a hand in both, as well as one scored by Brent Tate.
Melbourne centre Anthony Quinn scored with five minutes left on the clock to close the gap to two points but the home side ran out of time to catch the visitors, who also added a late penalty.
The teams traded tries in the first half, through high-flying winger Matt Duffie and Linnett, with North Queensland looking dangerous as they led 6-4 at the break.
The Storm lost Duffie with 14 minutes left in the game with shoulder injury and he could be out for six weeks.
The home side showed their grit to hit the front in the 56th minute through fullback Gareth Widdop but the joy for the Melbourne fans was again short-lived with the Cowboys striking back just four minutes later with Tate taking the honours for a 12-10 lead.
Thurston again worked his magic to set up Linnett’s second try and his conversion gave his side a valuable eight-point margin.
North Queensland’s only sour note of the night was the loss of star winger Ash Graham, with the club saying he has likely suffered ankle ligament damage and a possible fractured fibula and will undergo scans on Monday to confirm his injury.
“It was a tremendous effort,” said Cowboys coach Neil Henry.
“It was a high quality game, end to end stuff, some great attack there and some desperate defence.
“We had to hang in, we were a bit banged up toward the end … it’s been a long time since we’ve got a couple of points down here.”