Canterbury Bulldogs denied by Melbourne Storm despite Addo-Carr hat-trick
A Josh Addo-Carr hat-trick wasn’t enough for Canterbury to secure an upset NRL victory over Melbourne, with the Storm holding on 16-14 in a high-voltage clash.
The Bulldogs speedster, in his first match back after a round-four concussion, bagged three tries in the second half to overturn a 10-0 deficit at AAMI Park on Friday night.
But Melbourne second-rower Shawn Blore crossed with six minutes remaining to regain the lead and the hosts managed to hold on for the win.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The Storm delivered the opening blow in the second minute when fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen stole a ball from Josh Curran and scrambled through the defence to score.
They pushed the lead out to 10 points when Xavier Coates took a towering bomb and as he was being bundled into touch, managed to grubber the ball back in-field which was scooped up by Reimis Smith.
As the teams headed into halftime, Papenhuyzen was put on report for a hip drop tackle on former Storm winger Addo-Carr that was picked up by the bunker.
The visitors showed plenty of promise in the first half but failed to finish, with eight errors and only completing at 65 per cent, with Addo-Carr going into touch as he skipped down the sideline attempting to score.
He made no mistake on his next chance when running on to a Bronson Xerri pass and racing 60 metres to touch down.
Addo-Carr was in again nine minutes later when the Bulldogs sent the ball to their dangerous left side with Xerri tapping the ball on for his winger.
Both teams went down to 12 men - Canterbury losing Sam Hughes, who was put on report for a forearm to the head of Christian Welch.
Papenhuyzen joined him in the sin bin for a professional foul, ruled to have pushed Stephen Crichton as they raced to the in-goal.
In the next set the visitors hit the lead 14-10 with a long ball out wide from Matt Burton ending with Addo-Carr diving across in the corner, continuing a nightmare outing for his opposite Will Warbrick.
It appeared the Dogs would leave with a well-deserved victory but the Storm had the final say when Blore barged across for the match-winner.
