Trent Robinson's Sydney Roosters have overcome a 10-0 half-time deficit in style to place one foot in the 2025 NRL finals series with a statement-making 40-10 victory in front of a crowd of 21,000 at AAMI Park.
Spurred on by a noisy and pocket of travelling supporters in the away bay, the Roosters amended for a sloppy first half in which they were unable to capitalise on several Melbourne Storm errors nor breach a Storm defence that was conceding an average of only 14 points per game at home this season.
They were the first ones out of the block, forcing the Storm to ward off a full set of six tackles inside their own 20 after the home side committed a knock-on during their second tackle of the game.
The Storm defence held strong throughout the first half in what was a fast-paced but at times sloppy opening 20 minutes and the Roosters squandered multiple chances to land the first punch, including just after the 20 minute mark when half Hugo Savala coughed up the ball to Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen on the fourth tackle of a goalline set.
Melbourne held possession into the 23rd minute and drew first blood when Papenhuyzen and new number 11 Shawn Blore found a gap on the left for a fourth tackle try.
The Roosters' halves had recorded more than ten touches inside the Melbourne 20 by the 27 minute mark but were unable to breach the Storm line through the first half and took a 10-0 deficit into the sheds at half-time.
After Storm substitute Alec MacDonald gained 40 metres in a third tackle run, the Storm got their second try on the stroke of half-time when Warbrick won a contest with Daniel Tupou, who had been solid against some relentless first half kicking, and palmed a bomb down to an unmarked Grant Anderson as Billy Smith helplessly watched on.
Smith committed the first mistake of the second half when, during the 45th minute, he fumbled the ball onto his feet mid-pass during a promising attack. Having dropped the ball onto his feet, Smith produced an unintentional grubber kick that took a further deflection off Papenhuyzen to give Sydney a chance to reset with another set of six tackles.
The Roosters finally broke through just moments later when James Tedesco flicked the ball with one arm out to Mark Nawaqanitawase, with the star winger grounding the ball at full stretch just moments before stepping outside the field of play.
Melbourne committed three errors in the first ten minutes of the second half and a mid-tackle mistake from Trent Loiero gave the Roosters a golden opportunity to push for the line from a 30 metre scrum.
They looked as likely as they had all night to break through the wall but a heavy pass to Nawaqanitawase had him scrambling desperate to return the ball back into play before leaving the field and the set ended when a lookaway backwards pass from James Tedesco struck an unsuspecting Robert Toia in the face.
Out of seemingly nowhere in the 54th minute, Egan Butcher broke the line with consummate ease past an off-balance Shawn Blore and had Siua Wong for company, ensuring that Storm fullback Papenhuyzen couldn't stop the inevitable.
That was the moment that the Roosters' 17 appeared to have grown wings of confidence and the rest of the game was theirs to own from there.
Melbourne turned the ball over through an offside penalty in the 62nd minute and, when Sydney opted to drive for the line rather than kicking on their fifth tackle, they fortuitously won another set of six when Angus Crichton fumbled a wayward one-handed pass and Will Warbrick committed a ruck infringement by laying fingers on the ball unsuccessfully trying to gather it.
The Roosters needed fewer than 30 seconds to convert the extra set into an eight-point lead, and only three minutes after that for Nawaqanitawase to bring up a hat-trick off the back of an excellent pass from Tedesco.
Shortly after, Blore handed the ball over to Hugo Savala trying an ambitious one-two with Papenhuyzen and the Roosters scored once again from the interception through a chain of quick taps between Sandom Smith, Robert Toia and Nawaqanitawase, who stepped over the line to become the first player to 20 tries this season.
The stands had begun emptying out even before Toia and Tedesco rubbed the salt in with easy tries of their own to seal what was the Melbourne Storm's worst second half in their entire history.