Nathan Cleary FUMES as Melbourne star is accused of shocking act after Storm skipper strikes gold in dramatic finish

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Harry Grant proved to be Harry Houdini as Melbourne won a 22-18 golden-point NRL thriller in Sydney.
However, not everyone was impressed with the Storm skipper.
The hooker was having one of the poorer games of his season, but stood up when it mattered.
With the game tied at 18-18, the match went to a golden point winner, with the 27-year-old deceiving the Penrith defence who had blitzed off the line in anticipation of a last-gasp field goal attempt from Cameron Munster.
Grant anticipated the Panthers' eagerness to get off the line as he picked up the ball from the back of a ruck. He feinted to pass out wide, before quickly switching direction, scurrying 10 metres forward untouched to score the match-winner at a slippery CommBank Stadium on Thursday night.
The courageous come-from-behind victory for the Storm, in what was a potential grand final preview, has thrown down the gauntlet to their premiership rivals.
However, there was controversy after full-time, and Grant was at the centre of it, with the Storm No 9 being accused of diving by footy great Michael Voss.
With the game level, Nathan Cleary had appeared to boot the match-winning field goal from around 27m out.
But referee Ashley Klein pulled the play back, after prop Moses Leota had blocked Grant off from pressuring the Panthers' half's drop goal attempt with a chargedown.
Grant flopped to the floor, flailing his arms following the obstruction. While it was the correct call by the referee, some have fumed at Grant's theatrics.
'I agree with Ashley Klein, the rule is you cannot stand in front of someone taking a field goal,' Cooper Cronk said to Channel Nine.
'Moses Leota was standing there, but it is a rule that you can't stand there,' he added as The Bunker sided with Klein on the matter.
But footy immortal Andrew Voss was not convinced, hitting out at Grant, appearing to claim the Melbourne skipper had bought the penalty and scrubbed Cleary's set shot.
'I don't like it,' Voss explained.
'He hasn't done a whole lot and Grant has played for the penalty.'
Cleary, meanwhile, fumed at the decision to scrub his drop goal.
During a presser he was asked how he saw the obstruction, with his dad, Ivan, urging his son to 'tell the truth.'
So he did.
'If that was in the field of play and you run a block shape, it wouldn't be an obstruction because they ruled that out,' Cleary said.
'If you're defending a three-man and you play for the obstruction, then they don't want that in the game, but for some reason, it's different for a field goal.
'I thought the blocking rule was brought in, so then people wouldn't stand next to the play-the-ball. Moses wasn't in that position.
'I don't believe that everyone can get behind me on that field goal. And then essentially Harry played for it because he knew he was going to get the penalty.
'But I don't think Moses moved at all either [into the way], so it was pretty frustrating.'
Baffled by Leota's decision to slightly angle his run towards Grant, Voss added: 'And here is the crazy thing, Leota didn't need to do it. He's got the best field goal kicker in the comp. He can kick them from 50.'
Gun five-eighth Munster started at fullback in the absence of Ryan Papenhuyzen, and the Storm weathered a wealth of early territory and possession for the defending premiers to score one of the competition's most important wins of the year.
Penrith had all the early running and were ferocious in defence, and on the back of territory Isaiah Papali'i scored on 11 minutes from dummy half on the sixth tackle.
The Panthers were virtually perfect in the first quarter of the game, 12 from 12 in completions and brutal when defending.
They had 60 per cent of the ball, but Melbourne stayed alive and equalised when Xavier Coates leapt high above Brian To'o to touch down from a Tyran Wishart kick.
Penrith got one back on 34 minutes when Cleary, uncharacteristically wearing headgear to protect an ear injury, slid across the line off a pass from Dylan Edwards, and when Cleary booted a penalty goal, the Panthers led 12-4 at the break.
The premiers opened the second half on top before Coates took an intercept off an errant Blaize Talagi pass and raced 60 metres to score inches from the corner, despite a valiant effort from Casey McLean.
That try turned the momentum for the Storm, and another Wishart kick put To'o under pressure and Coates tapped a ball back for Joe Chan to take Melbourne to the lead for the first time.
As is their way, Penrith bounced back quickly when Scott Sorensen powered over, but Melbourne would not lie down, Marion Seve scoring in the corner in the 66th minute off the back of a brilliant passage of play.
Seve, playing his first NRL game since round four, was wearing rubber goggles to protect an eye injured in June in the NSW Cup.
Both sides had chances to score as regular time wound down, Cleary having two field goals denied in the final minutes.
Then it was on to golden point and Grant's moment of deception to give Melbourne the win, scoring five tries to three.