Rabbitohs caught up in a Storm

Melbourne Storm plundered 14 points in the last 16 minutes to secure a tense 28-22 win over South Sydney and move up to third in the NRL table yesterday. The Rabbitohs stormed into a 10-0 lead early in the match and led 22-14 after 54 minutes before the Storm staged a late comeback, with tries to Cooper Cronk, Steve Turner and last week's hat-trick hero Joseph Tomane snatching victory for Melbourne.

Matt Orford, the Manly half-back, guided the leaders to a 20-6 victory over Penrith yesterday, creating two of the visitors' tries. Chris Walker, the Gold Coast winger, atoned for two second-half mistakes with a controversial 79th-minute try to help the Titans to a 24-20 win over the Sydney Roosters yesterday. Video referee Russell Smith ruled Walker, the former Rooster, had grounded the ball before taking out a corner post as the Coast sneaked home against the determined Roosters.

Walker had earlier made two second-half knock-ons in his own 20m zone, the second contributing to the first of Roosters winger Sisa Waqa's two tries. In England, St Helens were indebted to the master and his apprentice for a 50-10 victory over Castleford which strengthened their lead in the engage Super League. Veteran scrum-half Sean Long, who scored Saints' fifth try and kicked three goals in his first home appearance since announcing his end-of-season move to Hull, produced another masterclass to help lay the foundation for the emphatic victory before stepping aside to allow his likely successor, Kyle Eastmond, to finish the job off, scoring two tries and kicking four goals from as many attempts for Mick Potter's side.

* With agencies