As it happened: Storm edge Dogs; Raiders win with Mudgee miracle

Fulltime analysis

The Storm have hung on to defeat the Bulldogs 20-14 and all but secure a top two berth. A determined second half performance by the Bulldogs almost snatched victory after trailing 12-0 at the break but a number of close calls went against them. Melbourne's defence was the key but they also scored some brilliant tries and had to withstand the loss of Harry Grant to the sinbin and Tui Kamikamica with a Category 1 HIA. The win puts the Storm four points clear of the third-placed Bulldogs and they have a superior for-and-against. It was the third consecutive win by the Storm against other finals contenders in Brisbane, Penrith and Canterbury. The Bulldogs are all but guaranteed a top four finish after Penrith's Golden Point loss to Canberra in Mudgee. Canterbury face the Panthers on Thursday night. 

79 min: Crichton was denied a try after juggling a crossfield kick from Burton in the Storm in-goal. The Storm will hang on.

78 min: Papenhuyzen has handed the Bulldogs an opportunity to level the scores after missing a field goal attempt.

74 min: Burton has kicked a 40/20.

70 min: The Bulldogs aren't done yet, with Crichton creating a try for Kiraz in the corner after switching positions with Tracey and playing fullback. Crichton's conversion hit the posts. Storm 20 Bulldogs 14.

68 min: Hayes burst into the clear but a try saving tackle by Coates forced him to loose control of the ball as he reached for the line. 

66 min: Meaney has put the Storm further ahead with a penalty goal after Hayward became embroiled in a grabbing battle with Munster near the Bulldogs line. Storm 20 Bulldogs 10.

59 min: Viliame Kikau has made the Storm pay after crashing through Meaney and Papenhuyzen to score out wide. Crichton missed the conversion. Storm 18 Bulldogs 10

57 min: Anderson has been penalised after patting Burton on the head following a knock on by the Bulldogs captain, who threw the ball at Meaney in response.

51 min: The Storm have scored a stunning try with Grant in the bin and Pezet has shown why there are so many wraps on him. The rookie halfback unleashed Papenhuyzen, who in turn sent Grant Anderson racing down the touchline and backed up on the inside to field a kick. Hayes tackled Papenhuyzen short to save a try but Pezet received the ball on the next tackle and kicked across field for an unmarked Xavier Coates to score. Meaney converted from out wide. Storm 18 Bulldogs 6. 

50 min: Jonah Pezet is on in place of Kamikamica and has produced a potential momentum turner after shaking the ball loose from Burton.

Storm blow: Kamikamica has been ruled out of the game after being deemed a Category 1 HIA. 

47 min: Jacob Kiraz has been disallowed a try after beating Munster and Papenhuyzen to force his way over the line only to lose control of the ball before he could plant it.

46 min: Momentum is turning, with Grant sent to the sinbin after a shoulder charge on Harry Hayes from the kick-off. The Storm have also lost Kamikamica for a HIA.

42 min: The Bulldogs have come out firing in the second half, with Kurt Mann creating some energy and they received four back-to-back sets after a charge down and three six-again calls against the Storm. Bailey Hayward was finally rewarded when he dived over from dummy half for his first try of the season. Storm 12 Bulldogs 6.

Halftime summary: The Storm appear to be in control at the interval but they only lead 12-0. Penalties and errors have prevented the Bulldogs from mounting sustained pressure on the home team but if they can rectify that in the second half, it is game on. Little else really separates the teams statistically but Melbourne's spine of Cameron Munster, Tyran Wishart, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Harry Grant are having a huge impact. In comparison, Matt Burton, Lachlan Galvin, Connor Tracey and Bailey Hayward have produced errors under pressure and need to stand up if the Bulldogs are going to come back.   

39 min: A Galvin forward pass let the Storm off the hook and the error was compounded by a late tackle on Munster by Bulldogs secondrower Jacob Preston.

38 min: Kamakamika quickly made amends with a rib tickling tackle on Burton that shook the ball loose but the Bulldogs regained possession after a Grant Anderson knock-on.

37 min: Fijian captain Tui Kamikamica lost the ball to let the Bulldogs off the hook and they capitalised with Xerri making a long range break.

35 min: Cameron Munster has kicked a 40/20 after the Storm were forced to defend on their own line. 

25 min: The Storm are targeting rookie Bulldogs halfback Lachlan Galvin in defence and Ryan Papenhuyzen showed his speed to race around him and score. Meaney converted. Storm 12 Bulldogs 0.

24 min: Tracey puts down a Cameron Munster spiral bomb and the error was compounded by an penalty and set-restart to give the Storm field position. 

17 min: The Storm have struck first with Tyran Wishart repaying Craig Bellamy's faith in him at halfback by drifting across the field and beating Matt Burton and Bronson Xerri before drawing Connor Tracey to put Eli Katoa over for his 11th try of the season. Nick Meaney converted. Storm 6 Bulldogs 0.

The action in the NRL doesn't stop, with the blockbuster underway in Melbourne before a sold-out AAMI Park crowd before we could get our breath after the amazing finish in Mudgee. From what we have seen in the opening exchanges, the Storm and Bulldogs are set to provide another gripping contest.

Final team lists

Storm: Ryan Papenhuyzen will start at fullback, with Cameron Munster moving to five-eighth and Jonah Pezet to the bench. Nelson Asofa-Solomona is the 18th man. Papenhuyzen missed last week's win over Penrith with a concussion while Asofa-Solomona has spent the past two weeks in Queensland's Hostplus Cup after serving a suspension. Shawn Blore has been ruled out, with Joe Chan set to start in the back row. Bronson Garlick was named on the bench but has now dropped out.

Bulldogs: Marcelo Montoya is set to return from a neck injury after coming into the starting side on Thursday. Enari Tuala shifts back to the reserves. Back-rower Sitili Tupouniua will make his return from a hamstring injury on the bench, with Josh Curran relegated to 18th man. The Bulldogs have a good record at AAMI Park but have lost eight of their last nine games against the Storm. 

Panthers v Raiders at Glen Willow Oval, Mudgee

84 min: WHAT A FINISH. Nathan Cleary has had a 35m shot at field goal BUT it hit the right hand upright. Jed Stuart caught the ball, and sent Strange racing away before he linked with Weekes to score a 100m try. RAIDERS WIN. Raiders 20 Panthers 16.

83 min: The Raiders have conceded a penalty for a high shot on Edwards after he returned a Fogarty kick.

The toss: Nathan Cleary has won the toss and elected for the Panthers to receive the kick off. They will get the first chance to score.

80 min: We have GOLDEN POINT after Fogarty missed another field goal attempt.

80 min: The Raiders have again used their captain's challenge to overturn a knock on call with 21 seconds on the clock and a scrum feed 30m out.

79 min: Cleary has MISSED a long range shot at field goal. The Raiders will get the last chance to win the match before it goes to Golden Point. 

78 min: Weekes has missed a field goal attempt. The Raiders have used a captain's challenge to argue that Edwards touched the ball in flight. There was no conclusive evidence so the Raiders keep their challenge BUT Penrith have a seven tackle set.

77 min: Moses Leota has been penalised for being offside at the kick-off, giving the Raiders another scoring chance. 

76 min: Hold onto your seats. Ethan Strange has scored after wrapping around to receive a short pass from Fogarty and crashing over. Fogarty MISSED the conversion. Panthers 16 Raiders 16.

74 min: Young bounced the ball as he reached out in an attempt to ground it after To'o was unable to take a Fogarty bomb. Tago was penalised for an escort.

73 min: Talagi recovered the ball after putting down a Fogarty bomb but a knock on by Edwards has given Canberra another chance to snatch victory.

68 min: The Raiders have successfully used their captain's challenge to overturn a knock-on call against Weekes and immediately received a penalty for a high tackle followed by a set-restart for a ruck infringement.

65 min: The Panthers have lost their captain's challenge after Dylan Edwards lost the ball in a tackle by Owen Pattie.

58th min: Sasagi has been targeted by the Panthers but not only passed his tests so far but scored a try to get the Raiders back into the contest. Canberra coach has sent Tapine and Josh Papalii back into the fray. Fogarty converted. Panthers 16 Raiders 12.

Breaking: Some big news in the later game at AAMI Park, with Ryan Papenhuyzen to start at fullback for the Storm. Sitili Tupouniua is also a later inclusion for the Bulldogs. The match is sold out. A win will see the Storm secure a top two finals berth and keep alive their minor premiership hopes if Canberra lose to Penrith.

43 min: Secondrower Liam Martin has shown the Aussie rules skills he developed as a kid in Temora by flying high to latch onto a Cleary kick and score. Cleary converted. Panthers 16 Raiders 6

41 min: Savage has not returned, with Seb Kris shifting to the wing and Simi Sasagi, who re-signed this week, taking over the centre role. Savage's injury has been diagnosed as an AC-joint injury.

Halftime summary

The Panthers are just on top in a gripping contest worthy of a clash between the ladder leaders and defending premiers. The stats are fairly even although the Raiders have committed more errors and conceded more penalties and six-again offences. However, they have also made more offloads (8-1), coinciding with 15 ineffective tackles by the Panthers to just one by Canberra. It will be interesting to see whether Xavier Savage returns as he was a passenger for most of the second half after a heavy hit by Blaize Talagi. He was unable to commit to a tackle when Casey McLean scored his second try, or compete for a Cleary kick that was knocked on by Tom Jenkins.   

39 min: Smithies has been denied a try after Liam Martin was ruled to have got a hand on the ball to ground it in goal before the English forward from a Fogarty kick.

33 min: An error by English forward Morgan Smithies in his first carry after interchanging Tapine handed Penrith a scoring chance from a scrum and Cleary combined with Dylan Edwards to send McLean racing between Savage and Matt Timoko to score his second try. Cleary missed the conversion. Panthers 10 Raiders 6

30 min: Tapine has charged over the line to score from close range and Fogarty's conversion has drawn the scores level for the Raiders. Panthers 6 Raiders 6. 

29 min: Another Panthers error after Izack Tago lost the ball in his own half as he was being driven over the sideline. 

27 min: Hudson Young is stopped short by Cleary and Lindsay Smith after a mousetrap move. 

25 min: The Raiders have their best attacking opportunity so far after a penalty for interfering with Ethan Strange as he chased a Jamaal Fogarty bomb. Xavier Savage is down in backplay with a biceps injury.

20 min: Kangaroos and NSW Origin captain Isaah Yeo has come off the bench for the Panthers and is immediately into the action.

16 min: Mclean has opened the scoring after a short Blaize Talagi kick ricocheted off the legs of Zac Hosking and the Kiwis centre picked up the loose ball to dive over. Cleary converted. Panthers 6-0 

13 min: Nathan Cleary has forced a goal line drop out with a deftly placed grubber kick that Kaeo Weekes had to run dead. 

11 min: It will be interesting to see if the Panthers regret the decision not to take a gift two points after the Raiders defence proved up to the task and turned them away. 

9 min: The Panthers have received back-to-back penalties and on both occasions they declined an easy shot at goal. Raiders captain Joseph tapine has been cautioned for dissent.

7 min: A Raiders error gives Penrith a scrum feed and Brian To'o makes a long range break.

5 min: Panthers centre Casey McLean has made the first error of the match after losing the ball in a tackle by Raiders hooker Tom Starling near the Penrith tryline.

The Toss: Raiders to kick off

Final team lists

Panthers: Isaah Yeo will return for Friday night's blockbuster in Mudgee, with the co-captain to start on the bench, with Isaiah Papali'i remaining at lock. Matt Eisenhuth was the player to drop out when the side was finalised 60 minutes before kick-off, with Paul Alamoti the 18th man.

Raiders: Ricky Stuart has opted against rushing back Matty Nicholson and Savelio Tamale as they near a return from leg injuries. The Raiders coach has instead gone with the same 17 that got the job done against Manly before last week's bye, with Ethan Strange and Jamal Fogarty to steer the ship in the halves. No changes to the side before kick-off, with Noah Martin named as the 18th man.