— reporting by AAP
Melbourne has regained the NRL ladder lead from Cronulla after holding out Newcastle 36-28 in a spirited battle at AAMI Park.
The Knights have recently proved a handful for the Storm, winning their past two encounters, and scored in the 76th minute to set up a grandstand finish in their Sunday afternoon clash.
Melbourne looked on track for a comfortable win when they piled on three tries in 12 minutes in the second half to race to a commanding 34-16 lead.
With his dad, former Illawarra Steelers and NSW star Rod Wishart, watching from the stands as part of the Storm’s family round, Tyran Wishart continued to prove a worthy replacement for injured playmaker Cameron Munster.
Wishart crossed twice in that 12-minute burst, using his running game to combine with Jahrome Hughes in the halves to cause the Knights headaches.
Xavier Coates, backing up from Queensland’s Origin victory, scored the other try with a spectacular aerial effort to dive over in the corner.
Centre Nick Meaney finished with a personal haul of 20 points, including two tries, five conversions and a penalty.
Newcastle, who last week were shock 30-point losers to Canterbury, kept fighting, with Dane Gagai taking on the Storm defence and winning to give his team a sniff.
His centre partner Dylan Lucas also scored a try in each half, and fullback Fletcher Sharpe bagged a four-pointer in his NRL debut.
Enari Tuala missed an opportunity when Storm fullback Sua Faalogo knocked the ball loose from the winger over the try-line.
However, Tuala couldn’t be denied a minute later after Jackson Hastings surprised by kicking cross-field on tackle one, with Hastings adding the extras to trail by six.
The Knights’ hopes were dashed when Tyson Frizell was sin-binned for a professional foul in the final minute after taking out Wishart, with Meaney adding a further two points to put the game out of reach.