Mitchell Pearce has recovered from Wednesday's State of Origin heartbreak to kick the Sydney Roosters to a 25-24 golden-point win over Melbourne at the Adelaide Oval.
After the Roosters trailed by 12 points with eight minutes to play, Michael Gordon kicked a conversion from the sideline to send the match into golden point.
In front of 21,492 fans - the biggest NRL crowd in Adelaide since the Rams' first game in 1997 - Pearce slotted an off-balance field goal from 35 metres out to claim the victory over an Origin-depleted Storm team on Saturday.
Pearce had earlier set up two tries, as the Roosters worked over Melbourne's right-edge defence in the second half through Latrell Mitchell and Daniel Tupou.
Luke Keary then provided a cross-field kick for Blake Ferguson on the last play of the game, to allow Gordon the opportunity to kick to level the scores.
Earlier, Melbourne's generation next had threatened to steal the Storm's first win without Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater in a non-Origin round since 2002.
Also without Will Chambers (concussion) and back-up half Ryley Jacks (groin), young stars Brodie Croft and Jahrome Hughes both scored tries, while 19-year-old centre Curtis Scott ran 155 metres and set up a try.
Queensland Origin aspirant Cameron Munster set up a try with a silky no-look cut out pass for Josh Addo-Carr, who scored twice in the win.
Fellow winger Suliasi Vunivalu also scored one of the best wingers' tries of the year to give the Storm a 20-6 lead early in the second half.
Completely airborne over the sideline, he got the ball down with a barely a blade of grass between the ball and the line.
The win means the Roosters narrow the gap between them and Melbourne at the top of the table to two points.
