Young Tonumaipea fulfilled the dream of every child growing up last night, scoring after the siren to win the game for his side against the Dragons.
The Victorian local found himself on the end of Melbourne's match winning play, 30 seconds after he played the ball to begin the very same set. Moving the ball across the field from left to right and then back over to the left once again, Storm managed to stretch the Dragons defence to claim a last gasp victory.
"I was aware that time was running out and I just stood up as fast as I could to play the ball," Tonumaipea recalled on Tuesday morning.
"It's probably a moment I will never forget.
"As a kid when you grow up you play a game of last try wins or last goal wins and to actually do it in real life for Melbourne in front of our hometown as well is an awesome feeling."
Forward Jesse Bromwich, who gained nearly 200 meters for Storm in a hard working performance on Monday night agreed the thrilling ending to the contest will stick in his memory for a while to come.
"It is definitely something I won't forget, I was on the bench watching the whole thing and just to see the boys score that last try was definitely amazing," Bromwich said.
"All of us were jumping up and down on the bench.
"It was all about our effort and not giving up, the main thing was that we came out with a really good attitude last night and I think that's something we need to take into next week."
Melbourne currently sit sixth on the NRL table after six rounds and will travel to Canberra to take on the 14th placed Raiders next weekend at GIO Stadium, Sunday 3pm.
