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Ray Stone has enjoyed the best and possibly worst moments of his NRL career, scoring Parramatta's golden-point match-winning try against Melbourne but hurting his knee in the process.
The unheralded lock became the Eels unlikely new hero, scoring twice at AAMI Park to help secure a 28-24 victory but was taken for scans following the match with fears it could be season over.
The golden point try came two minutes into extra time when Stone pounced on an attempted field goal by Mitch Moses that hit the upright.
The haul doubled the 24-year-old's career tally from five seasons.
Stone immediately clutched at his knee after diving untouched across the line and while he managed to walk off the field he was too upset post-game to front the media.
The Eels said he would be sent for scans in Melbourne before travelling back to Sydney.
Coach Brad Arthur was unaware of the seriousness of Stone's injury at the media conference and said the popular player deserved some luck.
'It's always good when a little bit of luck goes to one of our players that you can rely on," Arthur said.
"Stoney is one of those guys, he works hard, he is sometimes in and out of the team but he never complains, he just gets on with his job."
The injury blow dampened the celebrations for Parramatta, who again proved a thorn in the Storm's side.
They beat the Storm twice last season, their round 24 victory ending Melbourne's chance to set a record 20 successive NRL wins, and now serving up the Storm's first loss of the year.
Playing in the centres, Stone's other try came in the 70th minute to break a 18-18 deadlock when he attempted to catch a Moses bomb that bobbled off a Storm player and back into his hands.
Melbourne took momentum into golden point when Brandon Smith and Cameron Munster combined to put Ryan Papenhuyzen away in the 75th minute, with the fullback converting to make it 24-24.
The home side had two early tries disallowed however Smith, who made an early return from a broken hand made no mistake in the 11th minute.
The Eels responded with a try in the 18th minute through fullback Clint Gutherson after a Dylan Brown break.
The Parramatta five-eighth then sent a long ball to Waqa Blake and the winger steamrolled Papenhuyzen, sending the lightweight fullback flying back into the in-goal.
Nick Meaney, who was a late replacement for injured Storm winger Xavier Coates, crossed on either side of halftime to put the home side up by six.
But again the Eels hit back, with Moses putting up a bomb for centre Tom Opacic and the halfback squared up the ledger with his conversion.
The heavyweights continued to go toe to toe before Moses and Stone stood up to again leave the Storm shattered.
Coach Craig Bellamy said while they had had disrupted preparation, losing first-choice hooker Harry Grant to COVID, they were too inconsistent.
"We did some real good things and then we did some things that weren't so good," the Storm coach said.
"I think they scored three tries off kicks and we knew that was coming and practised for it ... whoever won it was going to have a bit of luck go their way and whoever lost it, bad luck, so it is what it is."
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Sydney coach John Longmire has hailed his "humble superstar" Lance Franklin after the forward became the sixth VFL/AFL player to kick 1000 career goals.
Franklin brought up the milestone with his fourth goal against Geelong on Friday night and was mobbed on the field amid extraordinary scenes of adulation following a mass invasion of fans at the SCG.
The match had to be stopped for 33 minutes as the players and then the crowd slowly made their way from the field to allow for the final five minutes of the contest to be completed.
"I've never seen that. I've never been a part of that. That was one of the most special moments you're going to get or that I can look back on," Longmire said.
"We're all privileged to, in my instance coach Lance, but also the players that he's played with over the years at both Sydney and Hawthorn.
"We've just been able to watch one of the all-time greats go about his business.
"He's played for Hawthorn and us and been a star at both clubs, and a star of the game.
"He's a very humble superstar. They're always the best types."
Franklin had only one goal to his name at the main break and needed to kick three more in the second half to reach the milestone at the Swans' home ground, rather than aiming to do it next week at Marvel Stadium against the Western Bulldogs.
With the Swans in command, Franklin's milestone became the focus for much of the crowd and once he kicked two goals in the third quarter a chant of "Buddy" was heard around the ground just before three-quarter time.
"1000 goals wherever it was kicked was going to be pretty special," Longmire said.
"To have our home supporters be witness to that and to be a part of that was pretty special.
"Plenty of people talk about 'Plugger' [Tony Lockett], that they were here and where they sat. I'm sure the same thing will be talked about in the future with Lance."
Longmire said he was focused on the match rather than the milestone throughout much of the game but admitted to getting caught up in the moment when Franklin was on 999 goals.
"It did creep into my mind just at the last little bit when a couple of the boys had the ball inside 50, I might've said once or twice, 'kick it to Lance'," Longmire said.
"I probably shouldn't have said it but it's just a special moment."
After Franklin kicked the 1000th goal and a sea of fans in red and white washed over the SCG, players from both teams gradually made their way to their changerooms although two Swans were forced to make an unexpected detour .
"When [Franklin] first comes off there was some stories," Longmire said.
"A couple of the players, I think Chad Warner and Oli Florent, were walking down Driver Avenue [outside the SCG] in their footy boots because they went out another exit and couldn't get back into the changerooms across the ground."
Warner will also go down in folklore as the Sydney player that kicked the ball to Franklin for a mark and set shot that turned out to be his 1000th career goal.
"For those young blokes, what a great moment to be a part of that," Longmire said.
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Lifeline Australia will get a multimillion-dollar funding boost in next week's budget, the federal government has announced.
More than $52 million in funding over four years will be provided to help the crisis support service keep up with growing demand.
The service will use the funding to improve responsiveness and invest in crisis response innovation, surge capacity and models of care.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the funding will allow Lifeline to answer an extra 176,000 calls or texts from Australians in the next year - just under 4000 every day.
"The critical role that Lifeline plays has never been more evident than in these recent years ... Lifeline is lifesaving, and that's why our investment is so important," he said.
The announcement comes after the government on Thursday announced $260 million in the budget will go towards mental health support for young people.
Meanwhile, the government will also provide an extra $10 million for its National Careers Institute partnership grants program.
The program was first funded in last year's budget and invests in projects which give women more access to career pathways and employment opportunities.
Women's Economic Security Minister Jane Hume says the program will provide targeted support, open up new employment opportunities and get more women into work.
Self-funded retirees are being assured their superannuation is safe with the government guaranteeing taxes won't be raised if re-elected.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the 50 per cent reduction in minimum drawdown requirements would be extended until June 30, 2023.
He said this would provide greater certainty to retirees over their savings.
"At this election, we are again saying to retirees: under a Morrison government there will be no increased superannuation taxes," he said.
Around 1.8 million superannuation accounts are subject to the minimum drawdown rule.
An 80-year-old self-funded retiree with $250,000 in their superannuation account on July 1 would be required to draw down seven per cent ($17,500) of the account balance over the 2022/23 year.
Reducing the minimum drawdown rates by 50 per cent until June 30, 2023, means the self-funded retiree would only need to draw down 3.5 per cent ($8750).
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