Xavier Coates flew more than five metres through the air, with almost his entire body horizontal and out of bounds, to dot down in the corner with seconds remaining to help the Storm complete a remarkable fightback.

Trailing 26-18 with five minutes remaining, Ryan Papenhuyzen crossed for the second of two tries to give the Storm hope.

Then, with the game on the line, Coates scored his remarkable try that left NRL legends speechless.

"That is the greatest individual effort to win a game I have ever seen," Melbourne legend Cooper Cronk said of the "freak" Coates on Fox Sports.

"I am in awe of your ability, I wish I had your skill.

"I can't even fathom how you do that.

"Words can't describe what Xavier Coates has done for the Melbourne Storm tonight … I'm not sure a rugby league player should be able to do this."

Teammates Jahrome Hughes and Papenhuyzen hailed the try as one of the best they've ever seen.

"I still can't believe he scored that try," Hughes said.

"We've got some freaky wingers these days … I still can't believe how long he was in the air for. Crazy."

Storm coach Craig Bellamy said that Melbourne "probably didn't deserve to win" the game after going 10 points behind, but hailed Coates.

"The thing that I loved about him is that he practices that after nearly every training session. If he doesn't practice that, he doesn't score that tonight," Bellamy said.

"He's had probably one of the best pre-seasons I've ever had [from a player] … he's a hell of an athlete.

"To do what he did tonight, you need to practice."

The Storm had flown out of the blocks, leading 18-6 at half-time thanks to tries to Will Warbrick, Nick Meany and Papenhuyzen, with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak crossing for the Warriors.

The Warriors may have felt hard done by after seeing a try ruled out for Marcelo Montoya before the break, but the visitors came out firing in the second half.

Watene-Zelezniak and Jackson Ford crossed to put the Warriors back in contention, before Montoya crossed again to put the Warriors ahead.

Luke Metcalf kept the scoreboard ticking over with three penalty goals in the second half, before the Storm turned the game back on its head in the closing stages.

Original Story By | Simon Smale