They may be international teammates, but Melbourne Storm's Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Sydney Roosters' Jared Waerea-Hargreaves were on Friday night involved in a heated NRL clash.
Up 14-0, the Roosters resisted a late comeback from the Storm to seal their seventh consecutive victory and book their spot in the NRL playoffs by guaranteeing a top-eight finish.
In the first half of Friday's NRL encounter, referee Adam Gee was forced to intervene after a high tackle on Melbourne's Cameron Munster by Waerea-Hargreaves.
"If he comes in again, or we get another melee, blokes will be sitting down," Gee warned captains James Tedesco and Kenny Bromwich. "No more, line in the sand."
However, the very next play, the two sides were into it again - as Waerea-Hargreaves went high on Asofa-Solomona.
Waerea-Hargreaves was sent to the sin-bin and placed on report for the incident, and was placed on report again in the second half for a tackle on Melbourne's Justin Olam.
But leading 14-0 after first-half tries to Daniel Tupou and Joseph Manu, the Roosters fell away as the Storm mounted a comeback.
With a numerical advantage, winger Xavier Coates scored the Storm's first before halftime, before the Roosters hit back through Joseph Suaalii.
Fullback Nick Meaney scored the Storm's only try of the second half to set up a dramatic finish, as Tedesco came to the Roosters' rescue with a try-saving effort against Bromwich to seal his side's win.
The win moves the Roosters into sixth place on the NRL ladder and, thanks to their points differential of +191, won't be able to drop any lower than eighth behind the chasing pack of South Sydney Rabbitohs, Brisbane Broncos and Canberra Raiders.
The Storm, meanwhile, sits fourth but could lose ground to both North Queensland Cowboys and Cronulla Sharks in second and third respectively, both still to play this weekend.
Sydney Roosters 18 (Tupou, Manu, Suaalii tries; Walker 2 conversions, Walker penalty) Melbourne Storm 14 (Coates, Meaney tries; Meaney 2 conversions; Meaney penalty)
