by Brendan Bradford – It was the longest of longshots for the Greater Sydney Rams, who needed to defeat the unbeaten – and maybe unbeatable – Melbourne Rising at Pirtek Stadium on Saturday afternoon and started fast but fell at the death to a nerve-jangling 58-40 loss. Despite leading 23-21 at halftime and 32-29 with 25 minutes to play, a sweltering Western Sydney afternoon took its toll on the home-side and the Rising managed to edge the 18-point win with two late tries to Jonah Placid. It ends an inconsistent and at times frustrating inaugural NRC season for the Rams who have a last-round bye next weekend and needed a win to scrape into fourth spot. A last minute draw with the Rays two weeks ago and a confounding performance against Queensland Country at Ballymore the week before left the