Melbourne Storm 40–10 Brisbane Broncos — Preliminary Final, 2009 NRL Finals Series
26 Sep 2009 · Etihad Stadium, Docklands, Melbourne, VIC · Attendance: 27,687
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2009 NRL finals series: Melbourne Storm 40–10 Brisbane Broncos, at Etihad Stadium, Docklands, Melbourne, VIC on 26 Sep 2009.
Sourcing caveat: The reported try list (7 tries) plus goals reconciles to 34 of Melbourne's actual 40 points — sources indicate 1 further Melbourne try not individually identified. No try/goal minute timestamps were found for this fixture. Darren Lockyer is recorded starting at five-eighth per the site's standard Broncos numbering; one source listed Tonie Carroll filling the halfback role for this match specifically (an unusual selection for a specialist back-rower) — noted here rather than reflected in the lineup below, since it could not be cross-checked against a second source.
Scorers
| Melbourne Storm | Tries: Inglis; Inglis; Inglis; Slater; Slater; Chambers; Johnson Goals: Smith (6/7 conversions) |
| Brisbane Broncos | Tries: Folau; Glenn Goals: Parker (1/1 conversion) |
Team sheets
| Melbourne Storm | Brisbane Broncos | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Slater | Fullback | Karmichael Hunt | 1 |
| 2 | Steve Turner | Wing | Antonio Winterstein | 2 |
| 3 | Will Chambers | Centre | Israel Folau | 3 |
| 4 | Greg Inglis | Centre | Justin Hodges | 4 |
| 5 | Dane Nielsen | Wing | Jharal Yow Yeh | 5 |
| 6 | Brett Finch | Five-Eighth | Darren Lockyer (c) | 6 |
| 7 | Cooper Cronk | Halfback | Peter Wallace | 7 |
| 8 | Aiden Tolman | Prop | Nick Kenny | 8 |
| 9 | Cameron Smith (c) | Hooker | Andrew McCullough | 9 |
| 10 | Brett White | Prop | Dave Taylor | 10 |
| 11 | Adam Blair | Second Row | Ashton Sims | 11 |
| 12 | Ryan Hoffman | Second Row | Sam Thaiday | 12 |
| 13 | Dallas Johnson | Lock | Corey Parker | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Ryan Hinchcliffe | Alex Glenn | 14 | |
| 15 | Jeff Lima | Lagi Setu | 15 | |
| 16 | Ryan Tandy | Ben Te'o | 16 | |
| 17 | Scott Anderson | Joel Clinton | 17 | |
| Craig Bellamy | Coach | Ivan Henjak | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Shayne Hayne and Jared Maxwell (two-referee system) |
Match report
Melbourne comprehensively ended Brisbane's finals campaign, with Greg Inglis (a hat-trick) and Billy Slater (two tries) combining for five of the Storm's tries. Cameron Smith's near-flawless goalkicking rounded out a dominant performance that showcased the Storm's spine of Smith, Cronk, Slater and Inglis. Brisbane, under first-year coach Ivan Henjak, could only muster a Folau try and a late Alex Glenn try in reply, sending Melbourne into their fourth consecutive Grand Final.