Melbourne Storm 40–12 Manly-Warringah — Qualifying Final, 2009 NRL Finals Series
11 Sep 2009 · Etihad Stadium, Docklands, Melbourne, VIC · Attendance: 21,155
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2009 NRL finals series: Melbourne Storm 40–12 Manly-Warringah, at Etihad Stadium, Docklands, Melbourne, VIC on 11 Sep 2009.
Sourcing caveat: Melbourne's full 7-try list is now confirmed via Rugby League Project's scoresheet: Billy Slater's 4-try haul plus single tries to Dane Nielsen, Cameron Smith, and Aiden Tolman, reconciling exactly to the 40-point score. No try/goal minute timestamps were found for this fixture. Kieran Foran's exact interchange bench number for Manly remains unconfirmed — every source checked gives a number that clashes with an already-confirmed starting player's number (most recently #6, already Jamie Lyon's).
Scorers
| Melbourne Storm | Tries: Slater; Slater; Slater; Slater; Nielsen; Smith; Tolman Goals: Smith (5/6 conversions); Turner (1/1 conversion) |
| Manly-Warringah | Tries: Foran; Matai Goals: Orford (2/2 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Melbourne Storm | Manly-Warringah | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Slater | Fullback | Brett Stewart | 1 |
| 2 | Steve Turner | Wing | Michael Robertson | 2 |
| 3 | Will Chambers | Centre | Ben Farrar | 3 |
| 4 | Greg Inglis | Centre | Steve Matai | 4 |
| 5 | Dane Nielsen | Wing | David Williams | 5 |
| 6 | Brett Finch | Five-Eighth | Jamie Lyon | 6 |
| 7 | Cooper Cronk | Halfback | Matt Orford (c) | 7 |
| 8 | Aiden Tolman | Prop | Brent Kite | 8 |
| 9 | Cameron Smith (c) | Hooker | Matt Ballin | 9 |
| 10 | Brett White | Prop | Josh Perry | 10 |
| 11 | Adam Blair | Second Row | Anthony Watmough | 11 |
| 12 | Ryan Hoffman | Second Row | Chris Bailey | 12 |
| 13 | Dallas Johnson | Lock | Glenn Stewart | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Ryan Hinchcliffe | Kieran Foran | UNCONFIRMED | |
| 16 | Ryan Tandy | Jared Waerea-Hargreaves | 15 | |
| 17 | Wairangi Koopu | George Rose | 16 | |
| 22 | Jeff Lima | Adam Cuthbertson | 20 | |
| Craig Bellamy | Coach | Des Hasler | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Shayne Hayne and Gavin Badger (two-referee system) |
Match report
Melbourne opened the 2009 finals series with a demolition of the previous year's runners-up, powered by a four-try haul from fullback Billy Slater. The Storm's forward dominance and slick backline movement never let Manly into the contest after early exchanges. Manly's response came from tries to Kieran Foran and Steve Matai, but the margin reflected total control. The win sent Melbourne directly through to the Preliminary Final with a bye in Week 2.