Melbourne Storm 12–20 New Zealand Warriors — Preliminary Final, 2011 NRL Finals Series
24 Sep 2011 · AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC · Attendance: 28,580
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2011 NRL finals series: Melbourne Storm 12–20 New Zealand Warriors, at AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC on 24 Sep 2011.
Sourcing caveat: No source provided minute markers for individual tries; these are omitted rather than estimated. Penalty/scrum counts were single-sourced and are not included here for that reason.
Scorers
| Melbourne Storm | Tries: Beau Champion; Sika Manu Goals: Cameron Smith (2/2 conversions) |
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Lewis Brown; James Maloney; Bill Tupou Goals: James Maloney (4/4 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Melbourne Storm | New Zealand Warriors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Slater | Fullback | Kevin Locke | 1 |
| 2 | Matthew Duffie | Wing | Bill Tupou | 2 |
| 3 | Dane Nielsen | Centre | Lewis Brown | 3 |
| 4 | Beau Champion | Centre | Krisnan Inu | 4 |
| 5 | Anthony Quinn | Wing | Manu Vatuvei | 5 |
| 6 | Gareth Widdop | Five-Eighth | James Maloney | 6 |
| 7 | Cooper Cronk | Halfback | Shaun Johnson | 7 |
| 8 | Jesse Bromwich | Prop | Russell Packer | 15 |
| 9 | Cameron Smith (c) | Hooker | Lance Hohaia | 14 |
| 10 | Bryan Norrie | Prop | Jacob Lillyman | 10 |
| 11 | Kevin Proctor | Second-Row | Elijah Taylor | 17 |
| 12 | Sika Manu | Second-Row | Simon Mannering (c) | 12 |
| 13 | Todd Lowrie | Lock | Micheal Luck | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Ryan Hinchcliffe | Sam Rapira | 8 | |
| 16 | Adam Woolnough | Aaron Heremaia | 9 | |
| 17 | Jaiman Lowe | Feleti Mateo | 11 | |
| 21 | Atelea Vea | Ben Matulino | 16 | |
| Craig Bellamy | Coach | Ivan Cleary | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tony Archer and Matt Cecchin (two-referee system) |
Match report
Minor premiers Melbourne Storm entered as strong favourites at their home venue, AAMI Park, having topped the table under Craig Bellamy, but were stunned by a New Zealand Warriors side written off by many after a rocky regular season. The Warriors, coached by Ivan Cleary and captained by Simon Mannering, led 14-12 at the break and held their nerve through sustained second-half Storm pressure to close it out 20-12. Tries to Lewis Brown, James Maloney and Bill Tupou were backed by a perfect four-from-four kicking display from Maloney, while Beau Champion and Sika Manu crossed for the hosts, with Cameron Smith slotting both his attempts. Young halfback Shaun Johnson was a standout instigator for the Warriors, pulling strings alongside Maloney and creating the platform that let the visitors' defence hold firm. The win was historic for New Zealand: it sent the club to the NRL Grand Final for the first time since their 2002 appearance, ending a near-decade drought and setting up a title match the following week against Manly-Warringah, which the Warriors would go on to lose 24-10.