Melbourne Storm 18–8 Newcastle Knights — Qualifying Final, 2011 NRL Finals Series
11 Sep 2011 · AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC · Attendance: 14,845
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2011 NRL finals series: Melbourne Storm 18–8 Newcastle Knights, at AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC on 11 Sep 2011.
Sourcing caveat: No source provided try-scoring minutes; these are omitted rather than estimated. The referee attribution relies solely on a single source (rugbyleagueproject.org) and could not be independently cross-verified.
Scorers
| Melbourne Storm | Tries: Beau Champion; Matthew Duffie; Sika Manu Goals: Cameron Smith (3/4 conversions) |
| Newcastle Knights | Tries: Kurt Gidley; Akuila Uate Goals: Kurt Gidley (0/2 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Melbourne Storm | Newcastle Knights | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Slater | Fullback | Kurt Gidley (c) | 1 |
| 2 | Matthew Duffie | Wing | James McManus | 2 |
| 3 | Dane Nielsen | Centre | Junior Sa'u | 3 |
| 4 | Beau Champion | Centre | Adam MacDougall | 4 |
| 5 | Anthony Quinn | Wing | Akuila Uate | 5 |
| 6 | Gareth Widdop | Five-Eighth | Ryan Stig | 6 |
| 7 | Cooper Cronk | Halfback | Jarrod Mullen | 7 |
| 8 | Jesse Bromwich | Prop | Evarn Tuimavave | 8 |
| 9 | Cameron Smith (c) | Hooker | Isaac De Gois | 9 |
| 10 | Bryan Norrie | Prop | Antonio Kaufusi | 10 |
| 11 | Kevin Proctor | Second-Row | Chris Houston | 11 |
| 12 | Sika Manu | Second-Row | Neville Costigan | 12 |
| 13 | Todd Lowrie | Lock | Joel Edwards | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Ryan Hinchcliffe | Steve Southern | 14 | |
| 16 | Adam Woolnough | Richard Fa'aoso | 16 | |
| 17 | Jaiman Lowe | Mark Taufua | 17 | |
| 21 | Atelea Vea | Zeb Taia | 18 | |
| Craig Bellamy | Coach | Rick Stone | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Adam Devcich and Ashley Klein (two-referee system) |
Match report
Melbourne Storm opened the 2011 finals series in dominant fashion, defeating minor-premiership rivals Newcastle Knights 18-8 in the Qualifying Final at AAMI Park, with the winner earning a bye straight into a home Preliminary Final. The Storm were ruthless in the opening 40 minutes, racing to a commanding 16-0 halftime lead built on tries to Beau Champion and Matthew Duffie, with Cameron Smith adding the extras. Newcastle struggled to get quality possession against a Storm defence anchored by the usual spine of Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater. Sika Manu added a third Storm try to put the result beyond doubt. The Knights rallied in the second half, with winger Akuila Uate and captain Kurt Gidley crossing to add respectability to the scoreline, but Gidley's kicking boot deserted him with 0 from 2, and the deficit proved insurmountable. The win secured Melbourne a rest week and a home Preliminary Final, while Newcastle were forced into the sudden-death second week of the finals series.