Melbourne Storm 4–28 Canterbury-Bankstown — Elimination Final, 2014 NRL Finals Series
14 Sep 2014 · AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC · Attendance: 19,230
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Elimination Final, 2014 NRL finals series: Melbourne Storm 4–28 Canterbury-Bankstown, at AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC on 14 Sep 2014.
Sourcing caveat: Exact scoring minutes for each try could not be confirmed. rugbyleagueproject.org labels this fixture 'Qualifying Final' despite the 6th-v-7th seeding — this site follows the structural/media convention instead. No official player-of-the-match award could be confirmed; three players (Chambers, Slater, J. Morris) were placed on report post-match but none were sin-binned or sent off in-game.
Scorers
| Melbourne Storm | Tries: Waqa Goals: Chambers (0/1 conversions) |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Tries: Lafai (3 tries); Eastwood; Hodkinson Goals: Hodkinson (4/5 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Melbourne Storm | Canterbury-Bankstown | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Slater | Fullback | Sam Perrett | 1 |
| 2 | Sisi Waqa | Wing | Corey Thompson | 2 |
| 3 | Will Chambers | Centre | Josh Morris | 3 |
| 4 | Mahe Fonua | Centre | Tim Lafai | 4 |
| 5 | Marika Koroibete | Wing | Mitch Brown | 5 |
| 6 | Ben Roberts | Five-Eighth | Josh Reynolds | 6 |
| 7 | Cooper Cronk | Halfback | Trent Hodkinson | 7 |
| 8 | Jesse Bromwich | Prop | Aiden Tolman | 8 |
| 9 | Cameron Smith (c) | Hooker | Michael Ennis (c) | 9 |
| 10 | Bryan Norrie | Prop | James Graham | 10 |
| 11 | Kevin Proctor | Second-Row | Josh Jackson | 11 |
| 12 | Ryan Hoffman | Second-Row | Tony Williams | 12 |
| 17 | Jordan McLean | Lock | Greg Eastwood | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 13 | Ryan Hinchcliffe | Dale Finucane | 15 | |
| 14 | Tim Glasby | David Klemmer | 16 | |
| 15 | Tohu Harris | Frank Pritchard | 17 | |
| 18 | Junior Moors | Pat O'Hanlon | 22 | |
| Craig Bellamy | Coach | Des Hasler | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Matt Cecchin and Gavin Morris (two-referee system) |
Match report
This was the first sudden-death final of the 2014 series, played at AAMI Park with Melbourne having endured a turbulent season hampered by State of Origin-period injuries and finishing outside the top four for the first time since 2005. Canterbury-Bankstown, coached by Des Hasler, produced a near-perfect opening half, racing to a 24-0 lead built on four unanswered tries. Centre Tim Lafai was the standout, scoring a hat-trick, while forward Greg Eastwood and halfback Trent Hodkinson — who also kicked 4 from 5 goals — crossed for the other tries. Melbourne's only response came through winger Sisa Waqa in the second half, but the damage was already done. The result eliminated the Storm from the finals, notably marking the final NRL match for veteran forward Ryan Hoffman, and sent Canterbury through to a semi-final against Manly-Warringah.