Melbourne Storm 22–6 Cronulla-Sutherland — Preliminary Final, 2018 NRL Finals Series
21 Sep 2018 · AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC · Attendance: 26,621
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2018 NRL finals series: Melbourne Storm 22–6 Cronulla-Sutherland, at AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC on 21 Sep 2018.
Sourcing caveat: Try-scoring minutes, a conversion/penalty-goal breakdown for Smith's 5/5 kicking, and a player-of-the-match award were not identified in sources found.
Scorers
| Melbourne Storm | Tries: Slater; Slater; Croft Goals: Smith (5/5 goals) |
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Tries: Lewis Goals: Holmes (1/1 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Melbourne Storm | Cronulla-Sutherland | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Slater | Fullback | Valentine Holmes | 1 |
| 2 | Suliasi Vunivalu | Wing | Sosaia Feki | 2 |
| 3 | Will Chambers | Centre | Jesse Ramien | 3 |
| 4 | Curtis Scott | Centre | Ricky Leutele | 4 |
| 5 | Josh Addo-Carr | Wing | Edrick Lee | 5 |
| 6 | Cameron Munster | Five-Eighth | Matt Moylan | 6 |
| 7 | Brodie Croft | Halfback | Chad Townsend | 7 |
| 8 | Jesse Bromwich | Prop | Andrew Fifita | 8 |
| 9 | Cameron Smith (c) | Hooker | Jayden Brailey | 9 |
| 10 | Tim Glasby | Prop | Matt Prior | 10 |
| 11 | Felise Kaufusi | Second-Row | Luke Lewis (c) | 11 |
| 12 | Joe Stimson | Second-Row | Kurt Capewell | 12 |
| 13 | Dale Finucane | Lock | Aaron Woods | 16 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Kenny Bromwich | Scott Sorensen | 14 | |
| 15 | Christian Welch | James Segeyaro | 15 | |
| 17 | Nelson Asofa-Solomona | Jayson Bukuya | 17 | |
| 20 | Brandon Smith | Joseph Paulo | 20 | |
| Craig Bellamy | Coach | Shane Flanagan | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins (two-referee system) |
Match report
Melbourne Storm booked their spot in the 2018 NRL Grand Final with a commanding 22-6 preliminary final victory over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at AAMI Park, a rematch of the 2016 Grand Final the two clubs had contested. Craig Bellamy's Storm were dominant from the outset, racing to a 20-0 halftime lead that effectively settled the contest before the break. Veteran fullback Billy Slater, in what would prove to be one of his final seasons, scored two tries, while young halfback Brodie Croft also crossed for Melbourne. Captain and hooker Cameron Smith was flawless off the tee, slotting five from five goal attempts. Cronulla, coached by Shane Flanagan and captained by Luke Lewis in the absence of the injured Paul Gallen, could only manage a late consolation try to Lewis himself, converted by Valentine Holmes, as their season ended for the second time in three years at the penultimate hurdle.