The Melbourne Storm have advanced from their winner-takes-all clash against the Knights with a 20-10 victory to book their spot in the 2017 Downer Auckland Nines quarter-finals.
The 10-point win means they finish second behind the Broncos in the Rangitoto Pool and will likely play the Cowboys in the knockout round.
The Knights got off to the perfect start with Brock Lamb capitalising on a Brodie Croft error at the back to score from the opening set.
The fast start continued as the Storm hit back from their opening set with co-captain Young Tonumaipea showing enough speed down the right flank to score in the corner.
Cameron Munster then did it all himself from close range to give Melbourne its first lead of the afternoon midway through the opening stanza.
The Storm missed two golden opportunities to extend their lead in the second half, but it was a case of third time lucky as Brodie Croft sliced through on his own side of halfway and showed enough speed to reach the try-line.
Corey Denniss strolled over to reduce the gap to six points but the Storm had the final say as Tim Glasby smashed his way through to give the Melbournians a 10-point win.
Storm 20 (Young Tonumaipea, Cameron Munster, Brodie Croft, Tim Glasby tries; 2 goals) def. Knights 10 (Brock Lamb, Cory Denniss tries; 1 goal). Half-time: 10-4.
