Manly–Melbourne NRL rivalry
The Manly-Melbourne NRL rivalry is between two National Rugby League clubs, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Melbourne Storm, who are engaged in a modern-day rivalry. They have met 46 times since 1998, with Melbourne leading the head-to-head 27-18; there has also been a drawn match between the two sides. They have finished three regular seasons as the top two placed sides on the premiership ladder, although in the cases of 2007 and 2008, Melbourne had those minor premierships stripped from them due to the discovery of salary cap breaches in April 2010.
History
1998–2005
The Melbourne Storm and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles first met in Round 18 of the 1998 NRL season, with the Storm winning 22-12 at Olympic Park Stadium. During the 2000-02 Northern Eagles period, Melbourne won three games over the failed joint venture and lost two. However Manly's first official victory over the Storm came soon after they were re-instated to the NRL in Round 6 of the 2003 season, with a 20-14 victory at Brookvale Oval.The rivalry began in 2005, when Manly and Melbourne met in an early-season top-of-the-table clash at Brookvale Oval. The Sea Eagles defeated the Storm 25-18, on their way to reaching their first finals series since 1998. This match also marked the NRL debut of Steve Matai for the Manly-Warringah club.
2006–2009
Throughout 2007, Melbourne and Manly were in a two-way tussle for top spot on the ladder for much of the season. They met only once during the regular season, in Round 11, with Manly winning a close and physical match 13-12; the match also featured two serious injuries, whereby Billy Slater copped an accidental knee from team-mate Sam Tagataese and George Rose suffered a horrific leg injury.The two teams would later feature in the 2007 NRL Grand Final, the first of two consecutive Grand Finals played between the two clubs. Melbourne defeated Manly-Warringah 34-8 to win their second premiership, in a match which was notable for Melbourne enforcer Michael Crocker taking out Manly fullback Brett Stewart early in the second half with a hard but legal tackle; however, on 22 April 2010, Melbourne would be stripped of this premiership due to the discovery of salary cap breaches throughout the courses of the 2006–10 seasons.
There were three meetings between the two clubs in 2008. Melbourne won both of their regular season meetings, including in the Grand Final replay in Round 5, and also at Brookvale Oval later in the season, though it was Manly-Warringah that won the match that mattered the most, the 2008 NRL Grand Final; in a rematch of the previous year's premiership decider, Manly-Warringah would record a 40-0 victory to win their seventh premiership title and in the process deny the Melbourne club back-to-back premierships. Two of Manly's standout performers on the day were er Michael Robertson, who equaled the Grand Final record by scoring three tries, and Clive Churchill Medal winner, -forward Brent Kite. This loss was the third worst defeat in Melbourne's history, and it was the first time since 1978 that the losing team did not score a point. Manly's 40-0 win over Melbourne also broke the record winning margin for a Grand Final, beating the 38-0 win by Eastern Suburbs over St George in 1975.
The rivalry remained strong after 2008, despite there being no subsequent Grand Final meetings between the two clubs. The two teams traded victories at each other's home grounds in 2009, with Melbourne winning at Brookvale Oval in Round 8 and Manly winning in Melbourne for the first time in Round 24, before Melbourne defeated Manly 40-12 in the qualifying final at Etihad Stadium en route to winning another premiership which would also later be stripped from them due to salary cap breaches.
2010–present
Manly won both of their premiership meetings in 2010, first at Etihad Stadium in Round 6 by 18-16 and then at Brookvale Oval in Round 22 by 26-6. In both matches, Manly led 18-6 at half-time.Melbourne then claimed its first victory over Manly since 2009 in Round 1, 2011 in a match in which they could compete for premiership points for the first time since that year, before Manly won a close, but brutal and violent match later in the season, known as the "Battle of Brookvale", where a minor scuffle erupted between Glenn Stewart and Adam Blair, resulting in both players being sin-binned after joining in a scuffle between Darcy Lussick and Ryan Hinchcliffe. This was the first match attended by David Gallop of either side since suspending Brett Stewart from the first four weeks of the 2009 season for a sexual assault charge for which he would later be exonerated, and since stripping the Storm of two premiership titles and three minor premiership titles for salary cap breaches; extra security was hired for his presence at the game. Of the match itself, Gallop said:
In the immediate fallout from the match, both teams were fined $50,000 each and a total of ten players were charged by the NRL judiciary system. At the conclusion of the season, Melbourne and Manly finished as the top two teams on the premiership ladder for the third time in five years. They were destined to face each other in the Grand Final, but whilst the Manly-Warringah did ultimately make the decider, Melbourne were defeated in the preliminary final by the New Zealand Warriors.
The two teams met twice in 2012, with Melbourne winning both times; first at Brookvale Oval in Round 15 by 26-22, followed by a 40-12 victory in the preliminary final at AAMI Park en route to their second valid premiership and first since the salary cap breaches.
Their first meeting in 2013, in Round 10, produced the first draw between the two clubs, with the final score being 10-all. They met again later in the season, in Round 25, with Manly winning 28-8.
The two meetings between the sides in 2014 were both won by Melbourne: the first was a golden point, 23-22 victory in the opening round, in which Storm captain Cameron Smith kicked his first career field goal in extra time; Melbourne had trailed 20-4 at half-time. The second match saw the Storm also come from behind to win 22-19 over an injury-hit Manly side with debutant Kurt Mann scoring the match winning try with four minutes left.
Manly won both of their meetings in 2015, including winning at AAMI Park for the first time. Despite their two wins against Melbourne, Manly-Warringah faced a decline in the league by failing to make the top eight for the first time since 2004.
In 2016, the sides met in round 24 where Melbourne won 38-18, claiming the minor premiership in the process, whilst Manly missed the finals for the second consecutive season.
Melbourne won both meetings in 2017, first holding off a second half fight back by Manly at Brookvale to win 30-26 before defeating Manly 40-6 at AAMI Park in what was Cameron Smith's 350th NRL game.
The first meeting held between Manly and Melbourne for season 2018 in round eleven at AAMI Park was marred by controversy. While Manly won the match by 24-4 against a Melbourne side missing suspended captain Cameron Smith, the match was perhaps best remembered for a series of on-field incidents including four sin-binnings and the first send-off since 2015 courtesy of Curtis Scott throwing punches at Walker during a brawl reminiscent of the one between the two sides almost seven years prior. More drama occurred when Koroisau returned to the field one minute and 41 seconds earlier than he should've, presumably due to a timekeeping error. Melbourne lodged an official protest as a result.
In 2019, Manly-Warringah handed Melbourne just their third loss of the season, winning 11-10 in golden point extra time with captain Daly Cherry-Evans kicking the winning field goal in the final minute of extra time.
In 2025, Melbourne ended a three-match losing streak at Brookvale Oval, scoring the highest score in matches between these two teams in a 48–24 victory.
Statistics
Head to Head
This table only includes competitive matches, excluding all pre-season trialsResults
Attendances
- Highest attendance:
- *Melbourne Storm at home: 25,543 – Melbourne Storm 40 - 12 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Preliminary Final, 2012
- *Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at home: 20,414 – Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 18 - 4 Melbourne Storm, Round 25, 2011
- *Neutral venue: 81,392 – Melbourne Storm 34 - 8 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, 2007 NRL Grand Final, Telstra Stadium
- Lowest attendance:
- *Melbourne Storm at home: 10,020 – Melbourne Storm 40 - 10 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Round 26, 2003
- *Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at home: 7,084 – Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 18 - 19 Melbourne Storm, Round 17, 1999
- *Neutral venue: 0 – Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 18 - 28 Melbourne Storm, Round 21, 2021, Suncorp Stadium1