Premiership contenders Melbourne made hard work of moving to the top of the NRL ladder, hanging on in the final minutes to claim a 20-16 win over lowly Newcastle at Hunter Stadium on Sunday.
With the Storm struggling against the Knights in recent times, coach Craig Bellamy made the decision not to rest State of Origin stars Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith while Cameron Munster and Will Chambers also played after an injury layoff.
They were all needed in a match that went to the wire.
"I didn't really want to send that message that we're playing the team that is at the bottle of the table and we'll rest our Origin players," Bellamy said.
"Hopefully we'll give them a rest at some stage, but I didn't think was the right game for it."
It wasn't.
Ultimately Melbourne's Fijian finishers Marika Koroibete and Suliasi Vunivalu proved the difference, the pair crossing for three of the Storm's four tries while also coming up big in defence.
A spectacular try from Knights fill-in fullback Jake Mamo three minutes from full-time had set the game up for a grandstand finish.
Mamo leapt over Storm fullback Munster to snatch a Jarrod Mullen kick out of the air and score his second try next to the posts to put the Knights within four points.
But that was as close as they got.
The win meant the Storm move momentarily to the top of the NRL ladder while it was the 11th straight loss for the Knights who now appear destined for a second consecutive wooden spoon.
Knights coach Nathan Brown was disappointed with the loss, but encouraged by how his team played.
"Everyone would agree that we are a far better football team than we were 10 weeks ago," Brown said.
"To play against Canberra like we did at full strength. Melbourne during this period have put on 40 against the Roosters who have a lot of Test players and 40 on the Broncos . And that was without Will Chambers and Munster.
"That is good indication.
"Whilst we didn't win and we are disappointed not to win ... there has been some significant improvement in the last two weeks that makes me feel we are finally headed in the direction we need to."
