NEWCASTLE'S cursed run in Melbourne has continued after a heart-breaking 36-28 loss to the Storm at AAMI Park on Sunday.
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The Knights have now lost their past five games at AAMI Park, and 11 of 13 appearances at the ground in total. They last won there in 2015.
Their record at the Storm's former home ground, Olympic Park, was not much better - two wins from 10 visits.
The result left Newcastle 13th on the ladder and allowed the Storm to leapfrog Cronulla into top spot.
Determined to bounce back from a 32-2 loss to Canterbury in their previous match, the Knights produced a committed effort against the competition leaders.
Newcastle withstood enormous pressure in the first half, including multiple set re-starts, before conceding two tries in the final two minutes before the break.
Melbourne drew first blood in the 16th minute when former Knights utility back Nick Meaney speared through a gap to score and converted his own try.
Newcastle hit back four minutes later when the Storm lost possession inside their own half, and Knights halfback Jackson Hastings scooped up the ball to send centre Dylan Lucas on a 20-metre sprint to the line.
The visitors then grabbed an unexpected lead in the 30th minute when five-eighth Jack Cogger threw a well-timed pass and debutant fullback Fletcher Sharpe darted through the line to score the first try of his NRL career.
With Newcastle defending grimly and clinging to their lead, weight of possession eventually took its toll and Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes dived over for a 38th-minute try, after a series of offloads.
Far from satisfied, Melbourne then exploited a short-side blindside in the dying seconds of the first half and Meaney won the race to regain a Grant Anderson kick and score, to give the home side an 18-12 advantage at the interval.
Newcastle reduced that early in the second half when Lucas scored his second try, after a miraculous Kai Pearce-Paul offload.
But three tries in the space of 12 minutes, two by five-eighth Tyran Wishart and one by winger Xavier Coates, lifted the home side to a 34-16 lead.
The Knights, however, gamely kept coming, and tries by centre Dane Gagai and winger Enari Tuala made it a six-point ball game, with a couple of minutes to play.
Newcastle's brave fightback ended in the last minute when veteran Tyson Frizell conceded a penalty and was sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul.
The Knights' team featured a number of late changes. Bench prop Daniel Saifiti was ruled out with a knee injury, Lucas moved from back row to centre to replace Kristian Mapapalangi, and Sharpe came in for David Armstrong, who was rested because of a quadriceps strain.
