It wasn’t the lap of honour the Storm had imagined when they kicked off the 2010 NRL season, but the fans at AAMI Park didn’t seem to mind.

Most of the 20,000-strong crowd stayed around after Melbourne’s 34-4 win over Newcastle as the players walked the ground.

The fans farewelled some of their favourite players, forced out by the salary cap, and also the toughest season in the disgraced club’s history.

With the Knights outside the top eight and the Storm anchored to the bottom of the ladder, unable to accrue points this season as part of their punishment for their massive salary cap rorting, there was little on the line for either team.

However Sunday’s match was the last in purple for a host of Melbourne players including superstar Greg Inglis, forwards Ryan Hoffman, Brett White, Jeff Lima and Aiden Tolman, while popular veteran Brett Finch is also leaving but watched from the sidelines because of a hand injury.

Inglis, Hoffman, White and Tolman had extra special memories to take from the match after each scored a try, Inglis a double, while Lima was given the chance to kick a successful conversion.

After the match a video montage of those players was shown on the ground’s screen.

Coach Craig Bellamy, choking back tears at the post-match press conference, said it didn’t show the full picture.

“You could see the quality of player up there on the screen, that stands out, but the thing you couldn’t see is the quality of person,” he said.

“What they’ve given the club, me as a coach, what they’ve given the game.

“They mean a lot to our club and it’s sad to see them go.”

Bellamy said he was relieved the game and the pointless season was over.

“It feels a bit of relief, it’s been a long tough year for everybody involved in the club, so it’s a bit of relief,” Bellamy said.

The Storm jumped to a 12-0 lead after 10 minutes through tries by Inglis and Ryan Hinchcliffe, as skipper Cameron Smith became the first Melbourne player to reach 1000 points with his successful conversion of Hinchcliffe’s try.

Newcastle’s Zeb Taia got his side on the scoreboard six minutes into the second half but their fight back was curtailed through a try in the 53rd minute to Hoffman, and at 18-4 it was effectively game over.

White’s try in the 70th minute was his first of the season and Tolman can also avoid the dreaded “nudie” run after crossing three minutes later.

Inglis, who will play with Brisbane next season, gave his adoring Melbourne crowd one last moment of pleasure when he ploughed through the flimsy Knights defence to add his second as the clock wound down.

Smith pointed out after the match that the win was their 14th of the season – the same they tallied last year before they went on to win the grand final.

“It’s not bad to finish the year with 14 wins, playing for nothing,” Smith said of the tally that equalled those of the fifth-place NZ Warriors and sixth-placed Sydney Roosters.

Newcastle coach Rick Stone admitted his men faced a monumental task to topple the Storm, given the circumstances, but was proud of their effort until the final 10 minutes when the score blew out.

“I was a bit disappointed with the final score, I didn’t think it was a true reflection of the effort of our blokes.”

© AAP 2012

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