Centre Will Chambers crossed with only three minutes remaining for the Storm to take the lead and seal the win.

Newcastle dominated territory and possession as the Storm trailed for the bulk of the match. But Melbourne fought back to continue its impressive record at home, with just one loss this season.

The Knights, who trailed the Storm by just one point on the ladder heading into the match, were backing up from their Monday night win over Souths but still looked fresh and hungry.

The Knights were shattered after coming so close to victory, especially after they went into the match without second-rower Steve Simpson (flu) and Adam MacDougall (flu/knee) who were ruled out on Friday.

However coach Brian Smith was buoyed by the effort, rating it one of the best since he joined the club in 2007.

''That gives me great encouragement for our future,'' he said.

''I think the players will gain a lot of confidence to play against top teams at an away venue.

''In terms of performance that was one of our best since I've been around.''

Bouncing back after a shock defeat to lowly Canberra, Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy was a relieved man.

He praised his side's defensive effort, making 296 tackles to the Knights' 231. ''If you had had a look at the stats at half-time and you didn't know the score you would have thought we were behind by more than two points [8-6],'' he said. ''I thought the guys did a great job defensively, especially on the try line and they scored their two tries off kicks.

''I was disappointed in the first half, we got a bit frustrated and made way too many errors in our half and put a lot of pressure on ourselves.

''In the second half we controlled the ball a lot better.'' Skipper Cameron Smith suffered a shoulder injury around the 20-minute mark but declared himself a certain starter for Queensland in Origin III on July 15.

AAP