The fairytale Canberra was hoping for turned into more of a nightmare as Melbourne cemented itself as NRL premiership favourite with a thrilling 22-18 win at Canberra Stadium.

It was a match boasting high quality, passionate football as Canberra farewelled six of its favourite sons, including club veteran of 17 years Jason Croker, Simon Woolford (14 years at Canberra) and skipper Clinton Schifcofske.

The nightmare for Canberra was the fact it had the ability to win - and came close to doing so - if it had played the sort of football it displayed in the opening and closing 10 minutes of the match.

But rather than leaving Canberra Stadium as winners, departing players Croker, Woolford, Schifcofske, Jason Smith, Adam Mogg and Michael Hodgson - as well as coach Matthew Elliott - looked like emotional wrecks after the draining match.

"I was hoping not to say goodbye tonight, I was expecting to win and hoping to sneak into the top four and have another game here," Elliott said.

The loss to Canberra means the Raiders have given up the chance of hosting a finals match. They could yet play the Storm again in the first round of the finals, although that match would be in Melbourne.

Should that happen, Elliott knows where his focus will be, or more specifically, on whom - Greg Inglis.

The Melbourne centre was the standout player tonight and had Inglis not been on the field, the final result may well have been different.

"He was outstanding," Elliott surmised.

"We probably didn't do enough individual work on him because you can't tackle that kid high, you needed a rifle into his middle."

Storm coach Craig Bellamy agreed Inglis was the star and said his team was playing for pride after its shock loss last week to the New Zealand Warriors.

"The thing we had to play for tonight was pride in our performance, that was the motivating factor for us," he said.

"We can't go anywhere else on the table but we've got a lot of pride in our performance and the standards that we set."

The pride and passion on the field was no more obvious than when an all-in brawl broke out in the first half.

Canberra forward Michael Weyman and Storm centre Matt King initiated the melee after Croker tackled Storm fullback Billy Slater as he jumped for a high ball.

Weyman ran 10 metres to join in the argument but referee Shayne Hayne ruled King threw the first punch and sin binned the pair for 10 minutes.

A determined Canberra outfit took just four minutes to put its first points on the board after lock Alan Tongue scored under the posts.

But Inglis was too good for Canberra and the Raiders paid a heavy price when he made a break, palmed off three Raiders defenders and passed the ball to King to score in the 21st minute.

Inglis crossed for a try of his own in the 33rd minute after intercepting a Jason Smith pass and running the length of the field.

Melbourne second rower Ryan Hoffman then scored a crucial try before the break to give the minor premiers a 16-6 halftime lead with lock Dallas Johnson added his team's fourth in the 63rd minute.

Canberra, though, ensured a thrilling finish when Lincoln Withers scored in the 68th, and Tongue crossed for his second try in the 74th.

But Melbourne hung on to its slim lead.

In more bad news for Canberra, five-eighth Jason Smith suffered a knee injury after Slater made a high tackle on him the 43rd minute and failed to return to the field. He will undergo scans on his knee on Monday.

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