Melbourne Storm

Melbourne Storm

Club information
Full name	Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club
Nickname(s)	Storm
Colours	Primary:      Purple      Navy Secondary:      White      Gold
Founded	1997 (first season 1998)
Current details
Ground(s)	AAMI Park (30,050)
Coach(s)	Craig Bellamy
Captain(s)	Cameron Smith
Competition	National Rugby League
2011 season	Preliminary finalists (1st)
Home colours		Away colours
Records
Premierships	3 (1999,2007*,2009*)
Runners-up	2 (2006 ,2008)
Minor premiership	4 (2011)
Toyota Cup	1 (2009)
Wooden spoons	1 (2010)
Most capped	262 - Matt Geyer
Most points	1168 - Cameron Smith

The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria.

The Storm has played in five grand finals - 1999 and 2006-2009, not winning in 1999, 2007 and 2009. They have claimed the minor premiership four times - 2006–2008 and 2011, and the World Club Challenge in 2000 and 2010. All except the 1999 premiership, the 2000 World Club Challenge and the 2011 minor premiership were subsequently annulled due to salary cap breaches.

From their inception and until the end of 2009, the Storm played the majority of home games at Olympic Park Stadium. From 2010 they moved into their new home at AAMI Park, the first game at the new venue was against the Brisbane Broncos.^[1]

Originally a Super League initiative and one of six NRL teams which are privately owned,^[2] the Melbourne club is currently 100% owned and operated by News Limited.

History

See also: Rugby League in Victoria

1990s

By 1994, due to the high attendances at recent State of Origin matches (including a then Australian rugby league record crowd of 87,161 in 1994 at the MCG) the Australian Rugby League (ARL) had planned to establish a Melbourne-based team to the premiership by 1998.^[3] However, the disruption caused by the Super League war caused great change to the game in Australia. By May 1997, Super League boss John Ribot pushed for a Melbourne based club for his competition, which was the rival against the ARL.^[4] Former Brisbane Broncos centre Chris Johns became the CEO of the club and Ribot stepped down from the head of Super League to set up the club. In September 1997, Melbourne announced that Chris Anderson would be their foundation coach, and then Super League announced that the new team would be named the Melbourne Storm.^[5]

In 1997, there were 21 rugby league teams running around Australia (and one in New Zealand), but none in the country's second-largest city. In 1998, with the game reunited, three clubs had been jettisoned and the Melbourne Storm had bobbed up as an unexpected and initially curious addition to the landscape.

“

”

The Sunday Age, 1999^[6]

The Melbourne club then went forward with signing players, mainly from folding Super League clubs Perth Reds and Hunter Mariners. Some of these players included Robbie Ross, Glenn Lazarus, Brett Kimmorley and Scott Hill. With the Super League and ARL joining into one competition for the 1998 season, the Melbourne team became part of the National Rugby League (NRL). The Melbourne Storm club was unveiled at a function in the Hyatt in February 1998.

In their first ever game, they defeated Illawarra, with Glenn Lazarus as their inaugural captain. Melbourne, in a complete shock to the rest of the competition, won their first four games, before losing to Auckland.^[7] They went on to make the finals, but were defeated by the eventual premiers, the Brisbane Broncos.^[8]

In January 1999, CEO John Ribot negotiated a deal that saw Melbourne Storm games televised in China every weekend.^[9] The club won eight of their first eleven games of the 1999 NRL season, and went on to make the finals in third position on the premiership ladder. The team was beaten convincingly 34–10 in the quarter final by St. George Illawarra. After narrow victories against the Canterbury Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels however Melbourne once more faced St. George Illawarra, this time winning 20–18 and securing their first premiership.

2000s

Season 2000 saw Melbourne consistently win after initially losing their first four games of the season. They made the finals (finishing 6th), but were eventually knocked out by Newcastle in the quarter-finals. Between 2001 and 2002, the Melbourne club performed poorly. Cracks were starting to appear between Johns, Ribot and Anderson throughout the period, with Anderson quitting as coach after round 7, 2001. He was replaced by Mark Murray. The Melbourne club failed to make the finals in 2001. Johns left the club as CEO at the end of 2002 and coach Murray was sacked due to Melbourne's poor form, with the club missing the finals for the second year in a row. Wayne Bennett's assistant coach at the Brisbane Broncos, Craig Bellamy was announced as the new coach of Melbourne for 2003.^[10][11] In addition to a new captain in Kiwi international skipper Stephen Kearney, the strict coaching of Craig "Bellyache" Bellamy would see the Melbourne Storm get back on track from the previous lean years.

Now, the Melbourne Storm are here to stay. They are not moving and News Limited is apparently committed to keeping them financially. I am OK with that. I hated Melbourne when they were in place of traditional teams that were expelled, but that's all over now. If they want to persevere in Melbourne, I have no argument.

“

”

Phil Gould, 21 December 2003^[12]

Between 2003 and 2005, Melbourne consistently made the finals, but lost games in the semi finals that prevented them from reaching the grand final. On 17 July 2004, during round 19 of the 2004 NRL season, Danny Williams king-hit Wests Tigers' player Mark O'Neill.

Storm players celebrating their premiership win in 2007.

Williams defended the incident, using four medical experts to argue on his behalf that he was suffering post-traumatic amnesia when the incident occurred, which he claims was the result of a high tackle by O'Neill just prior to the incident. Despite Williams' claim, he was suspended for 18 weeks by the NRL judiciary. After the decision, Williams stated that he was "obviously disappointed with the outcome". It was the longest suspension in Australian rugby league since Steve Linnane was suspended for twenty weeks for eye-gouging in 1987.^[13]

In 2005, Storm coach Craig Bellamy, in his third season as an NRL coach, gained representative honours when he was selected to start coaching the Country Origin.^{[citation needed]}

Season 2006 saw a new-look Storm, with the retirement of captain Robbie Kearns, the emergence of talented rookie halfback Cooper Cronk taking the reins from longtime number 7 Matt Orford, and the recruitment of hard-man Michael Crocker. Contrary to expectation, 2006 was a standout year for the Melbourne team, winning their first minor premiership following a resoundingly dominant Home and Away Season, including a club record 11 game streak. Melbourne only lost four games in the season, making them outright leaders by four wins.^[14] They went on to win their two finals matches, and were subsequently favourites in the 2006 NRL Grand Final.^[13] The Storm however lost 15–8 the to the Brisbane Broncos, in a match where controversial refereeing decisions against Melbourne caused much media coverage.^[15] Melbourne's television audience for the Storm's NRL grand final appearance was greater than Sydney's was for the Swans AFL grand final appearance'.^[16]

In 2007 the Storm avenged for their heartbreaking end to the 2006 campaign by playing as they did in 2006: once again dominating the competition, and finishing on top after 25 rounds. In the first week of the NRL finals, Melbourne played Brisbane, in which Melbourne won 40–0, securing a spot in a preliminary final. In the preliminary final, Melbourne played Parramatta in a game that was tied 10–10 at half time, before a superb second half by Melbourne resulted in the final score of 26–10. The win was particularly satisfying for Melbourne fans, coming soon after Parramatta CEO Denis Fitzgerald said that rugby league should not be promoted in Melbourne. This game drew a larger crowd than chief rival Manly's preliminary final. Melbourne comprehensively defeated Manly 34–8 in the 2007 NRL Grand Final with Greg Inglis winning the coveted Clive Churchill Medal.

Melbourne Storm warming up before a match in 2008

In Season 2008, Melbourne won their third minor premiership after the 26 rounds of regular competition. Despite becoming the first minor premiers since the McIntyre Final Eight System was introduced to lose their opening finals game 15–18 to the New Zealand Warriors, they then defeated the Brisbane Broncos 16–14, scoring in the last minute of their semi final. Bellamy was fined $50,000 for making scathing remarks regarding the NRL's decision to suspend Cameron Smith over a controversial "grapple tackle" on Brisbane's Sam Thaiday. Bellamy wrongly claimed that the administration was corrupt and that bookkeepers already knew that Smith would be denied the opportunity to play for the rest of the season. Along with Melbourne's CEO, Bellamy questioned the NRL's integrity in their opting to sideline Smith and not others who were guilty of committing similar tackles. In their qualifying final, Melbourne convincingly beat the Cronulla Sharks 28–0. But in their second successive grand final appearance against the Manly Sea Eagles, Manly demolished Melbourne 40–0.

At the Dally M Awards for season 2008, Melbourne picked up 6 awards, with 3 to Greg Inglis, and 1 for each of Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Israel Folau. Billy Slater and Cameron Smith finished 2 points behind Manly's Matt Orford for the Dally M Medal with 22 points each.^[17] Billy Slater was awarded the international player of the year Golden Boot award for 2008, following on from Cameron Smith in 2007.

Following the 40–0 defeat, season 2009 was generally an average year on the field by the Storm's lofty standards, Melbourne finished 4th on the ladder after the home and away season, entering the finals clear underdogs. In Week One of the finals, the Storm romped 2008 Premiers Manly 40–12 in the qualifying final, ending their hopes of back-to-back premierships, and laying to bed some of the demons of the 2008 Grand Final. This was followed a fortnight later by a 40–10 thrashing of fierce rivals and 2006 Premiers Brisbane in the preliminary final, ensuring the Storm qualified for their fourth straight grand final (the first since Parramatta from 1981–1984). The Preliminary Final was also a monumental game for the Storm as it saw favourite son Billy Slater score his 100th career try and Cameron Smith became Storm's highest ever point scorer, surpassing Matt Orford's record of 877. The Melbourne Storm then capped off a truly brilliant late-season resurgence to end a rampaging Parramatta side in front of a parochial strong crowd at ANZ Stadium. Parramatta, coming off 10 wins from 11 games, led by the in-form young superstar Jarryd Hayne proved to be no match for the Storm's typical gameplan of grinding football, ensuring a defeat of the razzle-dazzle offload fuelled football of Parramatta. Despite the Storm leading Parramatta at one stage by 16 points, the Eels fought back in a late charge to bring the margin back to 7, with the Storm sealing a 23–16 win with a late Greg Inglis field goal.^[18] For his fantastic efforts, Fullback Billy Slater was awarded the 2009 Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match. Following the victory in 2009, the Melbourne Storm have been earned the title the NRL Team of the Decade for the 2000s.^[19]

However, due to poor negotiation of NRL TV broadcast rights, Channel 9 does not show regular Storm games at prime time in Melbourne.^[20]

In the late 2000s the Melbourne Storm were still running at a loss of up to $6M per season.^[21] However, they were voted the state of Victoria's most popular sports team by a national Roy Morgan Poll in October 2009.^[22]

2010s

On 11 January 2010, it was announced that Brian Waldron resigned his position as CEO to take up the same position at the Melbourne Rebels Super 15 team.^[23] He was replaced by Matt Hanson who was the Chief Operating Officer, however following the Salary cap revelations Matt Hanson was then stood down and Ron Gauci appointed.

The Storm's first match of the season was the 2010 World Club Challenge against equally dominant English side, the Leeds Rhinos, in very cold and wet conditions the Storm prevailed 18 – 10.^[24] For the 2010 NRL season, they played their first three home games at Etihad Stadium before unveilling their new purpose built permanent home ground, AAMI Park.

On 22 April 2010 the club admitted that it had committed serious and systematic breaches of the salary cap Melbourne Storm salary cap breach for the last five years by running a well-organized dual contract and bookkeeping system which left the NRL ignorant of $3.17 million in payments made to players outside of the salary cap, including $550,000 in 2007, $965,000 in 2009 and $1.03 million in 2010. As a result, NRL Chief Executive David Gallop stripped the Melbourne Storm of their 2007 and 2009 premierships and their 2006, 2007 and 2008 minor premierships (which have been withheld), fined them an Australian sporting record $1,689,000, deducted all eight premiership points they had already received in the 2010 season, and barred them from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season.

For more details on this topic, see Melbourne Storm salary cap breach.

In the 2011 season, the Storm played 9 of its first 13 games at home, beginning their season against arch-rivals the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. ^[25] The Storm's 2011 season saw a very successful return to the top of the NRL ladder, considering the massive player turnover from the past 12 months. The 2011 season saw a number of notable milestones including both Billy Slater and Cameron Smith playing their 200th games; Smith also scoring his 500th goal. Billy Slater also became the Storm's highest try scorer passing Matt Geyers record of 113 tries. As a team, the Storm broke a number of records including the club record for the most consecutive wins which now stands at 12. They also broke the NRL record for the most consecutive away wins against the Gold Coast Titans in Round 23 (the record is now 9) and during this streak, held the Canberra Raiders scoreless at Canberra Stadium for the first time in the Raiders history. The Storm finished the 2011 regular season in first place clinching the Minor Premiership. The Storm also had a successful night at the 2011 Dally M Awards, held on 6 September 2011, with Billy Slater taking out the Dally M Medal. Craig Bellamy also won coach of the year, while Cameron Smith won the Representative Player of the year.

However their revival was stopped one game short of the Grand Final when it lost the preliminary final to the New Zealand Warriors at AAMI Park.

Season summaries

P=Premier, R=Runner-Up, M=Minor Premier, F=Finals Appearance, W=Wooden Spoon, S=Stripped of title
(Brackets represent Finals games)

Competition	Games Played	Games Won	Games Drawn	Games Lost	Ladder Position	P	R	M	F	W	Coach	Captain[26]	Further details
1998 NRL season	24 (3)	17 (1)	1	6 (2)	3 / 20				♦		Chris Anderson	Glenn Lazarus	1998 Melbourne Storm season
1999 NRL season	24 (4)	16 (3)	0	8 (1)	3 / 17	♦			♦				1999 Melbourne Storm season
2000 NRL season	26 (1)	14	1	11 (1)	6 / 14				♦			Robbie Kearns	2000 Melbourne Storm season
2001 NRL season	26	11	1	14	9 / 14						Chris Anderson Mark Murray	Robbie Kearns Rodney Howe	2001 Melbourne Storm season
2002 NRL season	24	9	1	14	10 / 15						Mark Murray	Rodney Howe	2002 Melbourne Storm season
2003 NRL season	24 (2)	15 (1)	0	9 (1)	5 / 15				♦		Craig Bellamy	Stephen Kearney	2003 Melbourne Storm season
2004 NRL season	24 (2)	13 (1)	0	11 (1)	6 / 15				♦				2004 Melbourne Storm season
2005 NRL season	24 (2)	13 (1)	0	11 (1)	6 / 15				♦			Robbie Kearns	2005 Melbourne Storm season
2006 NRL season	24 (3)	20 (2)	0	4 (1)	1 / 15		♦	S	♦			Rotating Captains	2006 Melbourne Storm season
2007 NRL season	24 (3)	21 (3)	0	3	1 / 16	S		S	♦				2007 Melbourne Storm season
2008 NRL season	24 (4)	17 (2)	0	7 (2)	1 / 16		♦	S	♦			Cameron Smith	2008 Melbourne Storm season
2009 NRL season	24 (3)	14 (3)	1	9	4 / 16	S			♦				2009 Melbourne Storm season
2010 NRL season	24	14	0	10	16 / 16					♦			2010 Melbourne Storm season
2011 NRL season	24 (2)	19 (1)	0	5 (1)	1 / 16			♦	♦				2011 Melbourne Storm season

Emblem and colours

Originally, the club favoured the name Melbourne Mavericks with a gunslinger logo holding a fistful of dollars. The club officials were all set to go with this until News Limited's Lachlan Murdoch told them to go with something else because the Mavericks sounded too American. Trams and Flying Foxes were also some ideas that came up. However co-CEOs Chris Johns and John Ribot decided to go with the themes lightning, power and storm. The club then became known as the Melbourne Storm.^[4]

The Storm was always going to go with the colours of their state, Victoria. These were navy blue with a white 'V'. But club consultant Peter McWhirter, from JAG fashion house, suggested that they should also have purple and gold to make their merchandise more attractive.^[4] These colours appear in the logo, however, on the home jersey they have varied. Between 1998 and 2004 these four colours also appeared but between 2005 and 2009, gold was completely removed and silver introduced. For the 2010 season, gold returned and silver was omitted, also purple became the dominant colour in the jersey for the first time. This jersey has also been retained for 2011.

• The home jerseys used by the Melbourne Storm.
• 

  1998

• 

  1999–2002

• 

  2003–2004

• 

  2005–2009

• 

  2010 – present

• The away jerseys used by the Melbourne Storm.
• 

  1999–2000

• 

  2001–2002

• 

  2003–2004

• 

  2005–2007

• 

  2008–2009

• 

  2010–present

Between 1998–2001, Melbourne was the only club to display player names on the back of jerseys. This was because there was no major sponsor for the Storm to display on the chest or back at the time. In 2001, Melbourne gained its first major sponsor in Adecco, and was displayed on the jersey chest, while maintaining the players names on the back until the end of 2001. In 2002, the Storm removed the player's names and displayed Adecco's logo on the back.

Manufacturers:

• 1998: Nike
• 1999–2002: Fila
• 2003–04: Canterbury
• 2005–08: Reebok
• 2009–present: Kooga

Chest Sponsors:

• 1998–2000: None
• 2001–05: Adecco
• 2006–08: Medibank Private
• 2009–mid 2010: ME Bank
• Mid 2010–Lnd 2010: Jayco
• 2011–present: Crown Casino

Back Sponsors:

• 1998–2001: Player Names
• 2002–2005: Adecco
• 2006–mid 2010: Host Plus
• Mid 2010–Late 2010: Jayco/Suzuki
• Early 2011-late 2011: None
• Late 2011–present: Harvey Norman

Sleeve Sponsors:

• 1998-Late 1998: None
• late 1998–2003: Honda
• 2004: None
• 2005: Medibank Private
• Early 2006: None
• Mid 2006–2007: Mortgage House
• 2008–present: Suzuki

Shorts Sponsors

• 2001–2002: Accapac
• 2003–2004: Accapac (front) and Crazy Johns (back)
• 2005-late 2006: None
• late 2006– 2010: Jayco
• 2010–present: Makita (front) and Jayco (back)

Rivalries

St George Illawarra Dragons:^[27] The Storm narrowly beat them in their first grand final in 1999, with a late penalty try putting the Storm in front. The following year Anthony Mundine declared that the Storm were not "worthy premiers" in the run up to their round 5 rematch. The Storm responded by beating the Dragons 70–10. In Round 18 the Dragons added to the rivalry by defeating the Storm 50–4. In 2006 the Storm defeated St. George Illawarra in the Preliminary Final. On 21 July 2008, Storm won a match at Olympic Park 26–0, that was highlighted by several ugly brawls. In 2009, the Storm beat them in the Round 1 home game 17–16 with a field goal in Golden Point (the second^{[citation needed]} time the two teams were drawn at fulltime).

Brisbane Broncos. The Melbourne Storm has a strong rivalry with Brisbane, built in large part on the large number of finals games played between the teams, including one final in each year from 2004 to 2009; the Storm winning all but one of them. The move of Brisbane assistant coach Craig Bellamy to Melbourne has also been attributed to fueling the rivalry, as well as the wide spread of Queensland Origin players across their squads in the better part of the past decade.

"When Bellamy left here and went to Melbourne, the rivalry with them went up a notch then... their record is good against us."

— Darren Lockyer, 26 September 2009^[28]

Every year since Brisbane's victory over Melbourne in the 2006 Grand Final, Melbourne have ended the Broncos' season by knocking them out of the finals. Melbourne captain Cameron Smith commented on the rivalry prior to their 2009 Preliminary Final at Etihad Stadium.

"A lot of people talk about us and Manly, but I think all the boys for whatever reason would say we take more satisfaction out of beating the Broncos...we love playing them...there is always plenty of feeling and intensity in the games...it probably wouldn't feel like September if we weren't playing them at some stage."

— Cameron Smith, 26 September 2009^[29]

The Brisbane Broncos defeated the Storm 15–8, under controversial circumstances,^[30] in the 2006 NRL Grand Final. The Storm sought revenge through a 40–0 thrashing in the 2007 Qualifying Final at Olympic Park Stadium. The 2008 Semi-Final at Suncorp Stadium ended with Melbourne dramatically winning 16–14 with a try on the final play of the game. In 2009 Brisbane were again beaten by eventual premiers Melbourne, this time 40–10 at Etihad Stadium, catapulting the Storm to their 4th consecutive Grand Final Appearance.

Manly Sea Eagles. The Storm defeated Manly 34–8 in the 2007 Grand Final but lost to in the 2008 re-match in a history-making 0–40 loss. To add the rivalry, Melbourne beat Manly 40–12 in the opening final of the 2009 finals series, ending their bid to be back-to-back premiers.^[31]

I haven't been a part of the matches previous to this year which built that rivalry but you certainly get a sense that interest in the game and the level of excitement and enthusiasm from the players goes up,"

— Brett Finch, 8 September 2009^[32]

New Zealand Warriors:^[33] More of a traditional rivalry due to the large amount of Kiwi internationals Melbourne has fielded in their history. Matches between the two clubs are normally close and low scoring, with the overall head to head slightly in Melbourne's favour (28 clashes, Storm 14-Warriors 12 & 2 draws). These two sides have also played an annual ANZAC Day clash each year since 2009.

Stadium and attendances

Inside the Storm's new home ground, AAMI Park

Melbourne have played the vast majority of their home matches at the city's Olympic Park Stadium, affectionately coined "The Graveyard" by fans due to the incredible 77.2% winning percentage there. It was here that the club played their inaugural home match in the fourth round of the 1998 season on 3 April 1998, having come off the back of three successive away victories.^[7] In front of what remains the club's record Olympic Park attendance of 20,522, the team recorded a 26–16 victory over the North Sydney Bears.^[34]

The Storm's previous home ground, Olympic Park Stadium during a Toyota cup match.

The team remained at the ground until the end of the 2000 season. In the 2000 season they attracted an average home attendance of 14,622,^[34] which remained their largest average attendance ever until the 2010 season which drew an average on 14,670. They played at Melbourne Cricket Ground for two games in 2000, and they won both times including the 70–10 thrashing of St George Illawarra Dragons in the Grand Final rematch from the previous year. Following steady attendance increases over the three years, it was decided to move home games to the much larger Docklands Stadium for the following year^[10] However, with the team ending up missing the finals, crowd numbers declined and it was decided to move the team back to Olympic Park. Attendances bottomed out to an average of 8,886 per home game in 2004, but they have steadily risen each year back to an average of 14,670 per home game for the 2010 season, their highest yearly average ever.^[34] A home attendance record of 33,427 was set in 2007 for the Preliminary Final against Parramatta, at the Docklands Stadium. Their highest regular season attendance of 25,480 was set in 2010 against St George-Illawarra also at Docklands.^[34]

The Storm played their last game at Olympic Park in round 25, 29 August 2009, with a 36–4 thrashing of the Sydney Roosters.^[35] For the 2010 NRL Premiership season, the Storm's first three home games (rounds four, six and seven) were played at Docklands Stadium, before moving into their new home ground, AAMI Park in round nine (9 May 2010) against the Brisbane Broncos. The club had anticipated playing its first game at the new ground in round four against the St George Illawarra Dragons, however, a delay in construction required the opening to be pushed back several weeks.^[36]

Stadium records

Home Grounds used by the Storm From To Stadium 1998 2000 Olympic Park Stadium 2001 2001 Docklands Stadium 2002 2009 Olympic Park Stadium 2010 present AAMI Park

Top 5 Home Attendances Crowd Stadium Opponent Game Status Date 33,427 Docklands Stadium Parramatta Eels Preliminary final 23/09/2007 28,580 AAMI Park New Zealand Warriors Preliminary Final 24/09/2011 27,687 Docklands Stadium Brisbane Broncos Preliminary final 26/09/2009 25,480 Docklands Stadium St George-Illawarra Dragons Regular Season – 1st home game following premiership (Good Friday) 02/04/2010 24,081 AAMI Park St George-Illawarra Dragons Regular Season – Round 24 19/08/2011

Statistics and records summary

For more details on this topic, see List of Melbourne Storm records. Statistics and Records current as of the end of the 2011 NRL season Club honours National Rugby League Premierships: 1 1999, 2007*, 2009* National Rugby League Minor Premierships: 1 2006*, 2007*, 2008*, 2011 National Rugby League runners up: 2 2006, 2008 National Youth Competition premierships: 1 2009 World Club Challenge wins: 1 2000, 2010* Greatest winning margin: 64 points Vs Wests Tigers, on 5 July 2001, Final score 64 – 0. Worst defeat: 46 points Vs Bulldogs (50–4 on 10 August 2003) Vs St. George Illawarra (50–4 on 4 June 2000)[37] Most consecutive wins: 12 29 May 2011 (Round 12) – 19 August 2011 (Round 24) All time head to head record Since 1998, The Melbourne Storm have the following Win-Loss record. Their wins percentage is currently the second best in the league only second to the Broncos.[38] Games Wins Drawn Loss Points for Points against Win % 369 231 5 133 8921 6571 63.27% * Title stripped due to salary cap breaches

Individual honours Top 3 Highest point scorers:[39] Cameron Smith 1168 points (31 tries, 522 goals) Matt Orford 877 points (52 tries, 333 goals, 3 field goals) Matt Geyer 662 points (113 tries, 105 goals) Top 5 Try scorers:[39] Billy Slater 124 tries (203 games) Matt Geyer 113 (262) Greg Inglis 78 (117) Marcus Bai 70 (144) Steven Bell 63 (107) Most points scored in a season: 242 Matt Geyer, 20 tries and 81 goals in the 1999 premiership season.[40] Most tries in a season: 21 Israel Folau 2007 season. Dally M medalists: 2 2006 – Cameron Smith 2011 – Billy Slater Golden Boot Award (World's best player) winners: 3 2007 – Cameron Smith 2008 – Billy Slater 2009 – Greg Inglis 2011 - Billy Slater

Coaches and captains

Coaches 1998-R7 2001: Chris Anderson R8 2001–2002: Mark Murray 2003–present: Craig Bellamy

Captains[26] 1998–1999: Glenn Lazarus 2000: Robbie Kearns 2001: Robbie Kearns, Rodney Howe 2002: Rodney Howe 2003–2004: Stephen Kearney 2005: Robbie Kearns 2006: Cameron Smith, David Kidwell, Scott Hill, Matt Geyer, Michael Crocker 2007 R1-R17: Cameron Smith, Matt Geyer, Cooper Cronk, Matt King, Dallas Johnson 2007 R18-present: Cameron Smith The rotating captaincy policy was in place from 2006 until Cameron Smith was made sole captain after the State of Origin series (Round 17) in 2007.

Players

For more details on this topic, see List of Melbourne Storm players.

Representative players

Main article: List of Melbourne Storm representatives

2011 squad

Although other players may play for the Melbourne Storm during the year, all NRL clubs are required to select a top 25 First Grade squad at the beginning of the season.

Melbourne Storm
NRL squad								Coaching staff
Adam Blair - PR, SR, LK Maurice Blair - CE, FE, LK Jesse Bromwich - PR Beau Champion - CE Dane Chisholm - FE, HB, FB Cooper Cronk - HB (gk) Matt Duffie - WG Jake Hawkins - HK Ryan Hinchcliffe - HK, LK Mitchel Johnson - PR Luke Kelly - HB, FE Sione Kite - PR Rory Kostjasyn - HK, LK		Jaiman Lowe - PR Todd Lowrie - SR, LK Sika Manu - SR Tu'u Maori - CE, WG Dane Nielsen - CE, WG Elijah Niko - WG Bryan Norrie - PR Justin O'Neill - CE, WG Kevin Proctor - SR Anthony Quinn - WG, CE Robert Rochow - SR Billy Slater - FB Cameron Smith (c) - HK (gk)		Chase Stanley - CE, WG Troy Thompson - PR Atelea Vea - SR, LK Sisa Waqa - CE Gareth Widdop - FB, FE (gk) Adam Woolnough - PR				Head coach Craig Bellamy Assistant coaches David Kidwell Kevin Walters Alex Corvo (strength and conditioning) Adrian Jiminez (assistant strength and conditioning) Tony Adam (development) Craig Sultana (head trainer) Legend: (c) Captain (vc) Vice captain (gk) Goal-kicker Long-term injury list Updated: 29 May 2011 Source(s): Player profiles, Coaching staff

Team of the decade

As part of their 10 year celebrations in 2007, Melbourne Storm released a team of the decade. The 17 man team was selected by former assistant coach Greg Brentnall, foundation CEO John Ribot, Daily Telegraph journalist Steve Mascord and board member Frank Stanton.^[41]

Melbourne Storm
Team of the Decade						Interchange		Coaching staff
1 Billy Slater - FB  2 Matt Geyer - WG  3 Matt King - CE  4 Greg Inglis - CE  5 Marcus Bai - WG  6 Scott Hill - FE  7 Brett Kimmorley - HB  8 Glenn Lazarus (c) - PR  9 Cameron Smith - HK 10 Robbie Kearns - PR 11 Dallas Johnson - SR 12 Stephen Kearney - SR 13 Tawera Nikau - LK						14 Rodney Howe 15 David Kidwell 16 Ryan Hoffman 17 Cooper Cronk		Legend: (c) Captain (vc) Vice captain Updated: 22 August 2007 Source(s): Team of the Decade

Supporters

The Melbourne Storm's supporter base grew from almost 500,000 in 2004 to almost 800,000 in 2009, making them the fourth most popular rugby team.^[42] The club's supporter group, the "Graveyard Crew", make an Aussie-rules-style banner for the team to run through in important matches.^[43]

See also

	Melbourne portal
	Rugby league portal

• Rugby league in Victoria
• Sport in Australia
• Sport in Victoria

References

1. ^ Draw Results
2. ^ Masters, Roy today.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/proposed-model-is-not-the-answer-for-rugby-league-20091203-k8su.html "Proposed model is not the answer for rugby league" League HQ 2009-12-04
3. ^ Roy Masters (20 November 1994). "Plan for super league gone awry". The Sunday Age (Australia: Fairfax): p. 19. http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&docID=news941120_0033_9393. Retrieved 4 May 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Collis, Ian and Whitaker, Alan (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. Sydney: New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. p. 344. ISBN 174110075-5. 
5. ^ Collis, Ian and Whitaker, Alan (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. Sydney: New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. p. 345. ISBN 174110075-5. 
6. ^ Cockerill, Ian (3 October 1999). "Eye of the Storm". The Sunday Age: p. 4. http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&docID=news991004_0014_7918. Retrieved 6 October 2009. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Collis, Ian and Whitaker, Alan (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. Sydney: New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. p. 346. ISBN 174110075-5. 
8. ^ Collis, Ian and Whitaker, Alan. The History of Rugby League Clubs. Sydney. p. 347. ISBN 174110075-5. 
9. ^ Masters, Roy (17 September 1999). "Ribot de Bressac has the last laugh over Storm in China". The Sydney Morning Herald: p. 40. http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&docID=news990917_0538_8787. Retrieved 6 October 2009. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Collis, Ian and Whitaker, Alan (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. Sydney: New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. p. 349. ISBN 174110075-5. 
11. ^ Collis, Ian and Whitaker, Alan (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. Sydney: New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. p. 350. ISBN 174110075-5. 
12. ^ Gould, Phil (21 December 2003). "NRL expansion talk excites Gold Coast". The Sun-Herald (The Sydney Morning Herald). http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/20/1071868703349.html?from=storyrhs. Retrieved 6 October 2009. 
13. ^ ^{a b} "Danny Williams suspension". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 August 2004. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/04/1091557928897.html. 
14. ^ "Rugby League Tables / Season 2006". http://stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/2006.html#lad. Retrieved 28 July 2007. 
15. ^ "Broncos edge Storm for NRL title". BBC News. 1 October 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/international_and_australian/5392958.stm. Retrieved 28 July 2007. 
16. ^ Stevenson, Andrew (3 October 2006). "Rugby league – the game they play in Melbourne". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Digital). http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/rugby-league--the-game-they-play-in-melbourne/2006/10/02/1159641265954.html. Retrieved 16 December 2009. 
17. ^ web|url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24321231-23214,00.html%7Ctitle=Orford wins Dally M
18. ^ "Melbourne Storm wins NRL grand final". The Australian. 4 October 2009. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26163410-5012431,00.html. Retrieved 4 October 2009. 
19. ^ Storm team of the decade – Local News – News – General – Daily Liberalhttp://www.melbournestorm.com.au
20. ^ What to do with the Melbourne Storm?
21. ^ Walter, Brad "Deal allows News to sell Storm as going concern", 15 December 2009 brisbanetimes.com.au
22. ^ Stathi, Paxinos (22 October 2009). "Biggest fan base? Not the Magpies, says poll". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/biggest-fan-base-not-the-magpies-says-poll/2009/10/21/1255891860561.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
23. ^ Melbourne Storm CEO Brian Waldron quits to join Melbourne Rebels Herald Sun
24. ^ Storm World Champions | Herald Sun [http://www.roymorgan.com/news/press-releases/2009/906/
25. ^ Melbourne Storm gets great start as 2011 NRL draw released | thetelegraph.com.au
26. ^ ^{a b} Storm Captains and Coaches
27. ^ Haunted Dragons facing Storm graveyard – Local News – Sport – Rugby League – Illawarra Mercury
28. ^ Lockyer, Darren (21 December 2003). "Enemy No.1 in Melbourne Storm sights". The Sun-Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/enemy-no1-in-melbourne-storm-sights/story-e6frf9if-1225779696931. Retrieved 24 October 2009. 
29. ^ Smith, Cameron (21 December 2003). "Enemy No.1 in Melbourne Storm sights". The Herald Sun. The Herald Sun. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/enemy-no1-in-melbourne-storm-sights/story-e6frf9if-1225779696931. Retrieved 24 October 2009. 
30. ^ NRL Grand Final Review [http://www.watoday.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/proposed-model-is-not-the-answer-for-rugby-league-20091203-k8su.html "Proposed model is not the answer for rugby league"
31. ^ rleague.com – The World of Rugby League [http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-league-news/storm-stripped-2-nrl-premierships-3484867
32. ^ Finch, Brett (8 September 2009). "Rivalry stokes Cameron Smith". The Herald Sun. The Herald Sun. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/rivalry-stokes-cameron-smith/story-e6frfgbo-1225770415354?from=public_rss. Retrieved 24 October 2009. 
33. ^ Rivalry Round Clashes: Warriors v Storm – NRL.com
34. ^ ^{a b c d} "Rugby League Tables / Attendances Melbourne". http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/melbourne.html. Retrieved 13 August 2007. 
35. ^ The Graveyard claims its final victim @ Melbourne Stormhttp://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/explosive-files-detailing-secret-payments-to-melbourne-storm-players-exposed/story-e6frfgbo-1225857632667
36. ^ Festival of Rugby League announcement @ Melbourne Stormhttp://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/thunderstruck--news-ltd-shelves-plans-to-sell-storm-20100423-tj5k.html
37. ^ "Rugby League Tables / Game Records / Melbourne". http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/melbourne/melbourne_gr.html. Retrieved 22 July 2007. 
38. ^ Win Loss records
39. ^ ^{a b} Storm player statistics
40. ^ "Rugby League Tables / Scorers / Melbourne". http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/melbourne/melbourne_sc.html. Retrieved 16 May 2009. 
41. ^ "Melbourne Storm Team of the Decade". Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080822090855/http://www.melbournestorm.com.au/default.asp?sec=15&ssec=8. Retrieved 21 July 2007. 
42. ^ Heming, Wayne (30 October 2009). "Brisbane Broncos voted Australia's most popular football team". foxsports.com.au (AAP). http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,26281418-23214,00.html. Retrieved 31 October 2009. 
43. ^ Healey, Kelvin (1 October 2006). "Calm start for Storm". Sunday Herald Sun (News Limited). http://www.news.com.au/calm-start-for-storm/story-e6frf7l6-1111112293164. Retrieved 17 December 2009. 

External links

Official sites Melbourne Storm official website News sites Storm at foxsports.com.au/league[dead link] Statistics and information sites Melbourne Sttorm statistics tables RL1908 Melbourne Storm history[dead link]