Melbourne Storm
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| Melbourne Storm | |
 |
|
| Full name | Melbourne Rugby League Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | Storm |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Ground | Olympic Park Stadium Melbourne |
| Capacity | 18,500 |
| CEO |  Brian Waldron |
| Coach | Craig Bellamy |
| League | National Rugby League |
| 2006 | National Rugby League, 2nd |
The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia that is owned by News Limited, part of News Corporation that also owns the Herald Sun, Melbourne's most popular newspaper. The chief executive, Waldron, hopes that this ownership will be rescinded at some point in the future and the city of Melbourne will take up ownership of the football club.
The club was created originally as an expansion club to play in the 1998 Super League season before the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and Super League competitions merged at the conclusion of their respective 1997 seasons to form the National Rugby League (NRL).
During the club's first year in 1998, they exceeded expectations by winning their first four games and finishing third on the ladder. They then advanced to the finals losing to the Brisbane Broncos two games away from the Grand Final.
The following season, the Storm made amends by going one better to capture the trophy defeating the newly formed St George Illawarra Dragons 20-18, becoming the quickest non-foundation club ever to win the premiership after being admitted to the competition.
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[edit] Club facts
- Melbourne Storm is the first professional rugby league football club based in Melbourne.
- The bulk of the foundation players were largely made up of players from Perth Reds and Hunter Mariners, clubs made defunct as part of the ARL/Super League merger.
- ARL in 1995 gave the green light to set up a Melbourne-based rugby league team to start in the 1998 competition but the onset of the Super League war that year saw the plan shelved until Super League picked up the baton and set one up in 1997 to join their 1998 competition.
- In the club's 100th game, they celebrated by defeating the hapless Wests Tigers 64-0 at Colonial Stadium on July 5, 2001.
- Marked their 200th game in the NRL with a rare defeat of the Bulldogs 33-6 at the Sydney Showground on July 2, 2005
- Only missed the finals while under coach Mark Murray
- On April 2 2005, the Melbourne Storm and the Melbourne Olympic Park Trust, administrators of the Olympic Park sports complex, renamed the Western and Eastern Grandstands of Olympic Park stadium the Glenn Lazarus and Tawera Nikau stands respectively, after the inaugural captain and vice captain of the club in a ceremony prior to the home game against the Brisbane Broncos.
- In the 2006 Telstra NRL Premiership the Melbourne Storm won their first minor premiership, winning 20 games, and finishing the season on 44 points, a record for the NRL. The Storm eventually lost the Grand Final 15-8 to Brisbane Broncos, to finish runners-up.
- Melbourne considered themselves unlucky in the 2006 Grand Final, citing very poor refereeing as a reason for their 15-8 loss to premiers the Brisbane Broncos.
[edit] Season 2006
Between rounds 13 & 23, Melbourne won 11 games in a row (the most in the club's history) which won them the minor premiership. The streak was broken in round 24 by the New Zealand Warriors at Olympic Park 20-24. This also snapped Melbourne's home winning streak of 15 games, just two games away from equalling Brisbane's record of 17 game wins in a row. In what has been a superb season for the Storm, they have also beaten the Parramatta Eels in round 14 after earlier in the week, the Eels CEO, Denis Fitzgerald, claimed that there should not be a rugby league club based in Melbourne. In round 18 the biggest crowd in six years (15,479) saw Melbourne defeat the Broncos 10-4. Also in round 21 they beat St George Illawarra Dragons which many said was going to be a test for the Storm, In the end they won by 10 points, 34-24 in a thrilling game. The Storm made the Grand Final but, underperformed on the night, losing 15-8 to Brisbane after controversial decisions by officials proved costly.
[edit] Players
As of 26 October 2006:
| Player | Position | Height | Weight | Previous Club | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Inglis | |
Full Back | 190 cm/6'3" | 92 kg/203p | Bowraville Tigers |
| Iain McLennan | |
Full Back | 186 cm/6'1" | 90 kg/198p | Terrace |
| Billy Slater | |
Full Back | 179 cm/5'10" | 89 kg/196p | Norths Devils |
| Steve Turner | |
Full Back | 177 cm/5'10" | 74 kg/163p | Penrith Panthers |
| Matt Geyer | |
Wing | 182 cm/6'0" | 90 kg/198p | Western Reds |
| Smith Samau | |
Wing | 179 cm/5'10" | 87 kg/192p | Brisbane Norths |
| Matt King | |
Centre | 190 cm/6'3" | 100 kg/220p | Cronulla Sharks |
| Ryan Shortland |  |
Centre | 184 cm/6'0" | 90 kg/198p | Port Macquarie Sharks |
| James Aubusson | |
Half Back | 178 cm/5'10" | 82 kg/181p | Sydney Roosters |
| Cooper Cronk | |
Half Back | 176 cm/5'9" | 89 kg/196p | Souths Acacia Ridge |
| Scott Anderson | |
Prop | 186 cm/6'1" | 102 kg/225p | Tugun Seahawks |
| Adam Blair | |
Prop | 186 cm/6'1" | 105 kg/231p | Wavell High |
| Ben Cross | |
Prop | 190 cm/6'3" | 107 kg/236p | Canberra Raiders |
| Garrett Crossman | |
Prop | 188 cm/6'2" | 112 kg/247p | Penrith Panthers |
| Ian Donnelly | |
Prop | 185 cm/6'1" | 105 kg/231p | Manly Sea Eagles |
| Antonio Kaufusi |  |
Prop | 190 cm/6'3" | 113 kg/249p | Brothers |
| Dennis Scott | |
Prop | 187 cm/6'2" | 100 kg/220p | Canterbury Bulldogs |
| Brett White | |
Prop | 189 cm/6'2" | 109 kg/240p | St George-Illawarra Dragons |
| Cameron Smith | |
Hooker | 184 cm/6'0" | 90 kg/198p | Logan Brothers |
| Matthew Bartlett | |
Second Row | 193 cm/6'4" | 96 kg/212p | Newcastle Knights |
| Michael Crocker | |
Second Row | 185 cm/6'1" | 99 kg/218p | Sydney Roosters |
| Jamie Feeney | |
Second Row | 183 cm/6'0" | 95 kg/209p | Canterbury Bulldogs |
| Ryan Hoffman | |
Second Row | 192 cm/6'4" | 100 kg/220p | Western Suburbs Magpies |
| David Kidwell | |
Second Row | 188 cm/6'2" | 104 kg/229p | Sydney Roosters |
| Jeremy Smith | |
Second Row | 183 cm/6'0" | 98 kg/216p | Runaway Bay |
| Sam Tagataese | |
Second Row | 190 cm/6'3" | 92 kg/203p | Lower Hutt |
| Glen Turner | |
Second Row | 184 cm/6'0" | 99 kg/218p | Linwood |
| Dallas Johnson | |
Lock | 182 cm/6'0" | 93 kg/205p | Herberton Magpies |
[edit] Noted former players
|
Australia |
|
Ireland New Zealand |
Papua New Guinea |
See Also: All Time Player List
[edit] Player Records
[edit] All-time Top 5 Melbourne Tryscorers
| Player | Tries | |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Geyer (*) |
86 | |
 Marcus Bai |
70 | |
| Steven Bell |
63 | |
| Aaron Moule |
58 | |
| Billy Slater (*) |
58 |
(*) player still active in the Melbourne Storm team.
[edit] All-time Top 5 Melbourne Appearances
| Player | Appearance | |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Geyer (*) |
200 | |
| Robbie Kearns |
169 | |
| Scott Hill |
168 | |
 Danny Williams |
146 | |
| Marcus Bai |
144 |
(*) player still active in the Melbourne Storm team.
[edit] Dally M Medal Winners
Awarded to best and fairest player in the competition as well as best individual player in each position
| Player | Award | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Smith | Best Player | 2006 | ||
| Cameron Smith | Best Hooker | 2006 | ||
| Cooper Cronk | Best Halfback | 2006 | ||
| Craig Bellamy | Best Coach | 2006 |
[edit] Clive Churchill Medal Winners
Awarded to man of the match in the Grand Final
- Brett Kimmorley 1999
[edit] Historical information
- Home stadium: Colonial Stadium (2001), Olympic Park (1998-2000, 2002-current), New Stadium (2009)
- Head coach: Craig Bellamy (2003-current), Mark Murray (mid 2001-2002), Chris Anderson (1998- mid 2001)
- Captain: (2006) rotating - Michael Crocker, Matt Geyer, Scott Hill, David Kidwell, Dennis Scott, Matt Orford (2005) Robbie Kearns (2003-2004) Steven Kearney (mid 2002) Rodney Howe (2000 - mid 2002) Robbie Kearns (1998-1999) Glen Lazarus
- Uniform colors: Navy Blue, Purple, Gold and White
- Premiership Titles: 1 - 1999 (vs St George Illawarra Dragons)
- Premiership Runners-up: 1 - 2006 (vs Brisbane Broncos)
- Minor Premiership Titles: 1 - 2006
- World Club Championship Titles: 1 - 2000 (vs St. Helens)
- Feeder Clubs: Norths Devils (QRL) (1998-current), North Sydney Bears (NSWRL) (2005-2006)
| Year | Finishing position¹ | Average home crowd |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3rd | 12,717 |
| 1999 | 1st | 12,902 |
| 2000 | 6th | 13,756 |
| 2001 | 9th | 11,969 |
| 2002 | 10th | 9,088 |
| 2003 | 5th | 9,626 |
| 2004 | 6th | 8,886 |
| 2005 | 6th | 8,898 |
| 2006 | 2nd | 10,853 |
¹following finals matches
[edit] Coaches
- Chris Anderson - 1998-mid 2001
- Mark Murray - mid 2001-2002
- Craig Bellamy - 2003-current
[edit] Famous Fans
- Ian Meldrum
- Iain McLennan
