2003 Melbourne Storm season
2003 Melbourne Storm season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
NRL | 5th | |||
Play-off result | Semi Final Loss | |||
2003 record | Wins: 15; Draws: 0; Losses: 9 | |||
Points scored | For: 564; Against: 486 | |||
Team information | ||||
CEO | John Ribot | |||
Coach | Craig Bellamy | |||
Captain | ||||
Stadium | Olympic Park Stadium | |||
Top scorers | ||||
Tries | Billy Slater (19) | |||
Goals | Matt Orford (74) | |||
Points | Matt Orford (180) | |||
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The 2003 Melbourne Storm season was the 6th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2003 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 5th (of 15) before reaching the semi-final where they were knocked out by eventual premiers, Bulldogs RLFC. It was Craig Bellamy's first season as head coach of the club. [1]
Under new coach Craig Bellamy, the 2003 season for the Storm was one of regaining premiership credibility. Melbourne reached the finals for the first time since 2000 with evergreen Robbie Kearns and a confident Matt Orford showing the way.
A disappointing exit two weeks before the Grand Final was tempered by the rise of young Queenslanders Billy Slater and Cameron Smith. Unheard of at the start of 2003, the steady hooker and dummy-half Smith gave splendid service to Orford and his forwards. He was rewarded with a place in the Maroons Origin side and was unlucky to miss the Kangaroos train-on squad.
The silky - and pacy - moves of Slater in the centres and at fullback were attention getters for fans and keen judges of football talent alike. His debut season for the Storm realised a record 19 tries and talk of a big future in the game. [2]
Draw and Results
Round | Opponent | Result | Mel. | Opp. | Date | Venue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 36 | 32 | Mar 16 | Toyota Park |
2 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 42 | 16 | Mar 22 | Olympic Park |
3 | BYE | |||||
4 | Newcastle Knights | Loss | 28 | 44 | Apr 5 | Hunter Stadium |
5 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 18 | 12 | Apr 12 | Olympic Park |
6 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Loss | 14 | 20 | Apr 20 | Brookvale Oval |
7 | North Queensland Cowboys | Loss | 12 | 32 | Apr 26 | Dairy Farmers Stadium |
8 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 46 | 6 | May 3 | Olympic Park |
9 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 30 | 10 | May 10 | Olympic Park |
10 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 16 | 36 | May 18 | QE2 Stadium |
11 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 12 | 10 | May 24 | Parramatta Stadium |
12 | Sydney Roosters | Loss | 20 | 27 | Jun 1 | Olympic Park |
13 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Loss | 14 | 41 | Jun 8 | Sydney Football Stadium |
14 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 32 | 12 | Jun 14 | Penrith Stadium |
15 | Bulldogs RLFC | Loss | 12 | 26 | Jun 22 | Olympic Park |
16 | Wests Tigers | Win | 16 | 8 | Jun 28 | Olympic Park |
17 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 18 | 8 | Jul 6 | Bruce Stadium |
18 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 22 | 16 | Jul 12 | Olympic Park |
19 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 22 | 26 | Jul 20 | Olympic Park |
20 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 24 | 6 | Jul 26 | Olympic Park |
21 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 14 | 12 | Aug 2 | Mt. Smart Stadium |
22 | Bulldogs RLFC | Loss | 4 | 50 | Aug 10 | Sydney Showground Stadium |
23 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 50 | 12 | Aug 17 | Olympic Park |
24 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 22 | 14 | Aug 22 | WIN Stadium |
25 | BYE | |||||
26 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Win | 40 | 10 | Sep 6 | Olympic Park |
Qualifying Final | Canberra Raiders | Win | 30 | 18 | Sep 12 | Bruce Stadium |
Semi Final | Bulldogs RLFC | Loss | 0 | 30 | Sep 21 | SFS |
Ladder
Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Penrith | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 659 | 527 | +132 | 40 |
2 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 680 | 445 | +235 | 38 |
3 | Bulldogs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 702 | 419 | +283 | 36 |
4 | Canberra | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 620 | 463 | +157 | 36 |
5 | Melbourne | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 564 | 486 | +78 | 34 |
6 | New Zealand | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 545 | 510 | +35 | 34 |
7 | Newcastle | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 632 | 635 | -3 | 32 |
8 | Brisbane | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 497 | 464 | +33 | 28 |
9 | Parramatta | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 570 | 582 | -12 | 26 |
10 | St George Illawarra | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 548 | 593 | -45 | 26 |
11 | North Queensland | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 606 | 629 | -23 | 24 |
12 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 497 | 704 | -207 | 20 |
13 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 470 | 598 | -128 | 18 |
14 | Manly-Warringah | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 470 | 791 | -321 | 18 |
15 | South Sydney | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 457 | 758 | -301 | 10 |
Awards and honours
- Player of the year: Robbie Kearns[4]
- Rookie of the year: Cameron Smith
References
- ↑ http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/melbourne/melbourne2003_sc.html
- ↑ http://www.melbournestorm.com.au/evolution-storm
- ↑ http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/melbourne/melbourne_by.html#2003
- ↑ "NRL Honour Board". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
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