2000 Melbourne Storm season

The 2000 Melbourne Storm season was the 3rd in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2000 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season in 6th place, being eliminated in the first week of the finals. ^[1]

The Storm began 2000 with an easy win over St. Helens in the World Club Challenge was a great start for Melbourne, but overall the 2000 season was a disappointment. Major injuries to Marcus Bai and Robbie Ross, along with a lengthy suspension to Stephen Kearney, seriously disrupted the season.

It was made worse when the club was forced to negotiate its way through the trials and tribulations of twelve players coming off contract by the end of the year. Most distracting was the saga of Kimmorley as he travelled between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in search of his future (much to the bewilderment of the Victorian public who were not used to rugby league's mid-season mayhem).

With respectable home crowds averaging over 14,000 the Storm finished the 2000 season in 6th place, earning themselves a semi-final against the Knights in Newcastle. However, the defending premiers exited with a 30-16 loss on a wet and miserable afternoon. The season's undoubted highlight was the Grand Final rematch against the Dragons at the MCG where the Storm won by an incredible scoreline of 70-10.

Tony Martin (to London) and Brett Kimmorley (to Northern Eagles) were key losses for the club in the lead up to 2001 which were slightly off-set by the arrival of half-back Matt Orford and winger Junior Langi. ^[2]

Draw and Results

^[3]

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Brisbane	26	18	2	6	696	388	+308	38
2	Sydney Roosters	26	16	0	10	601	520	+81	32
3	Newcastle	26	15	1	10	686	532	+154	31
4	Canberra	26	15	0	11	506	479	+27	30
5	Penrith	26	15	0	11	573	562	+11	30
6	Melbourne	26	14	1	11	672	529	+143	29
7	Parramatta	26	14	1	11	476	456	+20	29
8	Cronulla	26	13	0	13	570	463	+107	26
9	St George Illawarra	26	12	0	14	576	656	-80	24
10	Wests Tigers	26	11	2	13	519	642	-123	24
11	Bulldogs	26	10	1	15	469	553	-84	21
12	Northern Eagles	26	9	0	17	476	628	-152	18
13	Auckland	26	8	2	16	426	662	-236	18
14	North Queensland	26	7	0	19	436	612	-176	12

Awards and honours

• Player of the year: Rodney Howe^[4]
• Rookie of the year: Tasesa Lavea

References