2016 Melbourne Storm season

The 2016 Melbourne Storm season is the 19th in the club's history. They are competing in the 2016 NRL season. The team is coached by Craig Bellamy, coaching for his 14th consecutive season during which he coached his 350th Game. Melbourne Storm are also captained by Cameron Smith, who has been the sole captain for the team since 2008 making this his 9th consecutive season. In the pre-season the Storm competed in the 2016 Auckland Nines tournament, reaching the semi-finals. Mid-way through the NRL premiership's regular season the team had two of it members selected to play in the 2016 State of Origin series. At the conclusion of the 2016 NRL regular season the Storm finished in first place claiming their 2nd legitimate Minor Premiership and qualifying for the finals. The Storm won their first two finals which qualified them for the 2016 NRL Grand Final, after a close fought game which hung in the balance right until the final minutes, the Storm fell just short losing by 2 points

Season summary

• Auckland Nines – The Melbourne Storm commenced their 2016 season competing in the annual Auckland Nines competition on 6–7 February 2016. For the first time they made it past the pool stage, winning their first two games. They also won their quarter final before losing the semi final to eventual winner the Parramatta Eels.^[1]
• 4 March - Craig Bellamy announces that he has signed a 2-year contract extension with the club meaning his coaching tenure will continue until the end of the 2018 season.^[2]
• Round 1 - The Storm won their 12th consecutive first round encounter, with Marika Koroibete scoring two tries playing in his 50th NRL game.^[3] Billy Slater re-injures his shoulder ruling him out for the rest of the season.^[4]
• Round 2 - Storm have a commanding victory over the Titans with Curtis Scott making his NRL debut.^[5]
• Round 3 - Storm remain the only unbeaten side in the NRL after a win over Warriors in New Zealand.^[6]
• Round 5 - Storm score their 300th win in the NRL coming from behind to defeat the Newcastle Knights.^[7]
• Round 6 - Fijian Suliasi Vunivalu became the 171st player to debut for the Storm and in his debut game scored two tries including one in the first minute of the match.^[8][9]
• Round 9 - The Storm demolish the Gold Coast Titans 38-0 in a very one-sided game, this was the second consecutive week that the Storm have kept a side scoreless. This game marked Craig Bellamy's 350th NRL Game as coach, and also Cheyse Blair's debut for the Storm. In addition the game was notable for the fact that in only his third game, Suliasi Vunivalu scored two tries for the third consecutive week.^[10][11]
• Round 10 - The Storm defeat reigning premier's North Queensland Cowboys 15-14 in their "home" game at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. Cameron Smith kicked only the second field goal of his career to break the deadlock.^[12]
• 19 May - Winger Marika Koroibete announces that he will leave the Storm at the end of the season and switch to Super Rugby side Melbourne Rebels.^[13]
• Round 11 - Ryan Morgan makes his debut for the Storm against his old club the Parramatta Eels after being granted an immediate release from the Eels following their salary cap scandal.^[14]
• Round 14 - The Storm demolish the Sydney Roosters away in a record breaking win. Records that fell in this game were:
  • It was the Storm’s biggest win against the Roosters,
  • The first time the Roosters were kept tryless against the Storm
  • Roosters worst defeat against any side at Allianz Stadium.
  • First time three tries has been scored by a Storm player this season
  • Most points scored by a Storm player in a game this season^[15]
• Round 15 - Brodie Croft makes his playing debut and Suliasi Vunivalu becomes the NRL leading try scorer - to date, scoring 2 tries in the Storm's loss to St George Illawarra.^[16]
• Round 17 - Melbourne Storm complete a record breaking win over the Brisbane Broncos defeating them 48-6 in what was their 10th win in 11 matches at Suncorp Stadium.^[17] Records that fell were:
  • Largest ever win over Broncos.
  • Brisbane's biggest ever defeat at Suncorp Stadium against any side.
  • Melbourne's highest score thus far this season.
  • Cameron Smith scoring 8 goals from 8 attempts scored the most points in a game thus far this season.
• Round 19 - Matt White made his playing debut, in the Melbourne Storm's narrow win over Newcastle.^[18]
• Round 20 - Jesse Bromwich played his 150th Game against the Storms win over the Sydney Roosters.
• Round 21 - Marika Koroibete plays his 50th Game.
• 5 August - Cooper Cronk signs a new two year contract extension that will almost certainly see him finish his career with the Storm.^[19]
• Round 22 - The Storm defeat the South Sydney Rabbitohs 15-14 with a field Goal in Golden point extra time, moving to first place on the NRL table. The win came after scoring a penalty goal in the 80th minute to level the scores.^[20]
• Round 24 - Suliasi Vunivalu scores 4 tries in the Storms big win over Manly and in doing so registered the following records:^[21]
  • equaled the club record for most tries scored in a game
  • equaled the club record for most tries scored in a season
  • equaled the NRL record for most tries scored in a rookie season
• Round 26 - The Storm defeat the Cronulla Sharks in front of a sold out crowd of 24,135 spectators to claim the minor Premiership. Suliasi Vunivalu also scored his 22nd try for the season claiming the outright record for most tries scored in a season for a Melbourne Storm player. Tohu Harris also played his 100th Game.^[22]
• Finals Week 1 - The Storm defeat the North Queensland Cowboys to earn a weeks break and a home Preliminary Final in Week 3.^[23]
• Finals Week 3 - Cooper Cronk played his 300th Game in the home Preliminary final win against Canberra. The win earned the Storm a place in the 2016 NRL Grand Final. The crowd of 28,161 was also the Storms highest home crowd of the season and also their fifth highest ever home attendance.
• Finals Week 4 - The 2016 NRL Grand Final was and closely fought game and after the Cronulla Sharks won the first half and led 8-0 at half time, the Storm came back to hit the front in the second half 12 - 8 before the sharks scored the match winning try and winning the game 14 - 12. The final went right down to the final minutes with the Storm falling only metres short of scoring a try in the final few seconds. The Grand Final also marked Melbourne Storm's 500th NRL Game.^[24]

Awards

Melbourne Storm players walked away from rugby league’s Dally M awards on 28 September 2016 with a total of six Dally M awards. Cooper Cronk was named the Dally M Play of the Year for a second time after winning his first in 2013. Cronk tied with North Queensland Cowboys prop Jason Taumalolo to win. Cronk was also crowned Dally M Halfback of the Year and Cameron Smith the Dally M Hooker of the Year, both players earning the respective honours for a fifth time in their careers. Smith was also named Representative player of the year after braking Darren Lockyer’s record for most State of Origin games played. After several consistent seasons, Jesse Bromwich was awarded Prop of the Year for the first time while rookie Suliasi Vunivalu added another chapter to a remarkable debut season when he was recognised for as the NRL’s Top Try Scorer.^[25]

The six awards won were:

• Dally M Player of the Year: Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys) & Cooper Cronk (Storm)
• Representative Player of the Year: Cameron Smith (Queensland/Storm)
• Halfback of the Year: Cooper Cronk (Storm)
• Prop of the Year: Jesse Bromwich (Storm)
• Hooker of the Year: Cameron Smith (Storm)
• Top Try Scorer: Suliasi Vunivalu (Storm)

Fixtures

Pre-Season

Source:^[26]

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Source
6 February	Auckland Nines Pool Games	Parramatta Eels	Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand	Win	14	4	[27]
6 February		South Sydney Rabbitohs		Win	18	12	[27]
7 February		Sydney Roosters		Loss	7	26	[27]
7 February	Auckland Nines Quarter Final	North Queensland Cowboys		Win	14	6	[27]
7 February	Auckland Nines Semi Final	Parramatta Eels		Loss	8	17	[27]
13 February	Trial	Wests Tigers	Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast	Loss	16	18	[28]
20 February	Trial	Canterbury Bulldogs	Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore	Loss	0	20	[29]

Regular season

Source:^[30]

• GP – golden point extra time

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field Goals	Report
7 March	1	St George-Illawarra Dragons	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	18	16	Koroibete (2), K Bromwich	Smith 3/5		[3]
13 March	2	Gold Coast Titans	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	34	16	Chambers (2), Finucane, Green, Munster, Tonumaipea	Smith 5/6		[5]
20 March	3	New Zealand Warriors	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	21	14	K Bromwich, Munster, Koroibete	Smith 4/4	Cronk 1/1	[31]
28 March	4	Cronulla Sharks	Shark Park, Cronulla	Loss	6	14	Kaufusi	Smith 1/1		[32]
2 April	5	Newcastle Knights	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	18	14	Cronk (2), Kennar	Smith 3/4		[33]
11 April	6	Canterbury Bulldogs	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Loss	12	18	Harris, Tonumaipea	Smith 2/3		[34]
17 April	7	Wests Tigers	Leichhardt Oval, Balmain	Win (GP)	19	18	Vunivalu (2), Cronk, Koroibete	Smith 1/5	Cronk 1/2, Smith 0/1	[35]
25 April	8	New Zealand Warriors	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	42	0	Vunivalu (2), Harris, Glasby, J Bromwich, Koroibete, Munster, Cronk	Smith 5/8		[36]
1 May	9	Gold Coast Titans	Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast	Win	38	0	Vunivalu (2), Cronk (2), Blair, Harris, Green	Smith 5/8		[10]
14 May	10	North Queensland Cowboys	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Win	15	14	Harris, Proctor	Smith 3/3	Smith 1/1	[12]
23 May	11	Parramatta Eels	Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta	Win	18	6	Vunivalu (2), Koroibete, Blair	Smith 1/4		[37]
28 May	12	Bye
4 June	13	Penrith Panthers	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	24	6	J Bromwich, Proctor, Morgan, Cronk	Smith 4/5		[38]
11 June	14	Sydney Roosters	Allianz Stadium, Sydney	Win	46	0	Vunivalu (3), Cronk (2), Proctor, Blair, Munster	Smith 7/8		[39]
18 June	15	St George-Illawarra Dragons	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	Loss	10	20	Vunivalu (2)	Harris 1/3		[40]
26 June	16	Wests Tigers	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	29	20	Kaufusi (2), Harris, Koroibete	Smith 6/6	Cronk 1/2	[41]
1 July	17	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Win	48	6	Vunivalu (3), Blair (2), Proctor, Morgan, Koroibete	Smith 8/8		[17]
9 July	18	Bye
17 July	19	Newcastle Knights	Hunter Stadium, Newcastle	Win	20	16	Koroibete (2), Vunivalu, Harris	Smith 2/4		[42]
23 July	20	Sydney Roosters	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	26	10	Finucane, Proctor, Cronk, Harris	Smith 5/5		[43]
30 July	21	North Queensland Cowboys	1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville	Win	16	8	Proctor, Koroibete, Glasby	Smith 2/3		[44]
6 August	22	South Sydney Rabbitohs	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win (GP)	15	14	Koroibete, Blair	Smith 3/4	Smith 1/1, Cronk 0/1	[20]
15 August	23	Canberra Raiders	GIO Stadium, Canberra	Loss	8	22	Cronk	Smith 2/2		[45]
20 August	24	Manly Sea Eagles	Brookvale Oval, Manly	Win	38	18	Vunivalu (4), K Bromwich, Smith, Kaufusi	Smith 4/6, Harris 1/1		[21]
26 August	25	Brisbane Broncos	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Loss	16	26	Harris, Hampton, Smith	Smith 2/3		[46]
3 September	26	Cronulla Sharks	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	26	6	Blair (2), Vunivalu, J Bromwich	Smith 5/6		[22]

Finals

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field Goals	Report
10 September	Week 1 - Qualifying Final	North Queensland Cowboys	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	16	10	Vunivalu, J Bromwich	Smith 4/5		[23]
24 September	Week 3 - Preliminary Final	Canberra Raiders	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	14	12	Cronk, Blair	Smith 3/4		[47]
2 October	Week 4 - Grand Final	Cronulla Sharks	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	Loss	12	14	J Bromwich, Chambers	Smith 2/2		[24]

Ladder

2016 NRL season
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne Storm	24	19	0	5	2	563	302	+261	42
2	Canberra Raiders	24	17	1	6	2	688	456	+232	39
3	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (P)	24	17	1	6	2	580	404	+176	39
4	North Queensland Cowboys	24	15	0	9	2	584	355	+229	34
5	Brisbane Broncos	24	15	0	9	2	554	434	+120	34
6	Penrith Panthers	24	14	0	10	2	563	463	+100	32
7	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	14	0	10	2	506	448	+58	32
8	Gold Coast Titans	24	11	1	12	2	508	497	+11	27
9	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	2	499	607	−108	26
10	New Zealand Warriors	24	10	0	14	2	513	601	−88	24
11	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	10	0	14	2	341	538	−197	24
12	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	9	0	15	2	473	549	−76	22
13	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	8	0	16	2	454	563	−109	20
14	Parramatta Eels	24	13	0	11	2	298	324	−26	181
15	Sydney Roosters	24	6	0	18	2	443	576	−133	16
16	Newcastle Knights	24	1	1	22	2	305	800	−495	7

¹ Parramatta were deducted 12 competition points and their for/against tally accumulated between rounds 1-9 for gross long-term salary cap breaches.

2016 squad

As of 20 July 2016

Cap	Nat.	Player name	Position	First Melbourne Storm Game	Previous club
55		Cameron Smith (c)	HK	2002	Melbourne Storm
60		Billy Slater	FB	2003	Melbourne Storm
73		Cooper Cronk	HB	2004	Melbourne Storm
98		Will Chambers	CE	2007	Queensland Reds
106		Kevin Proctor	SR	2008	Melbourne Storm
119		Jesse Bromwich	PR	2010	Melbourne Storm
144		Slade Griffen	HK,LK	2013	Melbourne Storm
145		Tohu Harris	SR,LK,FE	2013	Melbourne Storm
149		Kenny Bromwich	PR,SR,LK	2013	Melbourne Storm
150		Jordan McLean	PR	2013	Melbourne Storm
152		Ben Hampton	FE,HB,FB	2013	Melbourne Storm
153		Tim Glasby	PR,SR	2013	Melbourne Storm
156		Young Tonumaipea	WG,FB	2014	Melbourne Storm
160		Cameron Munster	FE,FB,HB,HK	2014	Melbourne Storm
161		Marika Koroibete	WG	2014	Wests Tigers
162		Dale Finucane	PR,SR,LK	2015	Canterbury Bulldogs
163		Blake Green	FE,HB	2015	Wigan Warriors
164		Felise Kaufusi	PR	2015	North Queensland Cowboys
166		Nelson Asofa-Solomona	SR, PR	2015	Melbourne Storm
167		Christian Welch	SR, PR	2015	Melbourne Storm
168		Richard Kennar	WG	2015	Melbourne Storm
170		Curtis Scott	CE,WG	2016	Cronulla Sharks
171		Suliasi Vunivalu	WG	2016	Melbourne Storm
172		Cheyse Blair	WG,CE	2016	Manly Sea Eagles
173		Ryan Morgan	CE	2016	Parramatta Eels
174		Brodie Croft	HB	2016	Melbourne Storm
175		Matthew White	PR	2016	Gold Coast Titans
		Mark Nicholls	PR,SR	-	Canberra Raiders
		Scott Drinkwater	TBC	-	Sydney Roosters

Player movements

Source:^[48]

Representative honours

The following players have played a representative match in 2016. (C) = Captain

(a) - Felise Kaufusi was selected as the 18th Man for Queensland in State of Origin Game 3 but did not play.
(b) - includes the AUS vs NZL pre-tournament game to be played in Perth prior to travelling to England

Statistics

Statistics Source:^[57] Complete as of the end of the 2016 Regular season, (these stats do not include finals).

Scorers

Most Points in a Game: 16 points

• Round 17 - Cameron Smith (8 Goals) vs Brisbane Broncos
• Round 24 - Suliasi Vunivalu (4 Tries) vs Manly Sea Eagles

Most tries in a Game: 4

• Round 24 - Suliasi Vunivalu vs Manly Sea Eagles

Winning Games

Highest score in a winning game: 48 points

• Round 17 vs Brisbane Broncos

Lowest score in a winning game: 14 points

• Preliminary Final vs Canberra Raiders

Greatest winning margin: 46 points

• Round 14 vs Sydney Roosters

Greatest number of Games won consecutively: 7

• Round 7 to Round 14

Losing Games

Highest score in a losing game: 16 points

• Round 25 - vs Brisbane Broncos

Lowest score in a losing game: 6 points

• Round 4 - vs Cronulla Sharks

Greatest losing margin: 14 points

• Round 23 - vs Canberra Raiders

Jersey

In November 2015 the Melbourne Storm signed a new 5-year deal with Melbourne-based manufacturer STAR.^[58] New Home and Away jerseys have been designed for the upcoming season. The Home jersey is predominantly Navy Blue at the Top and morphing into purple as you move down the jersey, the lightening bolts also make a return on the sides of the jersey. The Away jersey is a striking white top with a Navy Blue and Purple V across the chest.^[59]

References