The 2007 Melbourne Storm season was the 10th in the club's history. They competed for NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, finishing the season in 1st place to claim the minor premiership before going on to reach the 2007 NRL grand final, their third. In the grand final the Storm defeated the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to claim their second premiership. However two years after the event Melbourne were stripped of their 2007 titles after being found guilty of long-term salary cap breaches.
The most successful season in the club's history as the team managed 21 wins on their way to winning the NRL Grand Final. Storm's success was built on the back of incredibly strong defence. Craig Bellamy's men conceded just 11.5 points per game, the best defensive season in the club's history. The year began with seven straight wins and by Round 12 Melbourne had moved into first place, where they remained for the rest of the season. Storm earned redemption from the 2006 Grand Final loss by beating the Broncos 40–0 in the Qualifying final. They faced Manly in the decider, running away with a 34–8 victory as Greg Inglis scored a double on the night to be awarded the Clive Churchill Medal. Cameron Smith increased his standing as the best player in the game by being awarded the Golden Boot after being named the International Player of the Year while Israel Folau set an NRL rookie record, scoring 21 tries for the season.
Season summary 15 January – The drawn-out battle over the services of Melbourne er Steve Turner is finally resolved when new NRL team the Gold Coast Titans agree to release him from his contract. "It would have been devastating [to leave]," Turner said. "I feel like I’ve come all this way with the Storm and leaving now would have been really hard to handle." Storm rookies Smith Samau and Daniel Isaac are 'traded' to the Titans as compensation for the loss of Turner. 3 March – In the club's first trial match played in metropolitan Melbourne, Storm thrash 2006 premiers Brisbane Broncos 46–0 in a well-attended game at the club's training base Princes Park. 14 March – The club confirms that Cooper Cronk and Dallas Johnson will join the captaincy group for the season, following the departures of David Kidwell and Scott Hill. Round 1 – Israel Folau becomes the youngest player to play for the club, making his debut at just 17 years and 347 days. Folau scores a try in a tight 18–16 win against Wests Tigers, with the goalkicking of Cameron Smith proving the difference on the scoreboard. Round 5 – Melbourne get off to their best start to a season, winning their fifth straight game. Round 6 – Playing his second game in 24 hours, Cameron Smith scores a double and five goals in a commanding performance against Penrith Panthers. 3 May – Craig Bellamy coaches the NSW Country representative team in the annual City vs Country Origin held in Coffs Harbour. Round 8 – Melbourne suffer their first loss of the season, going down 30–12 against Wests Tigers at Gosford. Round 10 – Despite the loss of five players to State of Origin duty, Melbourne trounce bottom-placed Sydney Roosters 26–2, holding the Roosters tryless. Round 11 – In a top of the table clash at Brookvale Oval, former Storm Matt Orford kicked the decisive field goal to give Manly Warringah Sea Eagles a dramatic 13–12 win over Melbourne. Coach Craig Bellamy could not fault the team's effort, but was critical of some options taken when the match was in the balance, saying "we were very brave, but very dumb". Round 13 – In the lowest scoring game for 14 years, Melbourne score a late try to win 4–2 against the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland. Missing nine regular players, including six on State of Origin duty, Melbourne trailed 2–0 for much of the game played in cold and wet conditions. Midseason signing Clint Newton made his debut for the club, becoming the 100th player to play for the club; while Matt Rua played his first NRL game since 2002. Round 14 – Melbourne march to a 40–4 halftime lead against North Queensland Cowboys, going on to win 58–12, eclipsing the highest score posted by the club against the Cowboys. Matt Geyer scores his 100th NRL try, becoming the first Melbourne player to reach that milestone. 22 June – As part of the club's 10-year celebrations, a 17-man team of the decade is announced at a gala presentation held at The Great Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria. Round 15 – Celebrating the club's 10th birthday with fireworks and cake postgame, Melbourne dominate St George Illawarra Dragons 28–6. 10 July – Crowd favourite Matt King announces he will be leaving Melbourne at the end of the season to join Super League club Warrington Wolves on a lucrative four-year deal. Round 18 – Midseason signing Clint Newton scores a try against former club Newcastle Knights as Melbourne thrash Newcastle 44–0. Billy Slater, Steve Turner, and Anthony Quinn all score double in the big win, with Newton saying the victory was "sweet (to beat) someone that wasn't playing tonight" referring to Knights coach Brian Smith. Round 20 – A poor attitude was blamed as Melbourne suffered a 26–16 defeat against the previously hapless Sydney Roosters, under caretaker coach Brad Fittler. Melbourne had rested Matt Geyer and Ryan Hoffman from the match. Round 21 – Behind 14–0 after 30 minutes, Cooper Cronk lands a late field goal to secure a 17–16 win over Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, with Sharks coach Ricky Stuart upset over various decisions by referee Paul Simpkins. 3 August – Coach Craig Bellamy confirms that the club's rotational captaincy group is over, with Cameron Smith appointed as permanent captain. Bellamy quoted as saying "Obviously, we've had the leadership group for nearly two years, but we just thought going back to the traditional captain was the way to go. We probably would have done it at the start of the year, but I just didn't think Cameron was quite ready for it. There were a couple of areas he needed to get better at...and he's worked on those areas and he's right to go now." 8 August – Long-time Melbourne recruitment officer Peter O'Sullivan is poached by Sydney Roosters in a two-year deal worth $150,000 a season. Round 22 – A 'grapple tackle' furore erupts after Melbourne's 14–6 win over Brisbane Broncos with Broncos captain Petero Civoniceva and coach Wayne Bennett particularly vocal in complaining. Round 24 – Melbourne secure their second successive minor premiership with a dominant second half performance against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. The 38–6 win came with a hat-trick of tries to Israel Folau, who in doing so equaled the club record for tries for a season. Round 25 – Israel Folau scores his 21st try of the season as Melbourne thrash new club Gold Coast Titans 50–6 in the first meeting between the teams. The victory saw Melbourne finish the season with a perfect 12–0 record in games played at Olympic Park. Preliminary Final – Returning to Telstra Dome for the first time since 2001, Melbourne progress to their second successive NRL Grand Final with a 26–10 win over Parramatta Eels. 30 November – Cameron Smith is awarded the Golden Boot as the best player in the world.
Milestone games Round Player Milestone Round 1 Anthony Quinn Storm debutRound 1 Israel Folau NRL debutRound 1 James Aubusson NRL debutRound 2 Ryan Shortland NRL debutRound 2 Brett White 50th gameRound 3 Cameron Smith 100th gameRound 4 Sam Tagataese NRL debutRound 5 Russell Aitken Storm debutRound 7 Antonio Kaufusi 50th gameRound 10 Will Chambers NRL debutRound 10 Sika Manu NRL debutRound 10 Scott Anderson NRL debutRound 12 Garret Crossman 50th gameRound 13 Clint Newton Storm debutRound 14 Matt Geyer 100th NRL tryRound 18 Steve Turner 50th gameRound 19 Ryan Hoffman100th gameRound 19 Dallas Johnson100th gameRound 21 Billy Slater100th gameRound 21 Ben Cross50th gameRound 25 Greg Inglis 50th game
Jerseys Continuing with apparel manufacturer Reebok, the designs of Melbourne's home and clash jerseys were unchanged from 2006.
Fixtures
Pre Season
Date Opponent Venue Result Tries Goals Field goals 17 FebruaryTrial Gold Coast TitansBCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour326W Chambers (2), D Johnson, A Quinn, S Tagataese, B SlaterC Smith (4) 24 FebruaryTrial Manly Warringah Sea EaglesQuad Park, Sunshine Coast2030A Kaufusi, B White, L Samoa, I DonnellyL Foran, L Samoa 3 MarchTrial Brisbane BroncosMC Labour Park, Melbourne460C Cronk (2), R Hoffman, M King, M Geyer, J Lima, B Slater, G InglisC Smith (6), J Smith
Regular season Result by round
Matches Source: - Golden Point extra time (pen) - Penalty try Date Opponent Venue Result Tries Goals Field goals 16 March1 Wests Tigers Olympic Park, Melbourne1816I Folau, R Hoffman, J SmithC Smith 3/324 March2 Canberra Raiders Canberra Stadium, Canberra3216I Folau (2), B White (2), M Geyer, B SlaterC Smith 4/61 April3 New Zealand Warriors Olympic Park, Melbourne3012I Folau (2), B Slater (2), R Hoffman, M KingC Smith 3/67 April4 Newcastle Knights EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle2212I Folau (2), M King, A QuinnC Smith 3/414 April5 St George Illawarra Dragons OKI Jubilee Stadium, Sydney2410S Turner (2), I Folau, M King, A QuinnC Smith 1/4, S Turner 1/121 April6 Penrith Panthers Olympic Park, Melbourne3020C Cronk (2), C Smith (2), R HoffmanC Smith 5/627 April7 Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane2818B Slater (2), I Folau, R Hoffman, S TurnerC Smith 4/65 May8 Wests Tigers Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford1230D Johnson, M KingC Smith 2/214 May9 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Olympic Park, Melbourne3814C Cronk (2), M King (2), I Folau, R HoffmanC Smith 7/719 May10 Sydney Roosters Olympic Park, Melbourne262W Chambers, I Folau, R Hoffman, J Lima, B SlaterS Turner 3/526 May11 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval, Sydney1213I Folau, M KingC Smith 2/22 June12 South Sydney Rabbitohs Olympic Park, Melbourne2610M Geyer, G Inglis, M King, S TurnerC Smith 5/510 June13 New Zealand Warriors Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland42J SmithS Turner 0/116 June14 North Queensland Cowboys Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville5812G Inglis (2), M King (2), C Cronk, M Geyer, C Newton, J Smith, S Tagataese, S TurnerC Smith 9/1024 June15 St George Illawarra Dragons Olympic Park, Melbourne286S Turner (2), M Geyer, R Hoffman, M King, C NewtonC Smith 2/730 June16Bye7 July17 South Sydney Rabbitohs Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford128I Folau, M KingC Smith 2/216 July18 Newcastle Knights Olympic Park, Melbourne440A Quinn (2), B Slater (2), S Turner (2), R Hoffman, M King, C NewtonC Smith 3/6, S Turner 1/321 July19 Canberra Raiders Olympic Park, Melbourne346G Inglis (2), I Folau, M Geyer, M King, S TurnerC Smith 5/627 July20 Sydney Roosters Aussie Stadium, Sydney1626J Aubusson, C Cronk, I FolauC Smith 2/36 August21 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Toyota Park, Sydney1716I Folau, R Hoffman, M KingI Folau 2/3C Cronk12 August22 Brisbane Broncos Olympic Park, Melbourne146I Folau, M Geyer, G InglisC Smith 1/317 August23 Parramatta Eels Olympic Park, Melbourne1410B Slater, C SmithC Smith 3/324 August24 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Telstra Stadium, Sydney386I Folau (3), M Geyer, J Lima, B SlaterC Smith 6/6, I Folau 1/12 September25 Gold Coast Titans Olympic Park, Melbourne506M Crocker, C Cronk, I Folau, R Hoffman, G Inglis, M King, A Quinn, B Slater, S TurnerC Smith 5/6, I Folau 1/1, M King 1/1
Finals
Ladder
2007 Coaching staff Head coach: Craig Bellamy Assistant coaches: Michael Maguire & Stephen Kearney Development coach: Brad Arthur Specialist coach: Matthew Johns Strength and conditioning Coach: Alex Corvo Football Manager: Dean Lance
2007 Squad List current as of 18 October 2021