The 2005 Melbourne Storm season was the 8th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2005 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 6th out of 15 teams and making the finals. The season began with two big wins over the Knights and Dragons, each by more than 30 points. The form line followed a similar path to the previous season though as the team struggled to string consecutive wins together and hovered around the lower part of the eight for much of the season before ultimately finishing sixth once again. Future star Greg Inglis made his debut in Round 6. Storm finished the season with the second best defence in the competition and again went to Suncorp Stadium in Week One of the finals, producing the same result to defeat the Broncos.
However for the third straight season the side was unable to progress past the semi-final stage, losing to the Cowboys. At the end of the season, Storm legends Robbie Kearns and Matt Geyer were inducted as inaugural life members of the Club.
Season summary 22 February – The Supreme Court of New South Wales finds Melbourne and former players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai responsible for the spear tackle that ended the career of Jarrod McCracken in the 2000 NRL season. Round 1 – Melbourne open their 2005 season at home with a resounding 48-10 win over Newcastle Knights. Leading 22-0 at half time, the Storm extend their lead on the back of a Billy Slater hat-trick. Former Melbourne er Dustin Cooper scores a double for the visitors. Brett White makes his NRL debut. Round 4 – Storm thrash Brisbane Broncos 50-4 to inflict the heaviest defeat in the Broncos' 18-year history. The 50 point score against Brisbane also bested the 48 points scored by Melbourne in 1999. Before the game, the club honours 1999 premiership players Glenn Lazarus and Tawera Nikau; by renaming the eastern (Nikau) and western (Lazarus) grandstands. Round 5 – In their only Friday night game for the year, and also their only free-to-air match for the regular season, the Storm are defeated 36–16 by the Penrith Panthers at Penrith Stadium. 13 April – Melbourne is found to have breached the competition's salary cap in 2004 and are fined $120,000. Round 6 – Greg Inglis makes his NRL debut at just 18 years and 91 days, scoring a try in a 26–14 loss to a Parramatta Eels side that had been thrashed by the Brisbane Broncos 54–14 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane just six days earlier. 30 April – The Victoria State Government confirms that the Olympic Park precinct will undergo a $100m redevelopment, with a new stadium scheduled for completion in 2008. On the same day, the Storm suffer their second straight loss at home, going down to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks by 30–10. 2 May – Controversy over "grapple tackles" erupts with Cronulla claiming he was choked in a two-man Storm tackle. Round 12 – Melbourne breaks a three-game losing streak at home by beating St George Illawarra by 24–16. The Dragons' loss capped off a horror weekend for the two red-and-white teams in Melbourne; the other team, the Sydney Swans, were thrashed by at Telstra Dome the previous evening. Round 13 – Melbourne win their first game at Leichhardt Oval since 1998, coming from 8-0 down at half time to win 30-14. Round 14 – Missing Origin players, Melbourne are awarded a controversial penalty try to Cooper Cronk early in the second half. It wasn't enough for the victory, as the New Zealand Warriors regained the Michael Moore Trophy win a 24-16 victory. Round 15 – Melbourne are defeated by the Penrith Panthers for the second time in the season, going down by 28–14. Round 16 – Melbourne return to form thrashing South Sydney Rabbitohs 48-6, with Billy Slater scoring another hat-trick. Round 17 – In their 200th premiership match, Melbourne win just their second game in 13 attempts against 2004 premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, with Slater and Inglis both scoring two tries in a 33-6 win. It was also the Storm's first win at Engie Stadium. Round 18 – In front of the lowest attended Olympic Park home game in club history (6,063), Melbourne hold Canberra Raiders scoreless for the first time. 20 July – After weeks of speculation, it's announced Matt Orford has signed a four-year contract with Manly worth nearly $2m. Round 23 – Melbourne celebrate the 100th game at Olympic Park by regaining the Michael Moore Trophy, winning 22-10 over the Warriors. Round 25 – In his last home game for the club, Robbie Kearns is chaired from the field following a 34-22 win over Wests Tigers. Coach Craig Bellamy saying that Kearns "without a doubt is the heart and soul of this club." Round 26 – A penalty try awarded against Billy Slater in a 30-24 loss to the North Queensland Cowboys was part of a controversial night in Townsville with Cowboys forward Carl Webb suspended for punching Ryan Hoffman allegedly in retaliation for a "grapple tackle." The loss drops Melbourne to sixth on the ladder at the end of the regular season, behind the Cowboys in fourth. Qualifying Final – Travelling to Brisbane for the second year in a row, Melbourne hang on for a 24-18 win over the Broncos. Injuries to Robbie Kearns (shoulder) and Billy Slater (ankle) complicating things for the club for the remainder of the finals. 12 September – Melbourne and North Queensland spark a war of words over the "grapple tackle", with both clubs accusing the other of using the technique ahead of the semi-final between the teams. Melbourne later release video of 20 incidents in which they claim Cowboys players were putting opponents in headlocks. Semi-final – For the third year in a row, Melbourne are eliminated in the second week of the NRL finals, this time going down 24-16 to the Cowboys at Aussie Stadium. Down 16-0 at half time, Melbourne were gifted a try by referee Paul Simpkins who failed to consult the video referee when Steven Bell lost control of the ball while attempting to score. A frantic final flurry almost saw Melbourne level the scores led by fill-in captain Matt Orford.
Milestone games
Round Player Milestone Round 1 Dennis Scott Storm debutRound 1 Brett White NRL debutRound 1 Cameron Smith 50th gameRound 2 Billy Slater 50th gameRound 3 Ian Donnelly Storm debutRound 4 Jamie McDonald Storm debutRound 4 Matt Geyer 500 pointsRound 5 Alex Chan 50th gameRound 6 Greg Inglis NRL debutRound 7 Jamie Feeney Storm debutRound 11 Josh Graham NRL debutRound 12 Dallas Johnson 50th gameRound 14 Tevita Metuisela Storm debutRound 18 Glen Turner 50th gameRound 20 Steven Bell 100th gameRound 21 Ryan Hoffman 50th game
Jerseys For the 2005 season, Melbourne signed a new apparel contract with Reebok. The home jersey remained largely unchanged from the 2003-04 design, but now with a simple navy blue T-shirt style collar. This meant the home jersey did not feature gold for the first time in team history.
A new white clash jersey was designed, featuring a large gold thunderbolt with purple block shadowing, which was partially obscured by the jersey advertiser Adecco. The clash jersey was worn with different navy blue shorts featuring the thunderbolt design on the right.
The clash jersey was worn on seven occasions during the regular season (rounds 5, 13, 14, 19, 21, 22, 26); with Melbourne only winning on one occasion against Wests Tigers. Both finals games were also played with Melbourne wearing the clash jersey.
Fixtures
Pre Season Date Opponent Venue Result Tries Goals Field goals 5 FebruaryTrial Central CometsBrowne Park, Rockhampton5818J Webster (2), M Brentnall (2), J Tatupu, R Shortland, T Metuisela, A Kaufusi, P RobinsonG Inglis (7) 19 FebruaryTrial Brisbane BroncosCarrara Stadium, Gold Coast2410S Turner, S Bell, J Smith, B Slater, G InglisS Turner (2) 25 FebruaryTrial North Queensland CowboysBarlow Park, Cairns3018C Smith, R Kearns, B Slater, R Hoffman, J WebsterM Orford (3), C Smith, G Inglis
Regular season Result by round
Matches Source: – Golden Point extra time (pen) – Penalty try Date Opponent Venue Result Tries Goals Field goals 13 March1 Newcastle Knights Olympic Park, Melbourne4810B Slater (3), M Orford (2), C Cronk, R Hoffman, J Webster, B WhiteM Orford 4/5, M Geyer 2/2, C Smith 0/219 March2 St George Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium, Wollongong4612S Bell (2), M Orford (2), R Kearns, M King, B Slater, C SmithM Orford 4/5, C Smith 3/427 March3 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval, Sydney1825S Bell, C Cronk, B SlaterC Smith 3/32 April4 Brisbane Broncos Olympic Park, Melbourne504M Geyer (2), M King (2), B Slater (2), J Webster (2), S Bell, R HoffmanM Orford 4/7, C Smith 1/38 April5 Penrith Panthers CUA Stadium, Sydney1636S Bell, A Chan, M KingM Orford 1/3, C Smith 1/116 April6 Parramatta Eels Olympic Park, Melbourne1426G Inglis, M King, M OrfordC Smith 1/2, M Orford 0/124 April7 Canberra Raiders Canberra Stadium, Canberra4610M King (2), B Slater (2), M Geyer, S Hill, R Hoffman, J WebsterM Orford 4/5, C Smith 3/430 April8 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Olympic Park, Melbourne1030P Robinson, D ScottM Orford 1/26 May9Bye14 May10 South Sydney Rabbitohs Aussie Stadium, Sydney3812G Turner (2), S Bell, A Chan, M Geyer, G Inglis, D Kidwell, M OrfordC Smith 3/821 May11 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Olympic Park, Melbourne1626J Graham, R Kearns, D KidwellM Orford 2/329 May12 St George Illawarra Dragons Olympic Park, Melbourne2416M King, M Orford, C Smith, G TurnerM Orford 3/4, C Smith 1/15 June13 Wests Tigers Leichhardt Oval, Sydney3014B Slater (2), S Bell, M Geyer, J WebsterM Orford 3/3, C Smith 2/212 June14 New Zealand Warriors Ericsson Stadium, Auckland1624M Geyer (2), C CronkM Orford 2/418 June15 Penrith Panthers Olympic Park, Melbourne1428S Bell, M Geyer, M KingM Orford 1/325 June16 South Sydney Rabbitohs Olympic Park, Melbourne486B Slater (3), M Geyer (2), S Bell, D Kidwell, G Turner, J WebsterM Orford 4/7, C Smith 2/22 July17 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Sydney Showground, Sydney336G Inglis (2), B Slater (2), G TurnerM Orford 6/7M Orford9 July18 Canberra Raiders Olympic Park, Melbourne200J Webster (2), S BellM Orford 2/3, C Smith 2/217 July19 Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane1528D Johnson, M OrfordM Orford 3/4M Orford24 July20 Sydney Roosters Olympic Park, Melbourne2410D Johnson, D Kidwell, M King, B SlaterM Orford 3/4, C Smith 1/130 July21 Newcastle Knights EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle1837C Cronk, D Scott, B SlaterM Orford 2/2, C Smith 1/16 August22 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Toyota Park, Sydney1640S Bell, A Kaufusi, J WebsterM Orford 1/1, C Smith 1/213 August23 New Zealand Warriors Olympic Park, Melbourne2210M King (2), M Orford, B SlaterM Orford 3/420 August24Bye27 August25 Wests Tigers Olympic Park, Melbourne3422S Bell, M Geyer, G Inglis, A Kaufusi, M Orford, C SmithM Orford 5/5, C Smith 0/13 September26 North Queensland Cowboys Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville2430S Bell, R Hoffman, G Inglis, D ScottM Orford 2/2, C Smith 4/5
Finals
Ladder
2005 Coaching Staff Head coach: Craig Bellamy Assistant coaches : Dean Lance, Michael Maguire & Peter Sharp Development coach: Marc Brentnall Strength and conditioning Coach: Alex Corvo Football Manager: Peter O'Sullivan
2005 squad List current as of 28 September 2021