The 2015 Melbourne Storm season is the 18th in the club's history. They competed in the 2015 NRL season and were coached by Craig Bellamy, who was coach for the 13th consecutive season and captained by Cameron Smith, sole captain for the 8th consecutive season. He played his 300th NRL Game in Round 19 becoming only the 24th player in history to do so.
With the youngest Storm side assembled under Craig Bellamy, the team finished with a 14–10 record for the second consecutive season, securing a top-four spot on the final day of the season. In Week One of the finals, they played the minor premiers, the Sydney Roosters, who entered the match following a 12-game winning streak. The Storm won by two points but did not reach the Grand Final, losing to the Cowboys at home two weeks later. The Storm held their opponents to single-digit scores on six occasions during the season, including five matches against teams that finished in the top eight. Following Billy Slater's shoulder surgery in Round 10, Cameron Munster played at fullback for the remainder of the season. Cameron Smith and Craig Bellamy reached the 300-game milestone for the club as player and coach, respectively. Mark Evans left his position as CEO, and Dave Donaghy assumed the role.
Season summary Auckland Nines – The club competed in the second annual Auckland Nines competition over 31 January – 1 February. The Storm lost two of their three pool games thus not progressing to the final stage. Will Chambers captained the squad, with the team wearing sleeveless jerseys. February 7 – The Storm play Canberra in a preseason trial and go down 32–20 in very hot conditions. February 13 – Will Chambers and Jesse Bromwich represent Melbourne in the Annual All Star game. February 21 – The Storm complete their trial match period with a come from behind 32–30 win over Canterbury Bulldogs. The Storm added 24 points in the second half. Round 1 – The Storm commence the 2015 season with a win over St George Illawarra. Dale Finucane, Felise Kaufusi and Blake Green all make their playing debuts for the Storm. Ryan Hinchcliffe plays his 150th Game. Round 2 – Tom Learoyd-Lahrs makes his playing debut for the Storm. Round 4 – The Storm suffer their second loss of the season, during Golden Point extra time. The Storm lost the game after the Cowboys leveled the scores after being 17-10 down with 5 minutes remaining in normal time. Round 7 – A last-minute field goal from Cooper Cronk secures the club a 17–16 win over the Sydney Roosters in a high quality match played in heavy rain at AAMI Park. Round 8 – Nelson Asofa-Solomona makes his playing debut after being elevated from the NYC team. 1 May – Representative weekend – 15 Storm Players are chosen to represent the various teams over representative weekend Round 9 – Christian Welch makes his playing debut after being elevated from the NYC team. Billy Slater scores two tries on his return game following a shoulder injury. The tries take Slater's career total to 172, surpassing Ken Irvine's Australian record for most tries with a single first grade club. Melbourne equal their biggest win of the season thus far defeating the Eels by 18 points. Round 12 – The Storm suffer their worst loss of the season thus far losing to the Roosters by 22 points. The storm failed to score a try in the match. Round 13 – The Storm bounced back from the Round 12 loss with their biggest win of the season so far with a 20 nil win over the Panthers. Richard Kennar also makes his playing debut. Round 14 – The storm suffer a narrow loss against the Eels playing without their State of Origin representatives. Hymel Hunt plays his first game for the Storm since transferring from the Titans. Round 18 – The Storm suffer their fourth consecutive loss in a 28–14 loss to the Warriors. Round 19 – Cameron Smith joined an elite group in NRL circles as he lined up for his 300th Melbourne Storm and NRL Game becoming only the 24th player to achieve this. The game was also notable as it became the Storms biggest win for the season thus far (42 points) and also scored their highest total (52 points) thus far scoring 10 tries. Round 20 – The Storm will stage a home game in McLean Park in Napier New Zealand. Storm player Tohu Harris has designed the jersey for the game which takes in his New Zealand, Polynesian and Maori Heritage Round 21 – Cameron Smith sets another record as he captained Melbourne Storm for the 200th time against Wests Tigers. Mahe Fonua also played his 50th game. Round 22 – Cameron Munster scores a Hat-trick of tries as the Storm beat Gold Coast by 22 points Round 23 – Kevin Proctor plays his 150th NRL Game in the Storm's big win over Cronulla Sharks. Rounds 25 and 26 – The Storm complete the regular season with two hard fought wins over Cowboys and Broncos. Both teams also finished the season in the Top 4. The two wins mean the Storm finished the season in the Top 4. Finals Week 1 – The Storm defeat the 1st placed Sydney Roosters in an upset 20–18 to secure a week off and a Home Preliminary Final in Week 3. Finals Week 3 – The Storm suffer defeat in their home Preliminary Final against the North Queensland Cowboys ending their 2015 season one game short of the Grand Final. The game was also notable as the attendance of 29,315 spectators was officially the highest attendance so far at AAMI Park for a Storm game.
Milestone games Round Player MilestoneRound 1 Dale Finucane Storm debutRound 1 Blake Green Storm debutRound 1 Felise Kaufusi NRL debutRound 1 Ryan Hinchcliffe 150th Storm gameRound 2 Tom Learoyd-Lahrs Storm debutRound 8 Nelson Asofa-Solomona NRL debutRound 9 Christian Welch NRL debutRound 13 Richard Kennar NRL debutRound 14 Hymel Hunt Storm debutRound 19 Cameron Smith 300th gameRound 21 Mahe Fonua 50th gameRound 23 Kevin Proctor 150th game
Fixtures
Preseason
Source:
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Source31 JanuaryAuckland Nines Pool Game North Queensland Cowboys Eden Park, Auckland, New ZealandLoss8-17 31 JanuaryAuckland Nines Pool Game Penrith Panthers Eden Park, Auckland, New ZealandWin20-41 FebruaryAuckland Nines Pool Game South Sydney Rabbitohs Eden Park, Auckland, New ZealandLoss24-47 FebruaryTrial 1 Canberra Raiders E.W. Moore Oval, Griffith, New South Wales Loss32-20 14 FebruaryTrial 2 Eastern Suburbs Tigers Gosch's Paddock, Melbourne Win44-1221 FebruaryTrial 3 Canterbury Bulldogs AAMI Park, Melbourne Win32-30
Regular season Result by round
Matches Source: FG - Field Goal GP - Golden Point extra time
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals/Field Goals Report9 March1 St George-Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium, Wollongong Win4-12Tonumaipea, ChambersSmith 2/2 14 March2 Manly Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval, ManlyLoss24-22Green (2), Tonumaipea, Chambers Smith 3/4 21 March3 Cronulla Sharks AAMI Park, Melbourne Win36-18Harris (2), Cronk, Smith, Koroibete, ChambersSmith 6/630 March4 North Queensland Cowboys1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville Loss18-17 (GP)Mann, Koroibete, KaufusiSmith 2/3, Cronk 1/2 (FG)6 April5 New Zealand Warriors AAMI Park, Melbourne Win30-14Koroibete (2), Fonua, Glasby, ChambersSmith 5/512 April6 Canberra Raiders GIO Stadium, Canberra Win10-14Fonua, MunsterSmith 3/318 April7 Sydney Roosters AAMI Park, Melbourne Win17-16Koroibete, Kaufusi, ChambersSmith 2/3, Cronk 1/1 (FG)25 April8 Manly Sea Eagles AAMI Park, MelbourneLoss10-12Koroibete, CronkSmith 1/210 May9 Parramatta EelsPirtek Stadium, ParramattaWin10-28Slater (2), Koroibete, Chambers, FinucaneSmith 4/516 May10 South Sydney Rabbitohs AAMI Park, Melbourne Win16-12J Bromwich, ChambersSmith 4/424 May11Bye1 June12 Sydney RoostersAllianz Stadium, SydneyLoss24-2-Smith 1/16 June13 Penrith PanthersSportingbet Stadium, PenrithWin0-20Green (2), MunsterSmith 4/415 June14 Parramatta EelsAAMI Park, MelbourneLoss22-26Harris, Hampton, Green, HuntHarris 3/4 21 June15 Brisbane BroncosAAMI Park, MelbourneLoss12-14Green (2)Smith 2/2 29 June16 Canterbury Bulldogs Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney Loss20-4KoroibeteSmith 0/1 6 July17Bye12 July18 New Zealand WarriorsMt Smart Stadium, AucklandLoss28-14K Bromwich (2), KoroibeteSmith 1/317 July19 Penrith Panthers AAMI Park, Melbourne Win52-10Cronk (2), Proctor (2), Koroibete (2), Harris, Green, Fonua, KennarSmith 6/1025 July20 St George Illawarra Dragons McLean Park, Napier Win22-4Asofa-Solomona, Koroibete, Proctor, FonuaSmith 3/431 July21 Wests TigersLeichhardt Oval, BalmainLoss34-16Koroibete (2), J BromwichSmith 2/3 9 August22 Gold Coast Titans AAMI Park, Melbourne Win36-14Munster (3), Duffle (2), Koroibete, ChambersSmith 4/717 August23 Cronulla SharksRemondis Stadium, CronullaWin2-30Duffie (2), J Bromwich, Finucane, MunsterSmith 5/5 24 August24 Newcastle Knights AAMI Park, Melbourne Loss6-20MunsterSmith 1/1 29 August25 North Queensland CowboysAAMI Park, MelbourneWin14-6K Bromwich, ChambersSmith 2/2 3 September26 Brisbane BroncosSuncorp Stadium, BrisbaneWin8-15Mann (2), ChambersSmith 1/3, Cronk 1/1 (FG)
Finals Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals/Field Goals Report11 September1st Qualifying Final - Week 1 Sydney Roosters Allianz Stadium, SydneyWin18-20Koroibete, Mann, GlasbySmith 4/426 September1st Preliminary Final - Week 3 North Queensland Cowboys AAMI Park, MelbourneLoss12-32Cronk, HarrisSmith 2/2
Ladder
2015 Coaches Craig Bellamy -Head Coach Justin Morgan - Assistant Coach Anthony Seibold - Assistant Coach Nathan Brown -Coaching Consultant Tony Ayoub -Head Physiotherapist
2015 Squad As of 20 June 2015
CapNat.Player namePositionFirst Storm GamePrevious First Grade RL club55Cameron Smith (c)HK2002 Melbourne Storm58Billy SlaterFB2003 Melbourne Storm73Cooper CronkHB2004 Melbourne Storm97Will ChambersCE2007 Queensland Reds105Kevin ProctorSR2008 Melbourne Storm110Ryan HinchcliffeHK2009 Canberra Raiders119Jesse BromwichPR2010 Melbourne Storm124Matt DuffieWG, CE, FB2010 Melbourne Storm143Mahe FonuaCE, WG2012 Melbourne Storm144Tohu HarrisSR, LK, FE2013 Melbourne Storm147Slade GriffenHK, LK2013 Melbourne Storm149Kenny BromwichPR, SR, LK2013 Melbourne Storm150Jordan McLeanPR2013 Melbourne Storm152Ben HamptonFE, HB, FB2013 Melbourne Storm153Tim GlasbyPR, SR2013 Melbourne Storm 154Young TonumaipeaWG, FB2014 Melbourne Storm 157Dayne WestonPR, SR2014 Penrith Panthers 158Kurt MannFE, FB, HB, CE2014 Melbourne Storm159Joel RomeloFE, HK, HB, LK2014 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs160Cameron MunsterFE, FB, HB, HK2014 Melbourne Storm161Marika KoroibeteWG2014 Wests Tigers162Blake GreenFE, HB2015 Wigan Warriors163Dale FinucanePR, SR, LK2015 Canterbury Bulldogs164Felise KaufusiPR2015 North Queensland Cowboys165Tom Learoyd-LahrsPR, SR2015 Canberra Raiders166Nelson Asofa-SolomonaSR, PR2015 Melbourne Storm167Christian WelchSR, PR2015 Melbourne Storm168Richard KennarWG2015 Melbourne Storm169Hymel HuntCE, WG2015 Gold Coast TitansTravis RobinsonWG, CE, FBYet to Debut Penrith PanthersDean BrittSRYet to Debut Melbourne StormBilly BrittainHKYet to Debut Melbourne StormShaun NonaFEYet to Debut Northern PrideCharnze Nicoll-KlokstadCE, WG, SR, LK, FBYet to Debut Melbourne StormAaron TeroiHK, HBYet to Debut Melbourne Storm
Player movements
Source NRL.com:
Losses
Mitch Garbutt to Brisbane Broncos Rhys Kennedy to Canberra Raiders Ryan Hoffman to New Zealand Warriors Matthew Lodge to Wests Tigers Junior Moors to Castleford Tigers Bryan Norrie to Retirement Justin O'Neill to North Queensland Cowboys Ben Roberts to Castleford Tigers George Rose to St George Illawarra Dragons Cody Walker to South Sydney Rabbitohs Sisa Waqa to Canberra Raiders
Gains
Dale Finucane from Canterbury Bulldogs Blake Green from Wigan Warriors Tom Learoyd-Lahrs from Canberra Raiders Shaun Nona from Northern Pride
Representative honours The following players played representative matches in 2015. (C) = Captain