2018 Melbourne Storm season
The 2018 Melbourne Storm season was the 21st in the club's history. They competed in the 2018 NRL season and did so as the reigning Premiers and Minor Premiers. The team was coached by Craig Bellamy, coaching the club for his 16th consecutive season. Melbourne Storm was also captained by Cameron Smith, who has been the sole captain for the team since 2008 — making it his 11th consecutive season.
In 2018, the club celebrated its 20th Anniversary, which was launched on 30 October 2017 with the announcement that a new logo would feature for the duration of the 20 year celebrations including on a newly designed jersey.
At the conclusion of the 2018 NRL regular season, the Storm finished on 34 competition points, the Storm ultimately finished second due to having a slightly inferior points difference and therefore missed winning the Minor Premiership, the second placed finish, however, ensured a home final in Week 1 of the finals series. The Storm won both their Qualifying final and Preliminary finals qualifying them for their third straight Grand Final however they were ultimately beaten in the decider and therefore finished the season runners up.
Season summary
- 2018 World Club Challenge - The Melbourne Storm commenced their season by competing in the annual World Club Challenge against the 2017 Super League premiers Leeds Rhinos, the match was under a cloud until on 3 November 2017 it was announced that it would be played in Australia at AAMI Park due to the disruptions to the Storm preseason caused by the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. The Storm prevailed 38-4 to become World Club Champions and in doing so became the fifth Australian team to hold the treble. It was the first World Club Challenge in Australia since 2014 and only the fourth in history.
- 2 March 2018 - Melbourne Storm announce their team of the first 20 years during a celebratory night at Crown Palladium. The 17-man line-up is made up of the greatest players to have pulled on the purple jersey over the last two decades.
- Round 1 - Melbourne Storm open the season with a victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs. This marks the 16th consecutive season that they have won their opening game of the season and also this was their 11th consecutive victory making this their equal 4th best winning streak. Sam Kasiano also made his Storm debut.
- Round 2 - Billy Slater played his 300th Game. Kenny Bromwich also played his 100th Game.
- Round 4- The narrow loss to Cronulla was notable for the game having 33 penalties called and Cameron Smith being sin-binned for the first time in his career.
- Round 5 - Was Craig Bellamy's 400th as coach. The Storm lose the match by 1 point and thus mean't that now 2018 was the worst start to a season since 2004.
- Round 6 - Storm return to the winners list with a 40-14 win over Newcastle Knights. Sam Kasiano scored his first try for the Storm.
- Round 8 - ANZAC Day: Storm score a 40 point win over the second placed NZ Warriors with Cameron Smith scoring 9 Goals from as many attempts.
- Round 9 - Josh Addo-Carr scores three tries, in the loss to the Dragons. Justin Olam also makes his playing debut.
- Round 12 - Sam Kasioano and Dale Finucare both play their 150th NRL games in the one point win over the Cowboys.
- 30 May 2018 - Young Tonumaipea announces he will leave the club to take up a Mormon mission in Germany.
- Round 16 - Melbourne Score a field goal in the final minute to win 9-8 over the Roosters in Adelaide. Patrick Kaufusi made his playing debut for the Storm.
- Round 17 - Melbourne Score 4 tries in the last 15 minutes to over power the Dragons in a high scoring game 52-30. Albert Vete makes his storm debut after transferring from the New Zealand Warriors earlier in the week and Christian Welch played his 50th Game. Young Tonumaipea also played his final game for the Storm.
- Round 19 - Melbourne Storm defeat the New Zealand Warriors 12 - 6 in Auckland. The win placed the Storm in 1st place on the Ladder for the first time this season.
- 8 August 2018 - Billy Slater announces that he will retire from Rugby League at the end of the 2018 NRL season
- Round 24 - Storm defeat Titans 10 - 8 to move to outright first on the Ladder.
- Round 25 - The Storm are defeated by the Panthers therefore finishing the season on 34 points. This created NRL history, as due to other results, all teams in the top four finished equal on 34 points ensuring the closest finish to a season for the first time in the games 111 year history. Scott Drinkwater also played his first game and also scored his first try.
Milestone games
Fixtures
Pre-season
1Storm players that did not play in the World Club Challenge played the Trial game.Regular season
Source:- GP = Golden Point Extra Time
- = Penalty Try
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Mel. | Opp. | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | Report |
| 10 March | 1 | Perth Stadium, Perth | Win | 36 | 18 | J Addo-Carr, R Jacks, C Scott, K Bromwich, S Vunivalu | C Smith 6/6 | |||
| 17 March | 2 | Wests Tigers | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Loss | 8 | 10 | S Vunivalu | C Smith 2/3 | ||
| 22 March | 3 | North Queensland Cowboys | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 30 | 14 | J Stimson, C Welch, W Chambers, N Asofa-Solomona | C Smith 6/6, B Croft 1/2 | ||
| 30 March | 4 | Cronulla Sharks | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 4 | 14 | J. Stimson 2/2 | |||
| 7 April | 5 | Wests Tigers | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 10 | 11 | B Slater | B Croft 3/3 | ||
| 13 April | 6 | Newcastle Knights | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 40 | 14 | J Addo-Carr, S Vunivalu, T Glasby, F Kaufusi, S Kasiano | C Smith 6/8 | ||
| 20 April | 7 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | Win | 34 | 20 | J Addo-Carr, B Smith, W Chambers, S Vunivalu | C Smith 5/7 | ||
| 25 April | 8 | New Zealand Warriors | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 50 | 10 | R Jacks, J Addo-Carr, R Hoffman, C Welch, B Slater, Y Tonumaipea | C Smith 9/9 | ||
| 6 May | 9 | St George-Illawarra Dragons | UOW Jubilee Oval, Sydney | Loss | 14 | 34 | J Addo-Carr | C Smith 1/3 | ||
| 12 May | 10 | Gold Coast Titans | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | Win | 28 | 14 | C Scott, F Kaufusi, C Munster, J Addo-Carr | C Smith 6/6 | ||
| 19 May | 11 | Manly Sea Eagles | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Loss | 4 | 24 | C Munster 2/2 | |||
| 25 May | 12 | North Queensland Cowboys | 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville | Win | 7 | 6 | C Smith | C Smith 1/2 | C Munster 1/1 | |
| 13 | Bye | - | ||||||||
| 10 June | 14 | Brisbane Broncos | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 32 | 16 | Y Tonumaipea, F Kaufusi, C Munster, S Vunivalu, J Hughes | C Smith 5/5 | ||
| 17 June | 15 | Newcastle Knights | McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle | Win | 28 | 10 | J Addo-Carr, R Jacks, S Vunivalu | C Smith 6/7 | ||
| 29 June | 16 | Sydney Roosters | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | Win | 9 | 8 | N Asofa-Solomona | C Smith 2/2 | C Smith 1/1, C Munster 0/2 | |
| 5 July | 17 | St George-Illawarra Dragons | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 52 | 30 | C Blair, C Scott, B Croft, R Hoffman, Y Tonumaipea, J Hughes, R Jacks, S Vunivalu | C Smith | ||
| 14 July | 18 | Manly Sea Eagles | Lottoland, Sydney | Win | 14 | 13 | S Vunivalu, B Croft | C Smith 3/3 | ||
| 22 July | 19 | New Zealand Warriors | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 12 | 6 | W Chambers, S Vunivalu | C Smith 2/4 | ||
| 28 July | 20 | Canberra Raiders | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 44 | 10 | C Scott, F Kaufusi, C Munster, S Vunivalu, J Addo-Carr, N Asofa-Solomona | C Smith 8/9 | ||
| 3 August | 21 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 20 | 30 | J Addo-Carr, D Finucane, C Scott | C Smith 2/4 | ||
| 22 | Cronulla Sharks | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Loss | 14 | 17 | S Vunivalu, B Slater | C Smith 1/3 | |||
| 23 | Parramatta Eels | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 20 | 4 | W Chambers, N Asofa-Solomona, C Scott | C Smith 3/3, B Croft 1/2 | |||
| 24 | Gold Coast Titans | Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast | Win | 10 | 8 | C Scott, C Munster | C Smith 1/2 | |||
| 25 | Penrith Panthers | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Loss | 16 | 22 | F Kaufusi, S Drinkwater | C Smith 4/5 |
Finals
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Mel. | Opp. | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | Report |
| 7 September | Week 1 - Qualifying Final | South Sydney Rabbitohs | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 29 | 28 | S Vunivalu, C Blair, C Scott | C Smith 4/6 | C Munster 1/1 | |
| 21 September | Week 3 - Preliminary Final | Cronulla Sharks | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 22 | 6 | B Slater, B Croft | C Smith 5/5 | ||
| 30 September | Week 4 - Grand Final | Sydney Roosters | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 6 | 21 | J Addo-Carr | C Smith 1/1 |
Ladder
Coaching staff
- Craig Bellamy - Head Coach
- Adam O’Brien - Assistant Coach
- Jason Ryles - Assistant Coach
- Ben Jack - U/20s Head Coach
- Marc Brentnall – Development Coach
- Aaron Bellamy – Development Coach
- Frank Ponissi - Football Director
- Nick Maxwell - Leadership Coach
- Craig McRae – Kicking & Catching Coach
- Scott Sipple - Easts Tigers Feeder Club Coach
- Craig Ingebrigtsen - Sunshine Coast Falcons Feeder Club Coach
2018 Squad
: This column denotes the previous RL club the player was signed to and played first grade RL for. If they are yet to debut then this is stipulated. If they were merely signed to the club but did not play then it is not counted.
Player movements
Source:Losses
- Jesse Arthars to South Sydney Rabbitohs
- Cooper Cronk to Sydney Roosters
- Charlie Galo to Released
- Slade Griffen to Newcastle Knights
- Tohu Harris to New Zealand Warriors
- Jeremy Hawkins to Released
- Vincent Leuluai to South Sydney Rabbitohs
- Jordan McLean to North Queensland Cowboys
- Nate Myles to Retired
- Mark Nicholls to South Sydney Rabbitohs
- Robbie Rochow to Wests Tigers
- Young Tonumaipea to Released Religious Missionary
- Jake Turpin to Released
- Sandor Earl from Unattached
- Tom Eisenhuth from Penrith Panthers
- Ryan Hoffman from New Zealand Warriors
- Cooper Johns from Manly Sea Eagles
- Sam Kasiano from Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
- Patrick Kaufusi from North Queensland Cowboys
- Kayleb Milne from New Zealand Rugby Union
- Ryan Papenhuyzen from Wests Tigers
- Marion Seve from Brisbane Broncos
- Billy Walters from Eastern Suburbs Tigers
- Albert Vete from New Zealand Warriors
Representative honours
| Player | State of Origin 1 | 2018 Pacific Rugby League Tests and Internationals | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | International Rugby League tests |
Squad statistics
Statistics Source:Statistics current as of the end of the 2018 NRL regular season
| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 22 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 68 | |
| 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | |
| 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | |
| 9 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 18 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 21 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 | |
| 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | |
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 | 1 | 88 | 1 | 181 | |
| 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |
| 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 52 | |
| 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 29 Players used | — | 85 | 97 | 2 | 536 |
Scorers
Most Points in a Game: 18 points
- Round 8: Cameron Smith vs. New Zealand Warriors
- Round 9: Josh Addo-Carr vs. St. George Illawarra Dragons
Highest score in a winning game: 52 points
- Round 17: vs. St. George Illawarra Dragons
- Round 12: vs. North Queensland Cowboys
- Round 8: vs. New Zealand Warriors
- Round 12 to Round 20
Highest score in a losing game: 20 points
- Round 21: vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs
- Round 4: vs. Cronulla Sharks
- Round 11: vs. Manly Sea Eagles
- Round 9: vs. St. George Illawarra Dragons
- Round 11: vs. Manly Sea Eagles
- Round 4 to Round 5
- Round 20 to Round 21
Jersey
On the front of the Jersey is the new Storm logo that was revealed on Monday as part of a launch of the 20-year celebrations. This logo is a temporary logo for the duration of the 20 year celebrations.
On 3 November 2017 the club revealed the new 20th Anniversary away jersey The away jersey is another tribute to the past with the Club’s iconic lightning bolts watermarked on the front of the jersey. The heritage colour of navy also features on the all white jersey, with horizontal stripes running across the bolts. Purple appears around the edging of the sleeves, identical to the home jersey.
On 24 January 2018 the club released its special jersey that will be worn in the 2018 World Club Challenge. The Jersey design is not new but the same as the design worn in the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines competition, with the new logos featuring on the front.
On 25 April 2018 - ANZAC Day - Melbourne Storm wore a special version of their 2017 Jersey with a red "Poppy" V to commemorate ANZAC Day.
Awards
Trophy Cabinet
- 2018 World Club Challenge Trophy
- 2018 Michael Moore Trophy
Melbourne Storm Awards Night
- Melbourne Storm Player of the Year: Cameron Munster
- Billy Slater Rookie of the Year: Brandon Smith
- Melbourne Storm Members' Player of Year: Cameron Munster
- Melbourne Storm Most Improved: Christian Welch
- Melbourne Storm Best Back: Billy Slater
- Melbourne Storm Best Forward: Dale Finucane
- Cooper Cronk Feeder Club Player of the Year: Scott Drinkwater
- Darren Bell U20s Player of the Year: Trent Toelau
- U20s Best Back:
- U20s Best Forward:
- Greg Brentnall Young Achievers Award: Haele Finau
- Mick Moore Club Person of the Year: Matthew Barradee
- Life Member Inductee: Jesse Bromwich, Adam O’Brien, John Donohue
- Chairman's Award: Ashley Tucker
- Best Try: Josh Addo-Carr, Round 8 v Warriors
Dally M Awards Night
- Dally M Captain of the Year: Cameron Smith
- Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year: Cameron Munster
Rugby League Players’ Association Awards Night
- RLPA Five-Eighth of the Year: Cameron Munster
- RLPA Prop of the Year: Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Additional Awards
- I Don’t Quit Iron Bar: Brandon Smith
- World Club Challenge Medal: Nelson Asofa-Solomona
- Spirit of ANZAC Medal: Billy Slater
- Wally Lewis Medal: Billy Slater
- QRL Ron McAuliffe Medal: Billy Slater