The 2024 NRL draw was released on 13 November and initial reactions for the 27th season of Melbourne Storm range from “ooft” to “what?”
2024 fixture
vs Penrith Panthers — AAMI Park, Friday 8 March
vs New Zealand Warriors — AAMI Park, Saturday 16 March
vs Newcastle Knights — McDonald Jones Stadium, Sunday 24 March
Bye
vs Brisbane Broncos — AAMI Park, Thursday 4 April
vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs — AAMI Park, Friday 12 April
vs Sydney Roosters — Allianz Stadium, Thursday 18 April
vs South Sydney Rabbitohs — AAMI Park, Thursday 25 April
vs Gold Coast Titans — Cbus Super Stadium, Saturday 4 May
vs Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks — AAMI Park, Saturday 11 May
vs Parramatta Eels — Suncorp Stadium, Sunday 19 May
vs Manly Warringah Sea Eagles — 4 Pines Park, Friday 24 May
Bye
vs Newcastle Knights — AAMI Park, Sunday 9 June
vs New Zealand Warriors — Go Media Stadium, Saturday 15 June
vs
RedcliffeDolphins — Suncorp Stadium, Friday 21 Junevs Canberra Raiders — AAMI Park, Saturday 29 June
vs Wests Tigers — Leichhardt Oval, Saturday 6 July
Bye
vs Sydney Roosters — AAMI Park, Saturday 20 July
vs Parramatta Eels — CommBank Stadium, Friday 26 July
vs St George Illawarra Dragons — AAMI Park, Saturday 3 August
vs South Sydney Rabbitohs — Accor Stadium, Thursday 8 August
vs Penrith Panthers — BlueBet Stadium, Thursday 15 August
vs
RedcliffeDolphins — AAMI Park, Saturday 24 Augustvs North Queensland Cowboys — Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Thursday 29 August
vs Brisbane Broncos — Suncorp Stadium, Thursday 5 September
Notes
Melbourne play 12 matches of a possible 14 against the 2023 NRL finalists.
Melbourne’s extraordinary round 1 win streak will face a tough test against the reigning premiers at AAMI Park.
There are seven #SackThursdayNightFootball matches in 2024, including five away matches. Four of those coming in a lopsided final month of the season which features consecutive away matches in Sydney and Queensland.
Melbourne’s three byes come at Easter, before Origin I and Origin III. Melbourne will be without any players selected ahead of the Origin II match in Melbourne, with the Dolphins the recipient of that bonus. Representative players will be required to back up in home matches against the Knights, Raiders and Roosters.
The Warriors request for a home match on ANZAC Day has seen them granted a match against the Titans, with the Rabbitohs now featuring at AAMI Park.1
There will be a few games where Melbourne will face their next opponents in a compressed week on short rest – Manly in round 12, Souths in round 23, and the Cowboys in round 26.
Melbourne will have 11 home games at AAMI Park, with the extremely wealthy club owners having signed away the 12th match as part of the NRL’s Magic Round. It’s understood that this is the final year of that contract, and if the NRL move Magic Round away from Brisbane, that could mean the return of 12 matches in Victoria for the first time since 2014.2
Breakdown by time slots:
Thursday night – 7 (two home, five away)
Friday (early) – 1 (home)
Friday (late) – 4 (one home, three away)
Saturday 3pm – 0
Saturday 5:30pm – 5 (two home, three away)
Saturday 7:30pm – 4 (all home)
Sunday 2pm – 1 (home)
Sunday 4pm – 1 (away)
Sunday 6:15pm – 1 (away)
Analysis
That’s a tough a fixture as I’ve seen. The only team that Melbourne plays twice that weren’t in the hunt for finals in 2023 is the Dolphins, who will make their first appearance in Victoria late in the season. There’s a number of weeks where Melbourne will be on short rest and all of them involve interstate travel. Without any new signings3 it will be fascinating to see how Melbourne improve enough to either bridge the gap to the 2023 grand finalists, or maintain their position in the top four.
From a fan perspective, this isn’t good news for Victorian rugby league fans. 11 home matches again, no trial matches, and multiple away matches in unfriendly travel time slots.4 It would be nice to play Canberra away for a nice drive up the Hume, but alas that’s not a thing. Also, the trip around the condemned Suburban Shitholes of The Bad Place again includes the Lilyfield Rectangle. Sigh. Melbourne’s first appearance at the new SFS will (of course) be on a Thursday night because we can’t have anything nice.
One more thing
Melbourne ditching Castore for O’Neills seems like a good move. I’ll wait until I’ve seen the new jerseys in person and on the field before doing a review.
Did enjoy this from the club’s digital team, albeit multiple clubs had the same concept to copy the work of the Tennessee Titans.
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This too was very good.
If the Warriors really wanted to host Melbourne on ANZAC Day, they should have waited for 2025 or 2026 when they could have had the Friday evening or Saturday evening time slots. Making their case this time around sees them relegated to an afternoon slot. I suspect Storm management might have conceded the fixture’s rotation next season in any event. Also, for those north of the Murray complaining about Melbourne getting one (1) marquee match each season (and I’ve seen people suggesting its a News Corp thing, despite the club having no affiliation with News for over a decade), your hatred is our jet fuel.
Having said that, I wouldn’t hold your breath. Melbourne will probably be roped into the idiotic Las Vegas matches in 2025.
Bueller?
Pending the AFL draw, it’s hard to see many viable away days that I’ll be able to do in 2024.