It’s only February, so let’s ease back into rugby league mode with a quick recap of the Storm related and adjacent news since last season finished.
Oh there’s also a trial match this week at Belmore Sports Ground against the Bulldogs. There’s a very short preview at the end of this post.
Storm said yes, Brett Ralph said no
The referendum was a chance for Australia to get on the right path. Of course as a country that was rejected. Sigh.
Well done to Briggs though for calling out Storm minority shareholder Brett Ralph for his support of the no vote and the Advance Australia jabronis.
Castore out, O’Neills in
In a welcome surprise in November, the club ended their association with British sportswear company Castore, switching to Irish company O’Neills. The announcement coming with new jerseys1 and a new merchandise range.
There was also a new range of New Era headwear launched, which oddly included this beanie which if my eyes don’t deceive me is black?2
If we could stop using black in Storm merchandise, that would be great please and thank you. When I first saw that beanie, it reminded me of this one from the Manchester Storm ice hockey club who play in the EIHL.
Of course I was then distracted by this jersey in their current range and will likely be wearing that sometime down the line…3
2023 Dally M points
An addendum for the Season 26 review post, the NRL website didn’t want to post the full points breakdown from the revised Dally M voting, so it was left to David Middleton to finally publish the details when his Annual was released in December.
Harry Grant (47 points, polling in 12 matches)
Cameron Munster (31 points, polling in 11 matches)
Jahrome Hughes (29 points, polling in nine matches)
Nick Meaney (16 points, polling in seven matches)
Eliesa Katoa (10 points, polling in three matches)
Xavier Coates (8 points, polling in four matches)
Will Warbrick (7 points, polling in two matches)
Nelson Asofa-Solomona (6 points, polling in two matches)
Jonah Pezet (4 points, polling in two matches)
Tyran Wishart (4 points, polling in two matches)
Josh King (4 points, polling in three matches)
Trent Loiero (3 points, polling in one match)
Jayden Nikorima (3 points, polling in one match)
Ryan Papenhuyzen (2 points, polling in one match)
Christian Welch (2 points, polling in one match)
Justin Olam swaps with Shawn Blore
After a summer of speculation, Justin Olam was given an early release from his Melbourne Storm contract, signing a three-year deal with the struggling Tigers. Hopefully Melbourne aren’t paying much of his salary there, but those details weren’t released.
Coming from the Tigers with immediate effect was forward Shawn Blore. He had previously signed a contract to join Melbourne following the 2024 season, but is now with the Storm a season early.
If he can stay on the park, Blore will offer some good depth in the forward pack, but whether or not he gets good game time might come down to if he’s a better option than a combination of Tepai Moeroa, Alec MacDonald and Bronson Garlick.
Bellamy’s final ride?
It does feel like 20201234 might be Craig Bellamy’s last as head coach. Well that’s according to this chat with New Corp’s Brent Read.
This was an interesting read breaking down what went wrong at the back end of the 2023 season, and that leadership was an issue.4
Melbourne Rebels enter administration
Melbourne’s irrelevant, unloved and unwanted Yawnion team entered into voluntary administration in late January.
Good.
Hopefully the Victorian Government realises the sunk cost fallacy and declines to bail out the struggling code. Removing the Rebels from AAMI Park helps the turf and allows the actual tenants to better utilise the MOPT facilities.
Cameron Munster’s between the ears issue
Interesting quotes from this SMH piece with Munster admitting that it wasn’t injury that was affecting his form last season.
I probably just lacked confidence. I know that sounds silly to hear because I’m a pretty confident kid.
I didn’t think his form was too bad last year, but he was less effective in the second half of the season.
Jahrome Hughes wants to be consistent
Speaking to the media at the annual Geelong Grammar training camp, this year held over two weeks, Hughes spoke about his need to step up again in 2024:
Playing more of a leadership role, especially after losing some pretty experienced members in the last couple of years, I feel like myself and a couple of other boys need to step up in that area.
NRL.com Round 1 predicted team
I’m a sucker for shit like this, especially when it’s publish it in January a full two months before round 1. I get that they’re desperate for clicks, but please take several seats and calm down.
However, if this is Melbourne’s round 1 team (where’s Alec MacDonald dammit) I would be very surprised. But hey, it’s all for the content right?
Storm Family Day and $10k kickoff
On Friday 2 February, the club kicked off the 2024 season with a goalkicking contest at Gosch’s Paddock.
Your humble correspondent had a crack… and failed miserably. I believe my shoe went further and higher than the Steeden.5 Oh well. Of course the guy who won the day was the kicker straight after my woeful attempt.
Thankfully I didn’t make the highlight reel.
The following day was the club’s family day. I didn’t attend this year, but it looked like people had a fun day out. I do note though that this particular weekend every year isn’t the best time to have the family day. Tracking Melbourne’s weather – the first weekend of February is usually boiling hot and some of the players are usually absent due to #wrongpriorities commitments. This year it was the Queenslanders who were away filming commercials.6
Harry Grant appointed club captain
A few days after the family day, the club surprisingly announced that Harry Grant would be replacing Christian Welch as club captain.
Grant was vice-captain in 2023 with Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster. Both playmakers return as vice-captains in 2024, with Tui Kamikamica, Josh King and Ryan Papenhuyzen completing the leadership group.
Hopefully Christian Welch will be able to regain his best form without the © by his name in 2024, after 26 games as club captain.
Other news…
Cam Smith stepped away from coaching duties at the QLD Maroons as he took on more responsibility at the Currumbin Eagles where his children play junior rugby league.
Melbourne Storm were the most supported club in the country, with a reported 1.19 million fans, according to the Roy Morgan research.
Frank Ponissi was appointed the NSW Blues Team Performance Manager, with Cameron Munster later calling him a rat.7
If you’re interested in the future of the MOPT precinct, there’s some interesting tidbits in this article in The Age.8
There was an idiotic story in October when various parts of the media north of the Murray rumoured that Ryan Papenhuyzen was “being shopped around.” It was quickly shut down.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona knocked out Jarrod Wallace in his professional boxing debut.
Juniors watch
Melbourne Storm’s Harold Matthews Cup and SG Ball Cup squads started their season on the first weekend of February in the NSWRL junior representatives competitions.
The U15 HM Cup team played out a 12-all draw with North Sydney, while the U17 SG Ball Cup team defeated the Bears 32-16.
The HM Cup team lost in round 2 to Wests Magpies, with the SG Ball Cup team playing a 24–all draw with the Magpies.
Both teams will be playing their home matches this season at the NRL Victoria / Melbourne Storm Academy ground at Seabrook Reserve in Broadmeadows.
Trial Match 1 — Preview
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs vs Melbourne Storm
7pm Thursday 15 February @ Belmore Sports Ground
This will be Melbourne’s fifth official trial match against the Bulldogs, with the boys from Belmore winning three of the previous four meetings between the teams.
23 February 2014 — Suncorp Stadium: Bulldogs def Storm 20–10
21 February 2015 — AAMI Park: Storm defeated Bulldogs 32–30
20 February 2016 — Belmore: Bulldogs defeated Storm 20–0
16 February 2017 — North Hobart Oval: Bulldogs defeated Storm 28–24
Melbourne have played one trial previously on 15 February, defeating Manly 56–10 at Gosford in 2008.
As for this game, as long as no one picks up any serious injuries, the scoreboard really doesn’t matter. With the NRL’s preseason challenge in its second year, I can’t see Melbourne bothering too much with winning the pittance on offer, so hopefully we see some interesting combinations at work both in this match and the second trial against the Knights in Fiji.
Which I will wait to see how they look on field before passing judgment.
The beanie, along with the bucket hats and caps also look like the navy blue is black, but having seen them in the wild they seem to be navy blue.
I have been to a Manchester Storm game played at their home ice at Planet Ice Altrincham on my last trip to the UK.
FORESHADOWING… given “leadership coach” Joel Selwood ended his one-year stint at the club, and 2023 captain Christian Welch was relegated to the bench late in the season, does this add up to further changes? Yes, yes it did.
I probably should have worn boots, but that might have indicated a level of skill that I sadly do not possess.
and Tiktok videos
#banter
Sending Collingwood back to Abbotsford should be priority once the Rebels are vanquished.