Season 26 – Player Report Card (Part 1)

2023 Storm Machine Player of the Year awards

jonnyforeigner

Sep 28, 2023

With his best season in Storm colours, Harry Grant is the winner of the 2023 Storm Machine Player of the Year award.

Storm Machine Player of the Year

Final Leaderboard

31 – Harry Grant

24 – Jahrome Hughes

20 – Cameron Munster

18 – Nick Meaney

10 – Christian Welch, Trent Loiero, Will Warbrick, Eliesa Katoa

9 – Xavier Coates

7 – Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Josh King

5 – Tui Kamikamica

3 – Tepai Moeroa

2 – Alec MacDonald, Jonah Pezet, Justin Olam, Marion Seve, Young Tonumaipea, Sualauvi Fa’alogo, Jayden Nikorima

1 – Reimis Smith, Tom Eisenhuth, Grant Anderson

Editor’s note: I finally audited these scores this week after only tracking these on the review posts each week. There were a couple of calculation errors made which are corrected in the final leaderboard.

Report card

Melbourne used 34 players during the 2023 season a new club record.1 23 players received points in my voting system, up three from 2022.

Harry Grant

1st – 31 points in 15 appearances; 25 matches played, 9 tries.

Grant started the season strongly, scoring the match-winning try in golden point extra time against Parramatta in round 1, setting the tone for his best season for the club. A consistent player, he would gain points in both wins and losses (five points).

Grant averaged 74 minutes per game, increasing his tackles per game (up from 36.9 to 39.2), but this extra work in defence did see him make more errors and less metres in attack. In an effort to reduce his workload, he was used from the interchange late in the season, including the last two finals matches. This had mixed results for the team, with Grant’s enthusiasm not matched by his replacement Bronson Garlick, and his astute ball playing sorely needed against higher quality opposition.

A purple patch of form through the middle of the season saw the hooker score seven tries, including doubles against the Sharks and Titans at AAMI Park. Grant would miss only two matches for the season, one during Origin and the other the final round match against the Broncos.

Grant was named as the Dally M hooker of the year at the Dally M Awards, beating out Api Koroisau and Ethan Ward. He would also finish sixth in the overall Dally M Medal count, nine points behind winner Kalyn Ponga.

Best game: round 15 versus Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Jahrome Hughes

2nd – 24 points in 11 appearances; 22 matches played, 7 tries.

A suspension early in the season saw Hughes sidelined for a couple of matches, coupled with niggling injuries which saw him not at his best until mid-season. An excellent run through the middle of the season saw him return to some of the form that saw him win the Cameron Smith Medal2 in 2021. However a late season injury saw him miss the semi final against the Roosters and like many didn’t have a good finish to the year against Penrith.

Hughes formed a lethal combination on Melbourne’s right edge this season, with the halfback credited with 23 try assists in his 22 appearances, equal with his output in 2021. He scored his 50th career try in the victory over St George Illawarra at Wollongong late in the season.

Best game: round 22 versus Gold Coast Titans

Cameron Munster

3rd – 20 points in 11 appearances; 22 matches played, 8 tries, 1 goal, 1 field goal.

When Cameron Munster was on in 2023, he was unstoppable. There were moments of absolute brilliance, with the five-eighth amazing in the weeks following his return from a horrible finger injury in round 1.

As the year went on though, Munster was often found trying to do too much to connect in Melbourne’s sometimes spluttering attack. A knee infection seemed to cause issues late in the season, and he wasn’t able to inspire Melbourne in the same way that he was last year when he swept this award in 2022 and took home his second Cameron Smith Medal. Will be better for a longer preseason in 2024 and has already intimated that he’ll be using that time to work on his defence which didn’t seem to click into gear on the left edge.

Munster was nominated as the five-eighth of the year at the Dally M Awards, with Ezra Mam taking the honour ahead of Munster and Cody Walker. He would finish in the top 20 in the overall Dally M Medal count with 31 points.

Best game: round 6 versus Sydney Roosters

Nick Meaney

4th – 18 points in 9 appearances; 25 matches played, 10 tries, 91 goals.

Given the role at fullback for the entire season, Meaney made the position his own in 2023. Down games were few and far between, with his defensive efforts especially crucial in keeping Melbourne in the hunt. His ability to chime in with Hughes especially on the right edge in attack led to Meaney having career highs in try assists (12) and line-break assists (12).

Meaney missed only two games for the season, with the one meaningful game he missed (round 7 vs Manly) notably a bad night for Melbourne. He would score 222 points for the season, becoming only the fourth Melbourne player to score over 200 points in a season.

Best game: semi final versus Sydney Roosters

Christian Welch

Equal 5th – 10 points in 8 appearances; 25 matches played, 2 tries.

After missing almost all of the 2022 season, now sole captain Welch had a reasonable season in the Storm forward pack.

Statistically, his average run metres of 91m per game was down on his career high of 123m per game in 2021, but Welch was able to get over the line for two tries in 2023, breaking his drought against the Canberra Raiders in round 24, backing that try up with another a fortnight later against the Gold Coast Titans. Both tries coming through running good lines off the back of Harry Grant passes from dummy half.

While some have questioned his leadership, given he plays limited minutes (average 47 minutes per game), there’s no one else who could have done a better job for the club in season 2023.

Best game: round 11 versus Brisbane Broncos

Trent Loiero

Equal 5th – 10 points in 10 appearances; 26 matches played, 2 tries.

Stepping up to be an 80 minute player in 2023, Loiero had a consistent season on the left edge, although he did tail off at the end of the campaign. I had him scoring points in ten appearances, but never scoring more than one point in those matches. He did have a strong run of games between rounds 4 and 11, often being one of Melbourne’s stronger performer in some losses.

The young forward (he is still just 22), increased his minutes per game from 34 last season across 17 appearances to 78 minutes per game in 2023. Making his home on the left edge, his work in defence saw him make plenty of tackles, but that extra work may have inhibited any attacking threat, only contributing two tries and low numbers in line breaks and line break assists. It did feel that his best work in attack was more in the form of the grunt work done by the middle forwards. That meant he wasn’t able to display much in the way of second phase play which was in stark comparison to the right edge.

It will be interesting to see where the coaching staff deploy Loeiro in 2024, with many wanting him to move back to a more central role if another option can be found for that left edge to work with Cameron Munster.

Will Warbrick

Equal 5th – 10 points in 6 appearances; 25 matches played, 17 tries.

Favourite to win the club’s Billy Slater Rookie of the Year honour, Warbrick impressed in his first NRL season after spending 2022 learning the game with the Sunshine Coast Falcons. Making his debut in round 1 he would miss only two games for the season, scoring 17 tries including four against the Wests Tigers in round 16. His combination with Reimis Smith on the right flank was one of the highlights of the season, as was his speed and aerial ability to finish scoring movements. The right wing position is one of the more crucial positions in defence too, and he was able to come into his own as the season progressed.

Warbrick was nominated for the Dally M Rookie of the Year with Jahream Bula and winner Sunia Turuva.

Best game: round 16 versus Wests Tigers

Eliesa Katoa

Equal 5th – 10 points in 6 appearances; 21 matches played, 6 tries.

Coming across from the Warriors, Katoa was arguably Melbourne’s best forward in 2023. Increasing his workrate in both attack and defence, it won only a midseason injury that kept him from scoring more points.

He was a potent threat with the ball on the right edge, with his ability to offload and run good lines seeing Melbourne able to consistently break through the opposition’s line.

Best game: round 25 versus St George Illawarra Dragons

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Xavier Coates

9th – 9 points in 5 appearances; 21 matches played, 16 tries.

Scoring 16 tries for the season, Coates was again solid on the left wing, with a purple patch of tries coming between round 14 and 20 when he crossed over for eight tries in five games. Was at times starved of good opportunities on the left edge, but did increase his average metres per game and tackle breaks from his Storm debut season in 2022.

Feasted upon the Roosters scoring hat tricks in both games against the Tricolours, also scoring another hat trick against the Titans in round 26. An injury in the qualifying final against the Broncos a cruel end to his season.

Nelson Asofa-Solomona

Equal 10th – 7 points in 4 appearances; 20 matches played, 3 tries.

Played a few different roles in 2023, moving between starting and interchange middle foward positions, to a wider role on the edge in a few matches. His numbers in some key areas were a bit down on previous seasons as teams try to blunt his impact. When he’s in space though, there’s no harder man to stop in rugby league.

It will be interesting to see how big NAS is deployed next season as he quickly approaches his 200th appearance for the club, in what will be his 10th season in the NRL.

Asofa-Solomona was one of the nominations as prop forward of the year at the Dally M Awards.

Best game: round 8 versus New Zealand Warriors

Josh King

Equal 10th – 7 points in 6 appearances; 26 matches played, 3 tries.

Melbourne’s Iron Man, the only game he missed was when he was told in no uncertain terms to take a rest by Craig Bellamy, sitting out the round 26 match. Increasing his time on the field to an average of 65 minutes per game, King doubled his career tally of tries, scoring three for the season.

As a middle forward, King did much of the grunt work, averaging almost 100 metres per game and over 35 tackles per game. A low error and penalty conceded score made him the perfect player for Craig Bellamy, with the former Novocastrian becoming the 27th captain in club history when he had the honour of leading the club in the final round win over the Broncos.

Best game: round 5 versus South Sydney Rabbitohs

Continued in part two: