2005 Melbourne Storm season

Last updated
2005 Melbourne Storm season
NRL Rank6th
Play-off resultSemi-final Loss
2005 recordWins: 13; draws: 0; losses: 11
Points scoredFor: 640; against: 462
Team information
CEOBrian Waldron
Coach Craig Bellamy
Captain
Stadium Olympic Park
Avg. attendance8,898
High attendance12,149 (Round 4)
Top scorers
Tries Billy Slater (20)
Goals Matt Orford (63)
Points Matt Orford (172)
  2004 List of seasons 2006  

The 2005 Melbourne Storm season was the 8th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2005 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 6th out of 15 teams and making the finals. The season began with two big wins over the Knights and Dragons, each by more than 30 points. The form line followed a similar path to the previous season though as the team struggled to string consecutive wins together and hovered around the lower part of the eight for much of the season before ultimately finishing sixth once again. Future star Greg Inglis made his debut in Round 6. Storm finished the season with the second best defence in the competition and again went to Suncorp Stadium in Week One of the finals, producing the same result to defeat the Broncos. However for the third straight season the side was unable to progress past the semi-final stage, losing to the Cowboys. At the end of the season, Storm legends Robbie Kearns and Matt Geyer were inducted as inaugural life members of the Club. [1]

Contents

Season Summary

Milestone games

RoundPlayerMilestone
Round 1 Dennis Scott Storm debut
Round 1 Brett White NRL debut
Round 1 Cameron Smith 50th game
Round 2 Billy Slater 50th game
Round 3 Ian Donnelly Storm debut
Round 4 Jamie McDonald Storm debut
Round 4 Matt Geyer 500 points
Round 5 Alex Chan 50th game
Round 6 Greg Inglis NRL debut
Round 7 Jamie Feeney Storm debut
Round 11 Josh Graham NRL debut
Round 12 Dallas Johnson 50th game
Round 14 Tevita Metuisela Storm debut
Round 18 Glen Turner 50th game
Round 20 Steven Bell 100th game
Round 21 Ryan Hoffman 50th game

Jerseys

For the 2005 season, Melbourne signed a new apparel contract with Reebok. The home jersey remained largely unchanged from the 2001-02 design, but now with a simple navy blue T-shirt style collar. This meant the home jersey did not feature gold for the first time in team history.

A new white clash jersey was designed, featuring a large gold thunderbolt with purple block shadowing, which was partially obscured by the jersey advertiser Adecco. The clash jersey was worn with different navy blue shorts featuring the thunderbolt design on the right.

The clash jersey was worn on seven occasions during the regular season (rounds 5, 13, 14, 19, 21, 22, 26); with Melbourne only winning on one occasion against Wests Tigers. Both finals games were also played with Melbourne wearing the clash jersey.

Fixtures

Pre Season

DateRdOpponentVenueResultMel.Opp.TriesGoalsField goalsRef
5 FebruaryTrial Central Comets colours.svg Central Comets Browne Park, Rockhampton Won5818J Webster (2), M Brentnall (2), J Tatupu, R Shortland, T Metuisela, A Kaufusi, P RobinsonG Inglis (7) [9]
19 FebruaryTrial Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast Won2410S Turner, S Bell, J Smith, B Slater, G InglisS Turner (2) [10]
25 FebruaryTrial North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys Barlow Park, Cairns Won3018C Smith, R Kearns, B Slater, R Hoffman, J WebsterM Orford (3), C Smith, G Inglis [11] [12]

Regular season

Result by round

Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526
GroundHAAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAAHHA
ResultWWLWLLWLBWLWWLLWWWLWLLWBWL
Position11335766657666766343685556
Points24466688101212141616161820222224242426283030
Source: Rugby League Tables
A = Away; H = Home; N = Neutral; B = Bye; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Source: [13]

DateRdOpponentVenueResultMel.Opp.TriesGoalsField goalsRef
13 March1 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights Olympic Park, Melbourne Won4810B Slater (3), M Orford (2), C Cronk, R Hoffman, J Webster, B WhiteM Orford 4/5, M Geyer 2/2, C Smith 0/2 [14]
19 March2 St. George colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium, Wollongong Won4612S Bell (2), M Orford (2), R Kearns, M King, B Slater, C SmithM Orford 4/5, C Smith 3/4 [15]
27 March3 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval, Sydney Lost1825S Bell, C Cronk, B SlaterC Smith 3/3 [16]
2 April4 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos Olympic Park, Melbourne Won504M Geyer (2), M King (2), B Slater (2), J Webster (2), S Bell, R HoffmanM Orford 4/7, C Smith 1/3 [17]
8 April5 Panthers colours.svg Penrith Panthers CUA Stadium, Sydney Lost1636S Bell, A Chan, M KingM Orford 1/3, C Smith 1/1 [18]
16 April6 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Olympic Park, Melbourne Lost1426G Inglis, M King, M OrfordC Smith 1/2, M Orford 0/1 [19]
24 April7 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Canberra Stadium, Canberra Won4610M King (2), B Slater (2), M Geyer, S Hill, R Hoffman, J WebsterM Orford 4/5, C Smith 3/4 [20]
30 April8 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Olympic Park, Melbourne Lost1030P Robinson, D ScottM Orford 1/2 [21]
6 May9 Bye
14 May10 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs Aussie Stadium, Sydney Won3812G Turner (2), S Bell, A Chan, M Geyer, G Inglis, D Kidwell, M OrfordC Smith 3/8 [22]
21 May11 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Olympic Park, Melbourne Lost1626J Graham, R Kearns, D KidwellM Orford 2/3 [23]
29 May12 St. George colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons Olympic Park, Melbourne Won2416M King, M Orford, C Smith, G TurnerM Orford 3/4, C Smith 1/1 [24]
5 June13 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers Leichhardt Oval, Sydney Won3014B Slater (2), S Bell, M Geyer, J WebsterM Orford 3/3, C Smith 2/2 [25]
12 June14 Auckland colours.svg New Zealand Warriors Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Lost1624M Geyer (2), C CronkM Orford 2/4 [26]
18 June15 Panthers colours.svg Penrith Panthers Olympic Park, Melbourne Lost1428S Bell, M Geyer, M KingM Orford 1/3 [27]
25 June16 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs Olympic Park, Melbourne Won486B Slater (3), M Geyer (2), S Bell, D Kidwell, G Turner, J WebsterM Orford 4/7, C Smith 2/2 [28]
2 July17 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Sydney Showground, Sydney Won336G Inglis (2), B Slater (2), G TurnerM Orford 6/7M Orford [29]
9 July18 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Olympic Park, Melbourne Won200J Webster (2), S BellM Orford 2/3, C Smith 2/2 [30]
17 July19 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Lost1528D Johnson, M OrfordM Orford 3/4M Orford [31]
24 July20 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters Olympic Park, Melbourne Won2410D Johnson, D Kidwell, M King, B SlaterM Orford 3/4, C Smith 1/1 [32]
30 July21 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle Lost1837C Cronk, D Scott, B SlaterM Orford 2/2, C Smith 1/1 [33]
6 August22 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Toyota Park, Sydney Lost1640S Bell, A Kaufusi, J WebsterM Orford 1/1, C Smith 1/2 [34]
13 August23 Auckland colours.svg New Zealand Warriors Olympic Park, Melbourne Won2210M King (2), M Orford, B SlaterM Orford 3/4 [35]
20 August24 Bye
27 August25 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers Olympic Park, Melbourne Won3422S Bell, M Geyer, G Inglis, A Kaufusi, M Orford, C SmithM Orford 5/5, C Smith 0/1 [36]
3 September26 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville Lost2430S Bell, R Hoffman, G Inglis, D ScottM Orford 2/2, C Smith 4/5 [37]

Finals

Qualifying final
10 September 2005
Brisbane Broncos Brisbane colours.svg 18 - 24
[38]
Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm
Tries:
Scott Minto
Brett Seymour
Darren Smith
Goals:
Brett Seymour 3/4
Tries:
Greg Inglis
Matt King
Billy Slater
Jake Webster
Goals:
Matt Orford 2/2
Cameron Smith 2/2
Suncorp Stadium
Attendance: 25,193
Referee: Steve Clark

Ladder

PosTeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 2416082704456+24836
2 St. George colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons 2416082655510+14536
3 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 2415092597484+11334
4 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers (P)24140102676575+10132
5 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 24140102639563+7632
6 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 24130112640462+17830
7 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24120122550564-1428
8 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24120122554632-7828
9 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 24110132488487+126
10 Panthers colours.svg Penrith Panthers 24110132554554026
11 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 24100142515528-1324
12 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2491142472670-19823
13 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 2491142482700-21823
14 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 2490152465606-14122
15 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 2480162467667-20020

2005 Coaching Staff

2005 squad

List current as of 28 September 2021

Cap [lower-alpha 1] Nat.Player namePositionFirst Storm GamePrevious First Grade RL club [lower-alpha 2]
6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Scott Hill FE, LK 1998 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Hunter Mariners
10 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Robbie Kearns PR 1998 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Perth Reds
18 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt Geyer WG 1998 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Perth Reds
37 Flag of New Zealand.svg Glen Turner SR 2000 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
38 Flag of New Zealand.svg Peter Robinson SR 2000 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
43 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt Orford HB 2001 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Northern Eagles
44 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steven Bell CE 2001 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
55 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cameron Smith (c) HK 2002 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
58 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Billy Slater FB 2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
59 Flag of New Zealand.svg David Kidwell SR, LK 2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Sydney Roosters
60 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dallas Johnson SR, LK 2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
61 Flag of New Zealand.svg Jake Webster WG 2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
62 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ryan Hoffman SR, LK 2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
64 Flag of New Zealand.svg Robert Tanielu PR 2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brisbane Broncos
67 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nathan Friend HK 2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brisbane Broncos
68 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Antonio Kaufusi PR 2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
69 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt King CE 2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
71 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alex Chan PR 2004 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Parramatta Eels
72 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steve Turner FB, WG 2004 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Penrith Panthers
73 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cooper Cronk HB 2004 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
74 Flag of New Zealand.svg Jeremy Smith LK 2004 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
75 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dennis Scott SR 2005 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
76 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brett White PR 2005 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
77 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Donnelly PR 2005 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Manly Sea Eagles
78 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jamie McDonald PR 2005 Flag of Australia (converted).svg North Queensland Cowboys
79 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Greg Inglis CE, FB 2005 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
80 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jamie Feeney SR, LK 2005 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
81 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Josh Graham CE 2005 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
82 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tevita Metuisela PR 2005 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Sydney Roosters
- Flag of New Zealand.svg Ryan Shortland FE, CE Yet to Debut Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
- Flag of Australia (converted).svg Scott Anderson PR Yet to Debut Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
- Flag of Samoa.svg Sam Tagataese SR, PR Yet to Debut Flag of Australia (converted).svg Melbourne Storm
- Flag of New Zealand.svg Jeremiah Pai FE, HB Yet to Debut Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Warriors [lower-alpha 3]

Player movements

Representative honours

This table lists all players who have played a representative match in 2005.

Player 2005 ANZAC Test City vs Country Origin State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3 Tri-Nations [lower-alpha 4]
Scott Hill Country
David Kidwell New ZealandNew Zealand
Matt King CountryNew South WalesNew South WalesNew South WalesAustralia
Billy Slater QueenslandQueensland
Cameron Smith QueenslandQueenslandQueensland
Jake Webster New Zealand

Statistics

This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 2005 NRL season.

Name Appearances Tries Goals Field goals Points
Steven Bell 26140056
Alex Chan 142008
Cooper Cronk 2040016
Ian Donnelly 110000
Jamie Feeney 120000
Nathan Friend 30000
Matt Geyer 26112048
Josh Graham 14004
Scott Hill 181004
Ryan Hoffman 2340016
Greg Inglis 1370028
Dallas Johnson 242008
Antonio Kaufusi 112008
Robbie Kearns 252008
David Kidwell 2540016
Matt King 23140056
Jamie McDonald 20000
Tevita Metuisela 30000
Matt Orford 2611632172
Peter Robinson 21004
Dennis Scott 1930012
Billy Slater 21200080
Cameron Smith 23330072
Glen Turner 2350020
Jake Webster 24100040
Brett White 241004
26 players used122952680

Scorers

Most points in a game: 16 points

Most tries in a game: 3

Winning games

Highest score in a winning game: 50 points

Lowest score in a winning game: 20 points

Greatest winning margin: 46 points

Greatest number of games won consecutively: 3

Losing games

Highest score in a losing game: 24 points

Lowest score in a losing game: 10 points

Greatest losing margin: 24 points

Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 2

Feeder Teams

Under a new affiliation agreement, Melbourne split their reserve players between two feeder clubs during the 2005 season. The agreement with Norths Devils continued for an eighth season, with players who were dual-registered in Queensland travelling to Brisbane each week to play with in the Queensland Cup. Melbourne also formed an affiliation with foundation New South Wales Rugby League club North Sydney Bears for some players to play in the NSWRL Premier League.

In a repeat of the 2004 season, the Devils finished second on the ladder, but were bundled out of the finals in straight sets.

Coached by Gary Freeman, the Bears finished tenth and missed the finals, with Alex Chan, Ian Donnelly, Jamie Feeney and Tevita Metuisela attracting praise from Freeman for their efforts. [44]

2005 Queensland Cup
PosTeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
2 Norths Devils colours.svg Norths Devils 2015142719454+26531
2005 NSWRL Premier League
PosTeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
10 North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney Bears 2491142604686-8223

Awards and honours

Notes

  1. Players are listed with the cap number as they appear on the Melbourne Storm honour board. Additional squad members do not have a cap number.
  2. 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.
  3. Signed from Parramatta Eels, last played NRL for Warriors in 2002.
  4. Including additional test matches against France

Related Research Articles

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