2009 Melbourne Storm season

2009 Melbourne Storm season
NRL Rank	4th
Play-off result	Grand Final Winners
2009 record	Wins: 14; draws: 1; losses: 9
Points scored	For: 505; against: 348
Team information
CEO	Brian Waldron
Coach	Craig Bellamy
Captain	Cameron Smith (24 Games) Cooper Cronk (3 Games)
Stadium	Olympic Park
Avg. attendance	11,978
High attendance	27,687 (Preliminary Final)
Top scorers
Tries	Billy Slater (18)
Goals	Cameron Smith (65)
Points	Cameron Smith (142)
←  2008 List of seasons 2010  →

The 2009 Melbourne Storm season was the 12th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 4th out of 16 teams. They then progressed to their fourth consecutive grand final, this time to be played against the Parramatta Eels and won, claiming their second premiership in three seasons, a title later stripped in 2010 after being found guilty of salary cap breaches.

A slow start to the season saw Melbourne win just three of their first seven games. However the team rallied, losing just one of their next seven to move into fourth position by Round 14, where they would remain for the rest of the season. The finals series was when Melbourne really hit their straps, winning their first two finals by 28 and 30 points respectively. In the Grand Final, Storm defeated Parramatta 23–16 with Billy Slater named the Clive Churchill Medalist. ^[1]

Melbourne played all their regular season home games at Olympic Park, the final season playing at the venue before moving to the new Melbourne Rectangular Stadium the following season.

Season summary

• 2 February – New signing Arana Taumata is sacked by the club after he was arrested following an alcohol-fuelled brawl. Three other Storm players were involved in the incident, but only Taumata eventually faced charges. Melbourne became the fourth club in as many years to sack Taumata for disciplinary reasons. ^{[2] [3] [4]} Taumata would later plead guilty to assault. ^[5]
• Round 1 – A field goal in the fourth minute of golden point extra time by Greg Inglis gives Melbourne a thrilling 17–16 win over St George Illawarra Dragons in the 2009 season opening game at Olympic Park. The game was the first played under the NRL's dual-referee system. ^[6]
• Round 2 – A try by former Storm player Israel Folau and a highly controversial try by Peter Wallace hands Brisbane Broncos a 16–14 win over Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium. It is the Broncos first win over Melbourne since the 2006 NRL Grand Final. ^[6]
• 14 April – After being informed that he was not fit into their long-term plans, Parramatta Eels' halfback Brett Finch signs with Melbourne, joining the club for the remainder of the 2009 season. ^[6]
• Round 7 – Hosting a match on ANZAC Day for just the second time, Melbourne drew 14–14 against New Zealand Warriors in wet and slippery conditions at Olympic Park. Warriors fullback Lance Hohaia looked to have broken the deadlock with less than a minute left in golden point extra time, before the video referee disallowed his successful field goal attempt due to a knock-on in the lead up from Stacey Jones. The drawn result was the club's first since the institution of golden point in 2003. ^[7]
• Round 8 – Melbourne exact a small amount of revenge on Manly with a 22–8 win at Brookvale Oval in their first rematch since the 2008 NRL Grand Final. ^[6]
• Round 9 – With eight players backing up from the midseason test only three nights earlier, regular captain Cameron Smith starts from the bench, with Cooper Cronk taking over as acting captain. Melbourne defeat Sydney Roosters 28–12 in front of a small crowd at Gosford. ^[6]
• 13 May – Part-time specialist coach Matthew Johns indefinitely parted ways with the club following his involvement in a sex scandal. ^[8]
• Round 10 – Melbourne claim their 14th-straight win over Canberra Raiders, winning 46–6, their greatest winning margin over the Raiders. ^[6]
• Round 13 – Two days after the opening State of Origin match, Melbourne thrash Brisbane 48–4 at Olympic Park, with Joe Tomane scoring 24 points (three tries, six goals). ^[6]
• Round 14 – Melbourne returned to Perth for the first time since 1999, defeating South Sydney Rabbitohs 28–22 at Members Equity Stadium.
• Round 15 – Dane Nielsen becomes the first player sent off for the season, after a high tackle on Wests Tigers winger Beau Ryan. With only a few minutes remaining after Nielsen's dismissal, Melbourne hold on to win 14–12. ^[6]
• Round 16 – Canberra defeat Melbourne 26–16 at Canberra Stadium, to win their first game against Storm since 2002.
• 30 July – Brett Finch signs a one-year deal to stay with Melbourne in 2010. ^[6]
• 7 August – Melbourne announce that they will end their feeder club arrangement with Central Coast Storm and establish their own team in the NSW Cup in 2010. ^{[6] [9]}
• 10 August – Greg Inglis is charged by police for assaulting his girlfriend Sally Robinson. He is immediately stood-down by Melbourne, with club sponsor ME Bank reportedly reviewing their position with the club. ^[6]
• 27 August – The Melbourne Storm board allow Greg Inglis to resume playing, despite still facing assault charges. ^[6]
• Round 25 – In the club's last game at Olympic Park, the return of Greg Inglis sparked Melbourne to a 38–4 win over Sydney Roosters, ending a two-game losing streak. Melbourne finish with 104 wins from 136 games at Olympic Park, an imposing 76.5 winning percentage. ^[6]
• Round 26 – Melbourne book a top-four finish, with an impressive 30–0 win over New Zealand Warriors to regain the Michael Moore Trophy.
• Qualifying Final – Returning to Etihad Stadium, Melbourne thrash Manly 40-12 led by four tries from Billy Slater. The win, coupled with upsets in the other qualifying finals earns Melbourne a week off and a preliminary final in Melbourne.
• Preliminary Final – Held on the night of the 2009 AFL Grand Final, a crowd of 27,687 watches Melbourne demolish Brisbane 40–10 to make their fourth successive Grand Final. A hat-trick of tries to Greg Inglis helping Melbourne end Brisbane's season in disappointment for the third year in a row. ^[6]
• Grand Final – Melbourne Storm win their 3rd Grand Final in their 11-year history, beating the Parramatta Eels 23–16 at ANZ Stadium in front of crowd of 82,538. Billy Slater is awarded the Clive Churchill Medal, as Melbourne lead all night withstanding a late Parramatta comeback.
• 12 November – Salary cap pressure forces Melbourne to bid farewell to Dallas Johnson who subsequently signs with Catalans Dragons on a three-year deal. ^[6]

Milestone games

Round	Player	Milestone
Round 1	Willie Isa	Storm debut
	Ryan Hinchcliffe	Storm debut
	Wairangi Koopu	Storm debut
Round 5	James Maloney	NRL debut
	Matthew Cross	Storm debut
Round 6	Cameron Smith	150th game
Round 7	Brett Finch	Storm debut
Round 15	Brett White	100th game
Round 19	Luke Kelly	NRL debut
Round 20	Hep Cahill	NRL debut
Round 22	Billy Slater	150th game
	Dallas Johnson	150th game
	Steve Turner	100th NRL game
Round 23	Matthew Cross	50th NRL game
Round 24	Ryan Tandy	Storm debut
Round 25	Ryan Hoffman	150th game
Preliminary Final	Billy Slater	100th NRL try

Jerseys

New apparel supplier KooGa kept the same home and clash jersey design as worn in 2008. ME Bank replaced Medibank as the main jersey advertiser, with all other advertisers continuing their sponsorships from 2008.

In Round 10 against Canberra, Melbourne wore a heritage jersey based on the design of the 2001-02 clash jersey, featuring purple with silver thunderbolts. This would be the first time the club had worn an away or clash jersey at Olympic Park.

Fixtures

Pre season

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field goals	Ref
12 February	Trial	New Zealand Warriors	Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand	Lost	12	24	W Isa, J Tomane	J Maloney, J Williams		[10] [11] [12] [13]
21 February	Trial	Newcastle Knights	Visy Park, Melbourne	Won	32	24	W Isa (2), J Lima, R Hoffman, G Inglis, A Quinn	C Smith (4)		[14] [15] [16] [17]
28 February	Trial	Brisbane Broncos	Stockland Park, Sunshine Coast	Won	20	6	W Isa, J Tomane, B Slater, W Chambers	G Inglis (2)		[18] [19] [20]

Regular season

Result by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	–	H	A	H	A	H	–	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	W	L	W	L	W	L	D	W	W	W	L	B	W	W	W	L	W	B	L	W	L	W	L	L	W	W
Position	7	8	4	8	7	7	8	6	6	5	7	6	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Points	2	2	4	4	6	6	7	9	11	13	13	15	17	19	21	21	23	25	25	27	27	29	29	29	31	33

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

Matches

Source: ^[21]

• ( g.p. ) – Golden Point extra time
• (pen) – Penalty try

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field goals	Ref
13 March	1	St George Illawarra Dragons	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Won ( g.p. )	17	16	C Cronk, G Inglis, B Slater	C Smith 2/3	G Inglis	[22]
20 March	2	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Lost	14	16	K Proctor, B Slater	C Smith 3/3		[23]
28 March	3	North Queensland Cowboys	Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville	Won	26	12	C Cronk, G Inglis, A Quinn, S Turner	C Smith 5/5		[24]
4 April	4	Gold Coast Titans	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Lost	6	18	J Tomane	C Smith 1/1		[25]
11 April	5	Penrith Panthers	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Won	16	14	A Quinn, B Slater	C Smith 4/4		[26]
20 April	6	Wests Tigers	Leichhardt Oval, Sydney	Lost	6	16	R Hoffman	C Smith 1/1		[27]
25 April	7	New Zealand Warriors	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Draw	14	14	W Chambers, B Slater, S Turner	C Smith 1/3		[28]
1 May	8	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Brookvale Oval, Sydney	Won	22	8	M Cross, G Inglis, B Slater, S Turner	C Smith 3/5		[29]
11 May	9	Sydney Roosters	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford	Won	28	12	B Finch, R Hoffman, J Lima, S Turner, B White	J Tomane 4/5		[30]
18 May	10	Canberra Raiders	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Won	46	6	B Slater (2), A Blair, M Cross, R Hoffman, G Inglis, J Lima, S Turner	C Smith 6/7, J Tomane 1/1		[31]
23 May	11	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford	Lost	10	26	W Chambers (2)	C Smith 1/2		[32]
30 May	12	Bye
5 June	13	Brisbane Broncos	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Won	48	4	J Tomane (3), C Cronk (2), W Chambers, G Inglis, B Slater, A Tolman	J Tomane 6/9		[33]
13 June	14	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Members Equity Stadium, Perth	Won	28	22	C Cronk, R Hoffman, G Inglis, W Koopu, J Tomane, S Turner	C Smith 2/5, J Tomane 0/1		[34]
21 June	15	Wests Tigers	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Won	14	12	C Cronk, M Cross	J Tomane 3/3		[35]
28 June	16	Canberra Raiders	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	Lost	16	26	W Chambers, G Inglis, C Smith	C Smith 2/2, J Tomane 0/1		[36]
4 July	17	Newcastle Knights	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Won	18	14	W Chambers, G Inglis, B Slater	C Smith 3/3		[37]
11 July	18	Bye
20 July	19	Parramatta Eels	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney	Lost	16	18	R Hoffman, D Nielsen, J Tomane	J Tomane 2/3		[38]
25 July	20	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Won	30	10	B Anderson (2), W Chambers, R Hinchcliffe, C Smith, J Tomane	C Smith 2/5, J Tomane 1/2		[39]
31 July	21	St George Illawarra Dragons	WIN Jubilee Oval, Sydney	Lost	12	26	B Finch, G Inglis	C Smith 2/3		[40]
7 August	22	North Queensland Cowboys	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Won	20	8	C Cronk, B Finch, J Tomane, S Turner	C Smith 2/4		[41]
17 August	23	Newcastle Knights	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle	Lost	14	26	B Anderson, C Cronk, S Turner	C Smith 1/3		[42]
23 August	24	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Lost	16	20	J Tomane (2), W Chambers	C Smith 2/3		[43]
29 August	25	Sydney Roosters	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Won	38	4	G Inglis (2), S Turner (2), W Chambers, B Slater, A Tolman	C Smith 5/6, R Hoffman 0/1		[44]
5 September	26	New Zealand Warriors	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Won	30	0	W Chambers (2), R Hinchcliffe, G Inglis, D Nielsen, B Slater	C Smith 3/5, G Inglis 0/1		[45]

Finals

Qualifying final

11 September 2009 19:45 AEST (UTC+10)

Melbourne Storm	40 – 12	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Tries:7 Slater (4) Nielsen Smith Tolman Goals:6 Smith (5/6) Turner (1/1)	[46]	Tries:2 Foran Matai Goals:2 Orford (2/2)

Etihad Stadium, Melbourne Attendance: 21,155 Referees: Gavin Badger, Shayne Hayne

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Preliminary final

26 September 2009 19:45 AEST (UTC+10)

Melbourne Storm	40 – 10	Brisbane Broncos
Tries:7 Inglis  39', 45', 69' Slater  20', 73' Chambers  3' Johnson  25' Goals:6 Smith (6/7)	1st: 22–0 2nd: 18–10 [47]	Tries:2 Glenn  59' Folau  80' Goals:1 Parker  60'(1/1)

Etihad Stadium, Melbourne Attendance: 27,687 Referees: Shayne Hayne, Jared Maxwell

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Main article: 2009 NRL Grand Final

2009 NRL Grand Final

Sunday, 4 October 17:15 AEDT (UTC+11)

Melbourne Storm	23 – 16	Parramatta Eels
Tries:4 Hoffman  5' Blair  24' Inglis  49' Slater  55' Goals:3 Smith  7', 50', 57'(3/4) Field goals:1 Inglis  77'	1st: 10–0 2nd: 13–16	Tries:3 Grothe  45' Reddy  70' Moimoi  72' Goals:2 Burt  46', 70'(2/3)

ANZ Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 82,538 Referees: Tony Archer, Shayne Hayne Touch judges: Paul Holland, David Abood Clive Churchill Medal: Billy Slater (Melbourne)

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Ladder

Main article: 2009 NRL season

2009 NRL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	17	0	7	2	548	329	+219	38
2	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	18	0	6	2	575	428	+147	381
3	Gold Coast Titans	24	16	0	8	2	514	467	+47	36
4	Melbourne Storm	24	14	1	9	2	505	348	+157	33
5	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	14	0	10	2	549	459	+90	32
6	Brisbane Broncos	24	14	0	10	2	511	566	−55	32
7	Newcastle Knights	24	13	0	11	2	508	491	+17	30
8	Parramatta Eels	24	12	1	11	2	476	473	+3	29
9	Wests Tigers	24	12	0	12	2	558	483	+75	28
10	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	11	1	12	2	566	549	+17	27
11	Penrith Panthers	24	11	1	12	2	515	589	−74	27
12	North Queensland Cowboys	24	11	0	13	2	558	474	+84	26
13	Canberra Raiders	24	9	0	15	2	489	520	−31	22
14	New Zealand Warriors	24	7	2	15	2	377	565	−188	20
15	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	5	0	19	2	359	568	−209	14
16	Sydney Roosters	24	5	0	19	2	382	681	−299	14

¹The Bulldogs were deducted 2 competition points after an interchange breach in Round 2.

2009 Coaching Staff

• Head coach: Craig Bellamy
• Assistant coaches: Michael Maguire & Stephen Kearney
• Development coach: Tony Adam
• Strength and conditioning Coach: Alex Corvo
• Football Manager: Frank Ponissi
• NRL Under 20s Coach: Brad Arthur
• Feeder Club Coach: Jamie Feeney (Central Coast Storm)

2009 squad

List current as of 3 May 2022 ^[48]

Further information: List of Melbourne Storm players

Cap [a]	Nat.	Player name	Position	First Storm Game	Previous First Grade RL club [b]
55		Cameron Smith (c)	HK	2002	Melbourne Storm
58		Billy Slater	FB	2003	Melbourne Storm
60		Dallas Johnson	SR, LK	2003	Melbourne Storm
62		Ryan Hoffman	SR, LK	2003	Melbourne Storm
72		Steve Turner	FB, WG	2004	Penrith Panthers
73		Cooper Cronk	HB	2004	Melbourne Storm
76		Brett White	PR	2005	Melbourne Storm
79		Greg Inglis	FE, CE,	2005	Melbourne Storm
86		Adam Blair	SR, PR	2006	Melbourne Storm
90		Jeff Lima	PR, LK	2006	Wests Tigers
91		Anthony Quinn	WG, CE	2007	Newcastle Knights
97		Will Chambers	CE	2007	Melbourne Storm
98		Sika Manu	SR	2007	Melbourne Storm
99		Scott Anderson	SR, PR	2007	Melbourne Storm
102		Aiden Tolman	PR	2008	Melbourne Storm
103		Brett Anderson	WG, CE	2008	Melbourne Storm
104		Dane Nielsen	WG, CE	2008	Melbourne Storm
105		Kevin Proctor	SR	2008	Melbourne Storm
107		Joseph Tomane	WG, CE	2008	Melbourne Storm
109		Sinbad Kali	SR, LK	2008	Melbourne Storm
110		Ryan Hinchcliffe	HK, LK	2009	Canberra Raiders
111		Willie Isa	WG, CE	2009	Penrith Panthers
112		Wairangi Koopu	SR, LK	2009	New Zealand Warriors
113		James Maloney	HB, FE	2009	Melbourne Storm
114		Matt Cross	PR	2009	Gold Coast Titans
115		Brett Finch	HB, FE	2009	Parramatta Eels
116		Luke Kelly	FE, HB	2009	Melbourne Storm
117		Hep Cahill	LK, SR	2009	Melbourne Storm
118		Ryan Tandy	PR, SR	2009	Wests Tigers
		Louis Fonene	CE	Yet to Debut	Melbourne Storm
		Jesse Bromwich	PR	Yet to Debut	Melbourne Storm
		Slade Griffen	HK	Yet to Debut	Melbourne Storm
		Lucas Miller	HB, FE	Yet to Debut	Melbourne Storm
		Gerrard Tibbetts	SR, CE	Yet to Debut	Melbourne Storm
		Rory Kostjasyn	HK, LK	Yet to Debut	Melbourne Storm
		Andre Itula	FB, WG	Yet to Debut	Melbourne Storm
		Aidan Guerra	SR, LK	Yet to Debut	Melbourne Storm
		Justin O'Neill	CE	Yet to Debut	Melbourne Storm

2009 NRL Grand Final Winning Team

Melbourne Storm

2009 Grand Final Winning Team						Interchange		Coach
1 Billy Slater – FB  2 Steve Turner – WG  3 Will Chambers – CE  4 Greg Inglis – CE  5 Dane Neilsen – WG  6 Brett Finch – FE  7 Cooper Cronk – HB  8 Aiden Tolman – PR  9 Cameron Smith (c) – HK 10 Brett White – PR 11 Adam Blair – SR 12 Ryan Hoffman – SR 13 Dallas Johnson – LK						14 Ryan Hinchcliffe 15 Jeff Lima 16 Ryan Tandy 17 Scott Anderson		Head coach Craig Bellamy Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s)

Player movements

Losses Russell Aitken to AS Carcassonne Michael Crocker to Hull F.C. →South Sydney Rabbitohs [c] Israel Folau to Brisbane Broncos Liam Foran to New Zealand Warriors Matt Geyer to Retirement Antonio Kaufusi to North Queensland Cowboys Clifford Manua to Released Jeremy Smith to St George Illawarra Dragons Sam Tagataese to Gold Coast Titans

Gains Matthew Cross from Gold Coast Titans Brett Finch from Parramatta Eels (midseason) Ryan Hinchcliffe from Canberra Raiders Willie Isa from Penrith Panthers Wairangi Koopu from New Zealand Warriors James Maloney from Parramatta Eels Ryan Tandy from Wests Tigers

Representative honours

This table lists all players who have played a representative match in 2009.

Further information: List of Melbourne Storm representatives

Player	2009 ANZAC Test	City vs Country Origin	State of Origin 1	State of Origin 2	State of Origin 3	2009 Four Nations
Adam Blair	New Zealand	–	–	–	–	New Zealand
Cooper Cronk	–	–	–	–	–	Australia
Ryan Hoffman	–	City	–	–	–	Australia
Greg Inglis	Australia	–	Queensland	Queensland	Queensland	Australia
Dallas Johnson	–	–	Queensland	Queensland	Queensland	–
Jeff Lima	New Zealand	–	–	–	–	New Zealand
Sika Manu	New Zealand	–	–	–	–	–
Billy Slater	Australia	–	Queensland	Queensland	Queensland	Australia
Cameron Smith	Australia	–	Queensland	Queensland	Queensland	Australia
Brett White	–	Country	–	–	New South Wales	Australia

Statistics

This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 2009 NRL season.

• Statistics sources: ^{[49] [50]}

Further information: List of Melbourne Storm records

Name	Appearances	Tries	Goals	Field goals	Points
Brett Anderson	2	3	0	0	12
Scott Anderson	18	0	0	0	0
Adam Blair	25	2	0	0	8
Hep Cahill	3	0	0	0	0
Will Chambers	27	12	0	0	48
Cooper Cronk	27	8	0	0	32
Matthew Cross	14	3	0	0	12
Brett Finch	20	3	0	0	12
Ryan Hinchcliffe	26	2	0	0	8
Ryan Hoffman	25	6	0	0	24
Greg Inglis	23	16	0	2	66
Willie Isa	2	0	0	0	0
Dallas Johnson	24	1	0	0	4
Luke Kelly	1	0	0	0	0
Wairangi Koopu	12	1	0	0	4
Jeff Lima	25	2	0	0	8
James Maloney	4	0	0	0	0
Sika Manu	10	0	0	0	0
Dane Nielsen	10	3	0	0	12
Kevin Proctor	7	1	0	0	4
Anthony Quinn	9	2	0	0	8
Billy Slater	26	18	0	0	72
Cameron Smith	25	3	65	0	142
Ryan Tandy	6	0	0	0	0
Aiden Tolman	27	3	0	0	12
Joe Tomane	15	10	17	0	74
Steve Turner	25	10	1	0	42
Brett White	21	1	0	0	4
28 players used	–	110	83	2	608

Scorers

Most points in a game: 24 points

• Round 13 – Joe Tomane (3 tries, 6 goals) vs Brisbane Broncos

Most tries in a game: 4

• Qualifying Final – Billy Slater vs Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

Winning games

Highest score in a winning game: 48 points

• Round 13 vs Brisbane Broncos

Lowest score in a winning game: 14 points

• Round 15 vs Wests Tigers

Greatest winning margin: 42 points

• Round 13 vs Brisbane Broncos

Greatest number of games won consecutively: 5

• Round 25 – Grand Final

Losing games

Highest score in a losing game: 16 points

• Round 16 vs Canberra Raiders
• Round 19 vs Parramatta Eels
• Round 24 vs Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

Lowest score in a losing game: 6 points

• Round 4 vs Gold Coast Titans
• Round 6 vs Wests Tigers

Greatest losing margin: 16 points

• Round 11 vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 2

• Round 23 – Round 24

NRL Under 20s

Main article: 2009 NRL Under-20s season

In the second season of the NRL's National Youth Championship, Melbourne were again coached by Brad Arthur finishing the regular season in third place on the ladder to qualify for the finals.

Ladder

National Youth Competition season 2009 v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	19	1	4	2	879	417	+462	43
2	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	19	0	5	2	758	461	+297	42
3	Melbourne Storm (P)	24	19	0	5	2	833	597	+236	42
4	Wests Tigers	24	15	1	8	2	709	588	+121	35
5	Brisbane Broncos	24	15	0	9	2	698	551	+147	34
6	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	13	1	10	2	776	568	+208	31
7	New Zealand Warriors	24	13	1	10	2	725	612	+113	31
8	Canberra Raiders	24	11	2	11	2	706	685	+21	28
9	North Queensland Cowboys	24	12	0	12	2	668	683	-15	28
10	Newcastle Knights	24	9	1	14	2	596	756	-160	23
11	Canterbury Bulldogs	24	9	1	14	2	649	867	-218	23
12	Parramatta Eels	24	8	0	16	2	604	698	-94	20
13	Penrith Panthers	24	8	0	16	2	573	755	-182	20
14	Gold Coast Titans	24	8	0	16	2	542	738	-196	20
15	Sydney Roosters	24	6	0	18	2	443	736	-293	16
16	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	4	0	20	2	391	838	-447	12

Finals

Qualifying final 11 September 2009	Melbourne Storm	54–18 [51]	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Etihad Stadium
5:30pm AEST	Tries: Dane Chisholm (5) Justin O'Neill (2) Jesse Bromwich Matt Duffie Fred Makimare Goals: Gareth Widdop 7/10		Tries: Jason Clark Josh Mansour Taioalo Vaivai Goals: Adam Reynolds 3/3	Referee: Gavin Reynolds

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Preliminary final 26 September 2009	Melbourne Storm	40–16 [52]	Brisbane Broncos	Etihad Stadium
5:15pm AEST	Tries: Matt Duffie (3) Dane Chisholm (2) Jai Jones-Wiegold Gareth Widdop Goals: Gareth Widdop 6/7		Tries: Dane Gagai Kurtis Lingwoodock Mitch Rivett Goals: Corey Norman 2/3	Referee: Adam Devcich

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Grand Final 4 October 2009	Melbourne Storm	24–22 [53]	Wests Tigers	ANZ Stadium
2:10pm AEDT	Tries: Gareth Widdop (2) Matt Duffie Justin O'Neill Billy Rogers Goals: Gareth Widdop 2/5		Tries: Jake Mullaney (2) Rhys Curran Robert Lui Goals: Jake Mullaney 3/4	Referee: Gavin Reynolds

2009 NRL Under 20s Premiership Team

Melbourne Storm

2009 NRL Under 20s Premiership Team						Interchange		Coach
1 Gareth Widdop – FB  2 Sam Joe – WG  3 Justin O'Neill – CE  4 Pita Maile – CE  5 Matt Duffie – WG  6 Dane Chisholm – FE  7 Luke Kelly (c) – HB  8 Pulou Vaituutuu – PR  9 James Woolford – HK 10 Jesse Bromwich – PR 11 Robbie Rochow – SR 12 Theodore Stuart – SR 13 Billy Rogers – LK						14 Jai Jones-Wiegold 15 Jordan McLean 16 Kevin Proctor 17 Fred Makimare		Head coach Brad Arthur Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s)

Statistics

Source: ^[54]

Scorers

Most points in a game: 20 points

• Round 2 – Gareth Widdop (2 tries, 6 goals) vs Brisbane Broncos
• Round 17 – Gareth Widdop (1 try, 8 goals) vs Newcastle Knights
• Round 20 – Gareth Widdop (2 tries, 6 goals) vs Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Most tries in a game: 5

• Qualifying Final – Dane Chisholm vs South Sydney Rabbitohs

Most points (season): 294

• Gareth Widdop (18 tries, 111 goals)

Most tries (season): 25

• Matt Duffie

Winning games Highest score in a winning game: 54 points Round 11 vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Qualifying Final vs South Sydney Rabbitohs Lowest score in a winning game: 16 points Round 25 vs Sydney Roosters Greatest winning margin: 36 points Qualifying Final vs South Sydney Rabbitohs Greatest number of games won consecutively: 8 Round 22 – Grand Final

Losing games Highest score in a losing game: 34 points Round 16 vs Canberra Raiders Lowest score in a losing game: 16 points Round 10 vs Canberra Raiders Greatest losing margin: 12 points Round 21 vs St George Illawarra Dragons Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 2 Round 15 – Round 16

S. G. Ball Cup

For the first time in club history, Melbourne entered a junior representative team in the New South Wales Rugby League under-18s competition S. G. Ball Cup.

Coached by club high performance manager Kim Williams, the team finished the regular season in fourth place, winning six of their nine matches. During the finals, the team stunned more fancied rivals, defeating Illawarra 50–10, Newcastle 22–16, and Manly 28–14 to progress to the competition's Grand Final against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. ^[55]

Grand Final 7 May 2009	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	42–16 [56]	Melbourne Storm	St Marys Leagues Stadium
3:00pm AEST	Tries: Lachlan Burr (3) Richard Irwin Aiden Sezer Liam Ayoub Ali Hijazi Goals: Ali Hijazi (7)		Tries: Slade Griffin (2) Robbie Kurth Goals: John Aldridge (2)	Referee: Daniel Olford

Feeder Team

For a second successive season, Melbourne sent their back-up players to play with Central Coast Storm, coached by former Storm player Jamie Feeney.

Central Coast made the finals, finishing in 2nd position (out of 11 teams), behind eventual premiers Bankstown City Bulls. Central Coast were eliminated from the NSW Cup finals after successive defeats against Western Suburbs ^[57] and Balmain Ryde-Eastwood.

Main article: 2009 New South Wales Cup

2009 New South Wales Cup [58]
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
2	Central Coast Storm	20	13	1	6	526	462	+64	31

Awards

Trophy Cabinet 2009 Provan-Summons Trophy 2009 National Youth Competition Toyota Cup Melbourne Storm Awards Night Melbourne Storm Player of the Year: Billy Slater [59] Members' Player of the Year: Billy Slater Best Back: Greg Inglis Best Forward: Cameron Smith Rookie of the Year: Kevin Proctor Most Improved: Aiden Tolman Best Try: Will Chambers v Canberra Raiders (Round 16) Greatest Hit: Adam Blair v Manly (Round 24) Darren Bell U20s Player of the Year Award: Gareth Widdop U20s Most Improved: Jai Jones U20s Best Forward: Jesse Bromwich U20s Best Back: Luke Kelly Mick Moore Club Person of the Year: Troy Thomson Greg Brentnall Young Achievers Trophy: Lucas Grech Community Award: Steve Turner Life Member Inductee: Cameron Smith [60] U18 SG Ball Player of the Year: Slade Griffin

Dally M Awards Night Dally M Representative Player of the Year: Greg Inglis Rugby League World Golden Boot Awarda Night Golden Boot Award: Greg Inglis RLPA Awards Night RLPA Australia Representative Player of the Year: Greg Inglis RLIF Awards RLIF Coach of the Year: Craig Bellamy RLIF Centre of the Year: Greg Inglis RLIF Hooker of the Year: Cameron Smith Additional Awards Clive Churchill Medal: Billy Slater Wally Lewis Medal: Greg Inglis QRL Ron McAuliffe Medal: Greg Inglis Rugby League Four Nations Player of the Series: Greg Inglis Jack Gibson Medal: Luke Kelly Sprit of ANZAC Medal: Adam Blair New Zealand Kiwis Player of the Year : Adam Blair

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. Crocker could not obtain a work permit to take up his contract with Hull FC and subsequently signed with South Sydney during the 2009 NRL season.

References

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