2025 Melbourne Storm season

2025 Melbourne Storm season
NRL Rank	1st
2025 record	Wins: 2; losses: 0
Points scored	For: 86; against: 42
Team information
CEO	Justin Rodski
Coach	Craig Bellamy
Captain	Harry Grant
Stadium	AAMI Park – 30,050
High attendance	23,369 (Round 1)
Top scorers
Tries	Xavier Coates (3) Ryan Papenhuyzen (3)
Goals	Nick Meaney (11)
Points	Nick Meaney (26)
←  2024 List of seasons 2026  →

The 2025 Melbourne Storm season is the 28th in the club's history, competing in the 2025 NRL season. The team is coached by Craig Bellamy, coaching the club for a 23rd consecutive season. Harry Grant continues as club captain for a second season.

Season summary

• Preseason – Joining the club on train and trial contracts ahead of the season were players from the Storm academy (Coby Williamson, Mitch Jennings); Sunshine Coast Falcons (Josh Billing, Cooper-Page Wilson); Brisbane Tigers (Vaka Sikahele, Setu Tu); and North Sydney Bears (Nathaniel Roache, Morgan Harper, Ben Talty) ^[1]
• 16 January – The club confirms that winger Dean Ieremia had suffered an achilles tendon rupture which will keep him sidelined for at least six months. ^{[2] [3]}
• 9 February – Harry Grant was reappointed captain, with Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster appointed as vice-captains. The club named a seven-man leadership group, with a number of other players named to an emerging leader group. ^[4]
• 11 February – It was reported that former captain Christian Welch could be contemplating medical retirement after suffering a concussion during the club's preseason training camp. Welch had been given time away from the club to recover and was absent from a number of team activities. ^[5]
• 12 February – Christian Welch announced his retirement from rugby league effective immediately. Welch retired on medical grounds due to a debilitating back injury. ^{[6] [7] [8]}
• 15 February – Trailing 36–0 at half time of their first 2025 NRL Pre-season Challenge match against the New Zealand Warriors, an inexperienced Melbourne squad scored the only points of the second half in a 36–10 defeat. ^[9]
• 23 February – Melbourne go without a win during the pre-season for the first time since 2019, losing their second match of the year 36–24 to the North Queensland Cowboys at Casey Fields. Sua Fa'alogo scored a try just before half time, but was forced from the field in the second half due to a hamstring injury. New signing Stefano Utoikamanu scored a try in his second match for the club ahead of the new season. In the second half, club academy prospect Hugo Peel suffered a broken jaw and severe concussion after a collision with fellow rookie Coby Williamson. ^{[10] [11]}
• Round 1 – Melbourne score 46 points in the first half against the Parramatta Eels to set a new club record for first half points, on the way to a 56–18 victory. Ryan Papenhuyzen and Xavier Coates each scored two tries to extend the club's round 1 winning streak to 23 matches. ^{[12] [13] [14]}
• 13 March – Forward Josh King extends his contract with the club until the end of the 2027 season. ^{[15] [16]}

Milestone games

Round	Player	Milestone
Round 1	Stefano Utoikamanu	Storm debut
	Will Warbrick	50th match
Round 3	Jahrome Hughes	150th Storm match

Fixtures

Pre-season Challenge

Main article: 2025 NRL Pre-season Challenge

Source: ^[17]

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field goals	Ref
15 February	Trial	New Zealand Warriors	FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton	Lost	10	36	K Bradley, B Talty	E Morris 1/1, K Russell-Smith 0/1		[18]
23 February	Trial	North Queensland Cowboys	Casey Fields, Melbourne	Lost	24	36	N Meaney, S Fa'alogo, K Russell-Smith, S Utoikamanu, S Blore	N Meaney 1/2, T Wishart 1/2, K Russell-Smith 0/1		[19]

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	27
Ground	H	–	H	A	A	H	A	H	N	H	A	–	A	H	–	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	W	B	W
Position	1	1
Points	2	4	6

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

Matches

Source: ^[20]

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

Date	Rd	Opponent	H/A	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field goals	Ref
9 March	1	Parramatta Eels	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	56	18	X Coates (2), R Papenhuyzen (2), J King, E Katoa, H Grant, N Meaney, W Warbrick, J Hughes	N Meaney 8/10		[21]
16 March	2	Bye
20 March	3	Penrith Panthers	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	30	24	G Anderson, E Katoa, X Coates, T Wishart, R Papenhuyzen	N Meaney 3/3, R Papenhuyzen 2/3		[22]
25 March	4	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Away	Netstrata Jubille Stadium, Sydney
6 April	5 [i]	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Away	4 Pines Park, Sydney
13 April	6	New Zealand Warriors	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne
18 April	7	Dolphins	Away	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
25 April	8 [ii]	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne
4 May	9 [iii]	Canberra Raiders	Home	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
11 May	10 [iv]	Wests Tigers	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne
17 May	11	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Away	Sharks Stadium, Sydney
24 May	12	Bye
31 May	13	Gold Coast Titans	Away	Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
6 June	14	North Queensland Cowboys	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne
14 June	15	Bye
21 June	16	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Away	Accor Stadium, Sydney
29 June	17	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne
5 July	18	North Queensland Cowboys	Away	Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville
12 July	19	Newcastle Knights	Away	McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
19 July	20	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne
24 July	21	Sydney Roosters	Away	Allianz Stadium, Sydney
31 July	22	Parramatta Eels	Away	CommBank Stadium, Sydney
7 August	23 [v]	Brisbane Broncos	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne
14 August	24 [vi]	Penrith Panthers	Away	CommBank Stadium, Sydney
22 August	25	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne
29 August	26	Sydney Roosters	Home	AAMI Park, Melbourne
4 September	27	Brisbane Broncos	Away	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Fixture notes:

1. Multicultural Round
2. ANZAC Round
3. Magic Round
4. Women in League Round
5. Indigenous Round
6. Indigenous Round

Ladder

Main article: 2025 NRL season

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Melbourne Storm	2	2	0	0	1	86	42	+44	6	Advance to finals series
2	Canberra Raiders	2	2	0	0	0	62	30	+32	4
3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	2	2	0	0	0	68	44	+24	4
4	Newcastle Knights	2	2	0	0	0	36	20	+16	4
5	South Sydney Rabbitohs	2	2	0	0	0	41	38	+3	4
6	Brisbane Broncos	2	1	0	1	0	72	46	+26	2
7	Wests Tigers	2	1	0	1	0	40	16	+24	2
8	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	2	1	0	1	0	58	40	+18	2
9	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	2	1	0	1	0	58	48	+10	2
10	New Zealand Warriors	2	1	0	1	0	44	46	−2	2
11	Penrith Panthers	3	1	0	2	0	84	90	−6	2
12	Gold Coast Titans	1	0	0	1	1	24	40	−16	2
13	Sydney Roosters	2	1	0	1	0	52	82	−30	2
14	St. George Illawarra Dragons	2	0	0	2	0	44	53	−9	0
15	Dolphins	2	0	0	2	0	26	42	−16	0
16	North Queensland Cowboys	2	0	0	2	0	24	78	−54	0
17	Parramatta Eels	2	0	0	2	0	24	88	−64	0

Updated to match(es) played on 20 March 2025. Source: National Rugby League

Coaching staff

• Craig Bellamy – Head Coach ^[23]
• Marc Brentnall – Assistant Coach
• Aaron Bellamy – Assistant Coach
• Ryan Hinchcliffe – Assistant Coach
• Todd Lowrie – Development Coach ^{[24] [25]}

2025 squad

List current as of 17 January 2025 ^[26]

Further information: List of Melbourne Storm players

Cap	Nat.	Player name	Position	First Storm game	Previous First Grade RL club [a]
160		Cameron Munster	FE, FB	2014	Melbourne Storm
166		Nelson Asofa-Solomona	SR, PR	2015	Melbourne Storm
181		Tui Kamikamica	SR, PR	2017	Melbourne Storm
184		Jahrome Hughes	FE, FB	2017	North Queensland Cowboys
188		Harry Grant	HK	2018	Melbourne Storm
193		Marion Seve	WG	2019	Melbourne Storm
194		Ryan Papenhuyzen	FB	2019	Melbourne Storm
212		Trent Loiero	SR	2021	Melbourne Storm
213		Dean Ieremia	WG	2021	Melbourne Storm
217		Xavier Coates	WG	2022	Brisbane Broncos
218		Nick Meaney	FB	2022	Canterbury Bulldogs
219		Josh King	PR	2022	Newcastle Knights
220		Tyran Wishart	FE, HK	2022	Melbourne Storm
221		Alec MacDonald	LK	2022	Melbourne Storm
222		Grant Anderson	CE	2022	Melbourne Storm
225		William Warbrick	CE, WG	2023	Melbourne Storm
226		Eliesa Katoa	SR	2023	New Zealand Warriors
227		Bronson Garlick	LK, SR	2023	Melbourne Storm
228		Kane Bradley	WG, CE	2023	North Queensland Cowboys
229		Jonah Pezet	HB	2023	Melbourne Storm
231		Sualauvi Fa'alogo	FB, WG	2023	Melbourne Storm
232		Jack Howarth	SR	2023	Melbourne Storm
233		Joe Chan	SR	2023	Catalans Dragons
234		Shawn Blore	SR	2024	Wests Tigers
235		Lazarus Vaalepu	PR	2024	Melbourne Storm
236		Keagan Russell-Smith	FE, HB	2024	Melbourne Storm
237		Ativalu Lisati	PR	2024	Melbourne Storm
239		Stefano Utoikamanu	PR	2025	Wests Tigers
–		Angus Hinchey	SR	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm
–		Stanley Huen	FE	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm
–		Moses Leo	WG	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm
–		Gabriel Satrick	HK	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm
–		Coby Williamson	CE	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm

Player movements

Source: ^{[27] [28]}

Losses Ammaron Gudgeon to St. George Illawarra Dragons [29] Chris Lewis to Retired [b] Tepai Moeroa to TBC Tristan Powell to Brisbane Broncos [31] Young Tonumaipea to Retired [32] Christian Welch to Retired [6] [7] [8]

Gains Stefano Utoikamanu from Wests Tigers [33] [34] [35] Moses Leo from New Zealand rugby sevens [36] [37]

Representative honours

Further information: List of Melbourne Storm representatives

This table lists all players who have played a representative match in 2025.

• (C) = Captain
• (vc) = Vice-captain

Player	NRL All Star match	State of Origin 1	State of Origin 2	State of Origin 3	Internationals/Pacific Championships
Will Warbrick [38]	Māori	—	—	—	—

Additionally club coach Craig Bellamy and football manager Frank Ponissi were both part of the NSW State of Origin set up, with Bellamy appointed as an adviser to NSW coach Laurie Daley and Ponissi continuing in his role as team performance manager which he commenced in 2024. ^{[39] [40] [41]}

Statistics

This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 2025 NRL season.

• Players are added as they play their first game in the season.
• Table updated as at round 3
• Statistics sources: ^{[42] [43]}

Further information: List of Melbourne Storm records

Name	Appearances	Tries	Goals	Field goals	Points
Grant Anderson	1	1	0	0	4
Nelson Asofa-Solomona	1	0	0	0	0
Shawn Blore	2	0	0	0	0
Xavier Coates	2	3	0	0	12
Harry Grant	2	1	0	0	4
Jack Howarth	2	0	0	0	0
Jahrome Hughes	2	1	0	0	4
Tui Kamikamica	2	0	0	0	0
Eliesa Katoa	2	2	0	0	8
Josh King	2	1	0	0	4
Trent Loiero	2	0	0	0	0
Alec MacDonald	2	0	0	0	0
Nick Meaney	2	1	11	0	26
Cameron Munster	2	0	0	0	0
Ryan Papenhuyzen	2	3	2	0	16
Stefano Utoikamanu	2	0	0	0	0
Lazarus Vaalepu	1	0	0	0	0
William Warbrick	1	1	0	0	4
Tyran Wishart	2	1	0	0	4
19 players used	—	15	13	0/0	86

Scorers

Most points in a game: 20

• Round 1 – Nick Meaney (1 try, 8 goals) vs Parramatta Eels

Most tries in a game: 2

• Round 1 – Xavier Coates vs Parramatta Eels
• Round 1 – Ryan Papenhuyzen vs Parramatta Eels

Winning games

Highest score in a winning game: 56 points

• Round 1 vs Parramatta Eels

Lowest score in a winning game: 30 points

• Round 3 vs Penrith Panthers

Greatest winning margin: 38 points

• Round 1 vs Parramatta Eels

Greatest number of games won consecutively: 2

• Rounds 1–3

Jerseys

In November 2023, Melbourne Storm announced a new sponsorship and apparel partnership agreement with Irish sportswear company O'Neills. ^[44] In March 2025, major sponsor RedZed extended their partnership with the club until the end of the 2028 season, with their logo to remain on the club's jersey. ^[45]

Home

As part of the NRL's two year jersey cycle, the 2025 home jersey is the same as the 2024 version originally revealed in November 2023. ^[46] The jersey is navy blue with a purple yoke and sleeves. There are bright yellow lightning bolt designs on the side panels, and a revised Big V logo at the top of the rear of the jersey as a continuation of the Our Home, Victoria acknowledgment which began during the 2020 season to honour Storm's home state. This jersey will be worn with navy blue shorts and socks.

Away

As with the home jersey, the away jersey is the same as what was worn during the 2024 season. It is worn when the home jersey creates a clash with the opposition, and is a similar design to the home jersey, with white replacing the navy blue base colour. This jersey is worn with purple shorts, with white socks.

Junior Representatives

The club entered teams in the 2025 New South Wales Rugby League junior representative competitions with the following coaching staff:

• Jersey Flegg Cup (Under-21s): Mark Russell (coach), Nate Myles (assistant)
• S.G. Ball Cup (Under-19s): Matt Duffie (coach), Justin O'Neill (assistant)
• Harold Matthews Cup (Under-17s): Tony Adam (coach)

The club's academy program had Tim Auremi as Pathways Operations Manager and Dean Benton as Pathways Performance Manager. ^[32]

Notes

1. Previous First Grade RL club: 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
2. Lewis took up a coaching role at the Canberra Raiders. ^[30]

References

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