2026 Melbourne Storm season

2026 Melbourne Storm season
Team information
CEO	Justin Rodski
Coach	Craig Bellamy
Captain	Harry Grant
Stadium	AAMI Park – 30,050
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The 2026 Melbourne Storm season will be the 29th in the club's history, competing in the 2026 NRL season. The team is coached by Craig Bellamy, coaching the club for a 24th consecutive season. Harry Grant continued as club captain for a third season.

The club will also field teams in the New South Wales Rugby League competitions, including women's teams for the first time.

Season summary

• Preseason – Joining the NRL squad during the preseason were uncapped development players Suli Pole, Angus Hinchey, Preston Conn and Mitchell Jennings. ^[1]
• 5 January – It was reported that Melbourne were interested in signing former Parramatta Eels player Zac Lomax who had been conditionally released from his contract following the end of the 2025 season. ^[2] As part of his conditional release, Lomax could not join another NRL club until the end of the 2028 NRL season. ^[3]
• 6 January – Video is published of Eliesa Katoa undertaking a club preseason training session following surgery to relieve pressure on his brain in November 2025. Katoa had been ruled out of returning to the field for the entire 2026 season after suffering three head knocks while on international duty with Tonga. ^[4]
• 9 January – Melbourne confirm the impending departures of both Nick Meaney and Tyran Wishart at the end of the 2026 season. ^[5] Both players had signed with expansion team Perth Bears for their inaugural season in 2027. ^[6]

Fixtures

Pre-season Challenge

Main article: 2026 NRL Pre-season Challenge

Source: ^[7]

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field goals	Ref
13 February	Trial	Canberra Raiders	Seiffert Oval, Queanbeyan
21 February	Trial	Gold Coast Titans	Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast

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	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	N	A	H	H	–	H	A	–	H	A	A	H	N	–	H	A	A
Result															B			B						B
Position
Points

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

Matches

Source: ^[8]

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

Date	Rd	Opponent	H/A	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field goals	Ref
5 March	1	Parramatta Eels	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
14 March	2	St George Illawarra Dragons	A	WIN Stadium, Wollongong
20 March	3 [i]	Brisbane Broncos	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
28 March	4	North Queensland Cowboys	A	QCB Stadium, Townsville
3 April	5	Penrith Panthers	A	CommBank Stadium, Sydney
11 April	6	New Zealand Warriors	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
17 April	7	Canberra Raiders	A	GIO Stadium, Canberra
25 April	8 [ii]	South Sydney Rabbitohs	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
1 May	9	Dolphins	A	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
10 May	10	Wests Tigers	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
16 May	11 [iii]	Parramatta Eels	N	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
22 May	12	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	A	Accor Stadium, Sydney
30 May	13	Sydney Roosters	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
5 June	14	Newcastle Knights	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
13 June	15	Bye
21 June	16	Canberra Raiders	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
27 June	17	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	A	4 Pines Park, Sydney
4 July	18	Bye
12 July	19	Gold Coast Titans	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
17 July	20 [iv]	Sydney Roosters	A	Allianz Stadium, Sydney
24 July	21	South Sydney Rabbitohs	A	Accor Stadium, Sydney
31 July	22	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
8 August	23 [v]	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	N	HBF Park, Perth
15 August	24 [v]	Bye
20 August	25	Penrith Panthers	H	AAMI Park, Melbourne
27 August	26	Brisbane Broncos	A	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
5 September	27	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	A	Sharks Stadium, Sydney

Fixture notes:

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

Ladder

Main article: 2026 NRL season

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brisbane Broncos	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to finals series
2	Canberra Raiders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Dolphins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Gold Coast Titans	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Melbourne Storm	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Newcastle Knights	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	New Zealand Warriors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	North Queensland Cowboys	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Parramatta Eels	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	Penrith Panthers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	South Sydney Rabbitohs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	St. George Illawarra Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	Sydney Roosters	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	Wests Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Updated to match(es) played on 14 November 2025. Source: National Rugby League

Coaching staff

• Craig Bellamy – Head Coach ^[9]
• Marc Brentnall – Assistant Coach
• Aaron Bellamy – Assistant Coach
• Ryan Hinchcliffe – Assistant Coach
• Todd Lowrie – Development Coach ^{[10] [11]}

2026 squad

List current as of 19 December 2025

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
181		Tui Kamikamica	SR, PR	2017	Melbourne Storm
184		Jahrome Hughes	FE, HB	2017	North Queensland Cowboys
188		Harry Grant	HK	2018	Melbourne Storm
193		Marion Seve	WG	2019	Melbourne Storm
212		Trent Loiero	SR	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
225		William Warbrick	CE, WG	2023	Melbourne Storm
226		Eliesa Katoa	SR	2023	New Zealand Warriors
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
240		Moses Leo	CE, WG	2025	Melbourne Storm
241		Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown	CE, WG	2025	Melbourne Storm
–		Jack Hetherington	SR, PR	Yet to debut	Newcastle Knights
–		Angus Hinchey	SR	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm
–		Stanley Huen	FE	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm
–		Davvy Moale	PR, SR	Yet to debut	South Sydney Rabbitohs
–		Josiah Pahulu	PR	Yet to debut	Gold Coast Titans
–		Gabriel Satrick	HK	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm
–		Trent Toelau	FE	Yet to debut	Penrith Panthers
–		Manaia Waitere	CE	Yet to debut	Canberra Raiders

Player movements

Source: ^[12]

Losses Grant Anderson to Brisbane Broncos [13] Nelson Asofa-Solomona to Released [14] [15] [16] Kane Bradley to Brisbane Broncos Bronson Garlick to South Sydney Rabbitohs [17] [18] Dean Ieremia to Released [19] Ryan Papenhuyzen to Released [20] [21] Jonah Pezet to Parramatta Eels [22] [23] [24] Coby Williamson to Released [19]

Gains Jack Hetherington from Newcastle Knights [25] [26] Davvy Moale from South Sydney Rabbitohs [27] [28] Trent Toelau from Penrith Panthers [26] [29] Manaia Waitere from Canberra Raiders [26]

Jerseys

Home

Away

In November 2023, Melbourne Storm announced a new sponsorship and apparel partnership agreement with Irish sportswear company O'Neills. ^[30] 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 for a seventh season. ^[31] Insurance company Budget Direct joined the club as a new sponsorship partner, with the logo added to the sleeves of all jerseys. ^[32]

Home

Unveiled in November 2025, the club's refreshed jersey sees purple return as the predominant colour of the home jersey design. The design featured a gold chevron beneath a navy blue yoke, while the shoulder panels and sleeves were both purple. A new addition were gold lightning bolts inside the sleeve cuffs. ^[33]

Away

Also released for sale in November 2025, the club's away jersey also was refreshed for 2026. Predominantly white and worn with white shorts, the jersey features a simple design with purple, navy blue and gold chevrons across the top of the chest. A subtle pattern through the design was said to be "inspired by the topography of Melbourne," while the sleeve cuffs also featured a lightning bolt motif similar to the home jersey. ^[34]

NSW Cup team

After ending their Queensland Cup affiliations during 2025, Melbourne reinstated a team in the New South Wales Rugby League's New South Wales Cup competition. It will be the first time since the 2010 season that the club had a reserve grade team operating out of Melbourne. ^[35]

2025 Jersey Flegg Cup premiership coach Mark Russell took the reigns as coach of the team. ^{[35] [36]}

Results

Key

H	Home match
A	Away match
N	Neutral venue match

Table of season results ^[37]

Round	Date	Result	Score	Opponent	Score	Ground
1	5 March			Parramatta Eels		AAMI Park	H
2	14 March			St George Illawarra Dragons		WIN Stadium	A
3	21 March			Newtown Jets		Seabrook Reserve	H
4	Bye
5	3 April			Penrith Panthers		CommBank Stadium	A
6	11 April			New Zealand Warriors		AAMI Park	H
7	18 April			Canberra Raiders		Seiffert Oval	A
8	24 April			South Sydney Rabbitohs		Seabrook Reserve	H
9	3 May			Newcastle Knights		McDonald Jones Stadium	A
10	10 May			Western Suburbs Magpies		AAMI Park	H
11	17 May			New Zealand Warriors		North Sydney Oval	N
12	23 May			Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs		Belmore Sports Ground	A
13	30 May			Sydney Roosters		AAMI Park	H
14	6 June			Newcastle Knights		Seabrook Reserve	H
15	Bye
16	21 June			Canberra Raiders		AAMI Park	H
17	28 June			North Sydney Bears		Scully Park	N
18	Bye
19	11 July			Newtown Jets		Henson Park	A
20	17 July			Sydney Roosters		Allianz Stadium	A
21	25 July			South Sydney Rabbitohs		Redfern Oval	A
22	31 July			Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs		AAMI Park	H
23	8 August			Manly Warringah Sea Eagles		TBC	H
24	Bye
25	21 August			Penrith Panthers		Seabrook Reserve	H
26	29 August			North Sydney Bears		North Sydney Oval	A

Junior Representatives

The club entered teams in the 2026 New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) male junior representative competitions with the following coaching staff:

• Jersey Flegg Cup (Under-21s): Dan Murphy (coach), Nate Myles (assistant)
• S.G. Ball Cup (Under-19s): Matt Duffie (coach), Justin O'Neill (assistant), Ryan Hoffman (assistant)
• Harold Matthews Cup (Under-17s): Caine Sinclair (coach)

Todd Lowrie was appointed the club's Head of Development in addition to his role with the NRL squad. ^[36]

In a first for the Melbourne Storm, the club entered teams into the NSWRL's female junior representative competitions, the Under-19s Tarsha Gale Cup and the Under-17s Lisa Fiaola Cup. ^[36] Former Cronulla Sharks development coach Jack Gould was appointed the coach of both teams, under female pathways manager Pauline Poloai. ^[38]

Most home matches for each of the junior representative squads were scheduled to be played at Seabrook Reserve in Broadmeadows, the home of NRL Victoria. Some matches were also scheduled for Gosch's Paddock, the training venue for the NRL team.

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

References

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34. "Revealed: 2026 Away Jersey". melbournestorm.com.au. 15 November 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
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