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.

Fixtures

Pre-season Challenge

Main article: 2026 NRL Pre-season Challenge

Source: ^[1]

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: ^[2]

• ( 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 ^[3]
• Marc Brentnall – Assistant Coach
• Aaron Bellamy – Assistant Coach
• Ryan Hinchcliffe – Assistant Coach
• Todd Lowrie – Development Coach ^{[4] [5]}

2026 squad

List current as of 2 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
–		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: ^[6]

Losses Grant Anderson to Brisbane Broncos [7] Nelson Asofa-Solomona to Released [8] [9] [10] Kane Bradley to Brisbane Broncos Bronson Garlick to South Sydney Rabbitohs [11] [12] Dean Ieremia to Released [13] Ryan Papenhuyzen to Released [14] [15] Jonah Pezet to Parramatta Eels [16] [17] [18] Coby Williamson to Released [13]

Gains Jack Hetherington from Newcastle Knights [19] [20] Trent Toelau from Penrith Panthers [20] [21] Manaia Waitere from Canberra Raiders [20]

Jerseys

Home

Away

In November 2023, Melbourne Storm announced a new sponsorship and apparel partnership agreement with Irish sportswear company O'Neills. ^[22] 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. ^[23] Insurance company Budget Direct joined the club as a new sponsorship partner, with the logo added to the sleeves of all jerseys. ^[24]

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. ^[25]

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. ^[26]

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. ^[27]

2025 Jersey Flegg Cup premiership coach Mark Russell took the reigns as coach of the team. ^{[27] [28]}

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. ^[28]

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. ^[28]

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.

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

1. "NRL 2026 Melbourne Storm Pre-season Challenge Draw" . Retrieved 17 November 2025.
2. "NRL 2026 Melbourne Storm Draw" . Retrieved 17 November 2025.
3. "Storm announce 2019 Football department structure". 5 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
4. "Lowrie to return to Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
5. Callinan, Josh (3 November 2022). "Former NRL player Todd Lowrie joins Melbourne Storm coaching staff for 2023". Australian Community Media. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
6. "NRL Signings Tracker". NRL.com. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
7. "Anderson to depart Storm at end of 2025". melbournestorm.com.au. 25 June 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
8. "Nelson Asofa-Solomona to depart Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. 9 October 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
9. "Melbourne Storm grants Nelson Asofa-Solomona immediate release from NRL contract". abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 October 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
10. Gates, Zachary (9 October 2025). "Storm split with Nelson Asofa-Solomona amid 'attitude' issues". Nine's Wide World of Sport. Nine Media. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
11. "Rabbitohs sign Bronson Garlick for Seasons 2026 and 2027". rabbitohs.com.au. 23 May 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
12. Harper, Lachlan (23 May 2025). "South Sydney's aggressive rebuild continues as Bronson Garlick returns from Melbourne". Nine's Wide World of Sport. Nine Media. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
13. Pryde, Scott (9 October 2025). "Melbourne Storm confirm five player departures". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
14. "Storm release Papenhuyzen from final year of contract". NRL.com. 30 October 2025. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
15. Doyle, Michael (30 October 2025). "Ryan Papenhuyzen granted immediate release from Melbourne Storm". abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
16. "Pezet to depart Melbourne Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. 29 October 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
17. Gabor, Martin (29 October 2025). "'One of the most exciting young talents in the game': Jonah Pezet's future finally sorted in multi-club announcement". news.com.au. News Corporation Australia. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
18. Pryde, Scott (29 October 2025). "Full details locked in as Pezet confirms two-club switch". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
19. Ritchie, Dean (25 November 2025). "Melbourne Storm poised to sign Jack Hetherington to replace injured star Eli Katoa". Code Sports. Sydney, New South Wales: News Corporation Australia. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
20. "Storm secure trio of signings for 2026". melbournestorm.com.au. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
21. Goodwin, Sam (3 December 2025). "Melbourne Storm confirm signing of playmaker from Panthers as three players join NRL club". Yahoo News. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
22. "Storm joins forces with O'Neills". melbournestorm.com.au. 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
23. "Storm and RedZed extend major partnership to 2028". melbournestorm.com.au. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
24. "Budget Direct announced as Storm's first Platinum Partner". melbournestorm.com.au. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
25. "Revealed: 2026 Home Jersey". melbournestorm.com.au. 1 November 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
26. "Revealed: 2026 Away Jersey". melbournestorm.com.au. 15 November 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
27. "Melbourne Storm will field it's first-ever reserve grade team in the NSW Cup from 2026". news.com.au. News Corporation Australia. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
28. "Storm to enter new era of Pathways". melbournestorm.com.au. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.