The 2019 Melbourne Storm season was the 22nd in the club's history, competing in the 2019 NRL season. The team was coached by Craig Bellamy, who coached the club for his 17th consecutive season. Melbourne Storm were captained by Cameron Smith, who had been the sole captain for the team since 2008. On 13 July 2019 Smith became the first NRL player to play 400 NRL games. On 31 August 2019 the Storm defeated the Manly Sea Eagles to win their fourth J. J. Giltinan Shield as the minor premiers.

Season summary

Cameron Smith holding the Michael Moore Trophy

Cameron Smith playing his 400th NRL match

• Pre-season – New recruits took part in Melbourne Storm IDQ camp for pre season training before New Years. Tom Eisenhuth was awarded the IDQ Iron bar with special recognition to both Sandor Earl & Nicho Hynes.^[1]
• Round 1 – Prior to the commencement of play, the northern stand of AAMI Park was renamed "The Slater Stand" after Billy Slater. Storm defeated the Broncos 22–12 extending their winning streak in Round 1 to 17 seasons. Tom Eisenhuth makes Storm debut.
• Round 3 – Storm defeat the Panthers 32–2 in Bathurst, Marion Seve scores his first NRL try
• Round 5 – Cameron Smith becomes the game's highest ever points scorer with penalty goal in the 48th minute. Smith finished the game on 2422 points. Sandor Earl made his debut for the Storm and also played his first game following a four year ban from the game.
• Round 9 – The NRL stage their first Magic Round at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. The Storm completed one of the biggest wins in the club's history dominating the Parramatta Eels 64-10. Will Chambers played game 200.
• Round 11 – The Storm defeat the Bulldogs away at Belmore Oval Sydney with Cameron Smith playing his 500th first grade game. Cameron Munster also played his 100th Game.
• Round 16 – Missing 7 players due to State of Origin, Storm win 16–14 against St George Illawarra. The game was notable due to the large number of milestones; with Cameron Smith scoring his 2500th career point, Sandor Earl played his 50th NRL game, Craig Bellamy coached his 300th win and both Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Billy Walters making their playing debuts.
• Round 17 – Cameron Smith becomes the first NRL player to play in 400 NRL games in the Storm's 40-16 win over Cronulla.
• Round 19 – Cameron Smith captains his 300th NRL Game.
• Round 22 – The Storm lose to the Canberra Raiders 22–18 after leading 18–0 shortly before half time. This result meant that it was the Storm's worst collapse in the history of the club.^[2]
• Round 24 – Storm defeat the Manly Sea Eagles 36-6 and clinch the J. J. Giltinan Shield as the minor premiers for 2019. Nelson Asofa-Solomaona also played his 100th game.

Fixtures

Pre-season

Source:^[3]

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Source
23 February	Trial	New Zealand Warriors	GMHBA Stadium, Geelong	Lost	6	12	[4]
2 March	Trial	North Queensland Cowboys	BB Print Stadium, Mackay	Lost	6	14	[5]

Regular season

Source:^[6]

• (GP) - Golden Point extra time
• (pen) - Penalty try

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field Goals	Report
14 March	1	Brisbane Broncos	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	22	12	J Hughes, C Scott, K Bromwich, J Bromwich	C Smith 3/4		[7]
22 March	2	Canberra Raiders	GIO Stadium, Canberra	Won	22	10	S Vunivalu (3), N Asofa-Solomona	C Smith 3/5		[8]
30 March	3	Penrith Panthers	Carrington Park, Bathurst, New South Wales	Won	32	2	C Munster, B Croft, J Addo-Carr, M Seve, J Bromwich	C Smith 6/6, B Croft 0/1		[9]
7 April	4	Canterbury Bulldogs	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	18	16	W Chambers (pen), T Kamikamica, C Munster	C Smith 3/3		[10]
12 April	5	North Queensland Cowboys	1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville	Won	18	12	J Addo-Carr (2), W Chambers	C Smith 3/5		[11]
19 April	6	Sydney Roosters	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Lost (GP)	20	21	J Addo-Carr, T Kamikamica, C Scott	B Croft 4/4	B Croft 0/2	[12]
25 April	7	New Zealand Warriors	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	13	12	C Munster, J Hughes	C Munster 2/3	B Croft 1/1	[13]
3 May	8	Cronulla Sharks	Shark Park, Sydney	Lost	18	20	J Addo-Carr, J Bromwich, R Papenhuyzen	C Smith 3/4		[14]
11 May	9	Parramatta Eels	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Won	64	10	C Munster (2), J Addo-Carr (2), D Finucane, J Hughes, C Scott, S Vunivalu, B Croft, R Papenhuyzen, K Bromwich	C Smith 9/11, W Chambers 1/1		[15]
16 May	10	Wests Tigers	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	24	22	R Papenhuyzen, F Kaufusi, M Seve, W Chambers	C Smith 3/4		[16]
26 May	11	Canterbury Bulldogs	Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney	Won	28	6	J Addo Carr (2), W Chambers, N Asofa-Solomona	C Smith 5/6, R Papenhuyzen 1/1		[17]
	12	Bye
8 June	13	New Zealand Warriors	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Won	32	10	J Hughes (2), S Vunivalu, J Bromwich, M Seve	C Smith 6/7		[18]
15 June	14	Newcastle Knights	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	34	4	J Stimson (2), J Addo-Carr, J Hughes, M Seve, S Vunivalu	C Smith 5/5, R Papenhuyzen 0/1		[19]
28 June	15	Sydney Roosters	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	Won	14	12	R Papenhuyzen, B Croft	C Smith 3/3		[20]
4 July	16	St George-Illawarra Dragons	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	Won	16	14	J Stimson, J Hughes	C Smith 4/4		[21]
13 July	17	Cronulla Sharks	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	40	16	B Smith (2), C Munster, B Croft, J Olam, J Stimson	C Smith 8/9		[22]
21 July	18	Gold Coast Titans	Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast	Won	38	18	S Vunivalu (2), J Stimson, S Earl, R Papenhuyzen, C Smith, J Olam	C Smith 5/6, J Stimson 0/1		[23]
27 July	19	Manly Sea Eagles	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Lost (GP)	10	11	W Chambers, B Smith	C Smith 1/2	B Croft 0/2, CMunster 0/1, C Smith 0/1	[24]
2 August	20	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Won	40	4	K Bromwich (2), J Addo-Carr, C Welch, J Hughes, C Smith, R Papenhuyzen	C Smith 6/9		[25]
11 August	21	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Central Coast Stadium, Gosford	Won	26	16	J Bromwich, J Olam, C Munster, B Croft	C Smith 5/6		[26]
17 August	22	Canberra Raiders	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Lost	18	22	J Olam, J Addo-Carr, S Vunivalu	C Smith 3/3		[27]
25 August	23	Gold Coast Titans	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	24	8	K Bromwich, R Papenhuyzen, J Addo-Carr, D Finucane	C Smith 4/5		[28]
31 August	24	Manly Sea Eagles	Lottoland, Sydney	Won	36	6	J Olam (3), J Addo-Carr, N Asofa-Solomona, R Papenhuyzen	C Smith 6/7		[29]
6 September	25	North Queensland Cowboys	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	24	16	S Earl, N Asofa-Solomona, W Chambers, M King	C Smith 4/5		[30]

Finals

Source:^[31]

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Tries	Goals	Field Goals	Report
14 September	Week 1 - Qualifying Final	Canberra Raiders	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Lost	10	12	S Vunivalu	C Smith 3/4		[32]
21 September	Week 2 - Semi Final	Parramatta Eels	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Won	32	0	J Addo-Carr (2), S Vunivalu, C Munster, J Hughes, R Papenhuyzen, N Asofa-Solomona	C Smith 1/6, R Papenhuyzen 1/1, C Munster 0/1		[33]
28 September	Week 3 - Preliminary Final	Sydney Roosters	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Lost	6	14	N Asofa-Solomona	C Smith 1/1		[34]

Ladder

2019 NRL season
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne Storm	24	20	0	4	1	631	300	+331	42
2	Sydney Roosters	24	17	0	7	1	627	363	+264	36
3	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	16	0	8	1	521	417	+104	34
4	Canberra Raiders	24	15	0	9	1	524	374	+150	32
5	Parramatta Eels	24	14	0	10	1	533	473	+60	30
6	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	14	0	10	1	496	446	+50	30
7	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	12	0	12	1	514	464	+50	26
8	Brisbane Broncos	24	11	1	12	1	432	489	−57	25
9	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	1	475	486	−11	24
10	Penrith Panthers	24	11	0	13	1	413	474	−61	24
11	Newcastle Knights	24	10	0	14	1	485	522	−37	22
12	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	10	0	14	1	326	477	−151	22
13	New Zealand Warriors	24	9	1	14	1	433	574	−141	21
14	North Queensland Cowboys	24	9	0	15	1	378	500	−122	20
15	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	8	0	16	1	427	575	−148	18
16	Gold Coast Titans	24	4	0	20	1	370	651	−281	10

Coaching staff

• Craig Bellamy – Head Coach^[35]
• Jason Ryles – Senior Assistant Coach
• Marc Brentnall – Assistant Coach
• Ben Jack – U/20s Head Coach
• Aaron Bellamy – Development Coach
• Ryan Hinchcliffe – Development Coach
• Frank Ponissi – Football Director
• Ryan Hoffman – Football Administration Coordinator
• Nick Maxwell – Leadership Coach
• Craig McRae – Kicking & Catching Coach
• Billy Slater – Specialist Coach (Part time)
• Scott Sipple – Easts Tigers Feeder Club Coach
• Craig Ingebrigtsen – Sunshine Coast Falcons Feeder Club Coach

2019 Squad

List current as of 24 March 2019 (a): 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.

Cap	Nat.	Player name	Position	First Storm Game	Previous First Grade RL club (a)
55		Cameron Smith (c)	HK	2002	Melbourne Storm
97		Will Chambers	CE	2007	Melbourne Storm
119		Jesse Bromwich	PR	2010	Melbourne Storm
149		Kenny Bromwich	PR,SR,LK	2013	Melbourne Storm
160		Cameron Munster	FE,FB	2014	Melbourne Storm
163		Dale Finucane	PR,SR,LK	2015	Canterbury Bulldogs
164		Felise Kaufusi	PR	2015	Melbourne Storm
166		Nelson Asofa-Solomona	SR, PR	2015	Melbourne Storm
167		Christian Welch	SR, PR	2015	Melbourne Storm
170		Curtis Scott	CE,WG	2016	Melbourne Storm
171		Suliasi Vunivalu	WG	2016	Melbourne Storm
174		Brodie Croft	HB	2016	Melbourne Storm
176		Josh Addo-Carr	WG, FB	2017	Wests Tigers
179		Joe Stimson	SR, LK	2017	Melbourne Storm
181		Tui Kamikamica	SR, PR	2017	Melbourne Storm
182		Brandon Smith	HK	2017	Melbourne Storm
184		Jahrome Hughes	FE, FB	2017	North Queensland Cowboys
187		Justin Olam	WG, CE	2018	Melbourne Storm
188		Harry Grant	HK	2018	Melbourne Storm
190		Albert Vete	PR	2018	New Zealand Warriors
192		Tom Eisenhuth	SR	2019	Penrith Panthers
193		Marion Seve	WG	2019	Melbourne Storm
194		Ryan Papenhuyzen	FB	2019	Melbourne Storm
195		Sandor Earl	WG	2019	Canberra Raiders
196		Billy Walters	FE	2019	Melbourne Storm
197		Tino Fa'asuamaleaui	PR	2019	Melbourne Storm
198		Nicho Hynes	FB	2019	Melbourne Storm
199		Max King	PR	2019	Gold Coast Titans
		Kayleb Milne	SR	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm
		Cooper Johns	FE	Yet to debut	Melbourne Storm
		Solomone Kata	CE	Yet to debut	New Zealand Warriors
		Isaac Lumelume	WG	Yet to debut	Cronulla Sharks
		Aaron Pene	PR	Yet to debut	Central Queensland Capras
		Darryn Schonig	PR	Yet to debut	Sunshine Coast Falcons

Player movements

Source:^[36]

Representative honours

The following players have played a first grade representative match in 2019.

Statistics

Statistics Source:^[39] Statistics current as of the end of the 2019 NRL regular season (this table does not include finals matches)

Scorers

Most Points in a Game: 18 points

• Round 9: Cameron Smith (9 Goals) vs Parramatta Eels

Most tries in a Game: 3

• Round 2: Suliasi Vunivalu vs. Canberra Raiders
• Round 24: Justin Olam vs. Manly Sea Eagles

Winning Games

Highest score in a winning game: 64 points

• Round 9: vs. Parramatta Eels

Lowest score in a winning game: 13 points

• Round 7 vs. New Zealand Warriors

Greatest winning margin: 54 points

• Round 9: vs. Parramatta Eels

Greatest number of Games won consecutively: 9

• Round 9 to Round 18

Losing Games

Highest score in a losing game: 20 points

• Round 6: vs. Sydney Roosters

Lowest score in a losing game: 10 points

• Round 19: vs. Manly Sea Eagles

Greatest losing margin: 4 points

• Round 22: vs. Canberra Raiders

Jersey

On 7 February the Storm announced that the 2019 Jersey will remain the same from 2018 however with updated NRL logos and the new 2019 Melbourne Storm logo. In addition the jersey now features the new Storm sponsor Purple Bricks.^[40]

^# Designed by Lenny Briggs.^[41]
^ Special jersey designed for Cameron Smith's 400th NRL game.
^^ Heritage jersey inspired by the 2009 home jersey; celebrating both the 1999 NRL Grand Final premiership and 2009 NRL Grand Final winning teams.
^& Women in League jersey featuring pink thunderbolts motif.

Awards

References