2007_Melbourne_Storm_season

2007 Melbourne Storm season

2007 Melbourne Storm season

Add article description

The 2007 Melbourne Storm season was the 10th in the club's history. They competed for NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, finishing the season in 1st place to claim the minor premiership before going on to reach the 2007 NRL grand final, their third. In the grand final the Storm defeated the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to claim their second premiership. However two years after the event Melbourne were stripped of their 2007 titles after being found guilty of long-term salary cap breaches.

Quick Facts NRL Rank, Play-off result ...

The most successful season in the club's history as the team managed 21 wins on their way to winning the NRL Grand Final. Storm's success was built on the back of incredibly strong defence. Craig Bellamy's men conceded just 11.5 points per game, the best defensive season in the club's history. The year began with seven straight wins and by Round 12 Melbourne had moved into first place, where they remained for the rest of the season. Storm earned redemption from the 2006 Grand Final loss by beating the Broncos 40–0 in the Qualifying final. They faced Manly in the decider, running away with a 34–8 victory as Greg Inglis scored a double on the night to be awarded the Clive Churchill Medal. Cameron Smith increased his standing as the best player in the game by being awarded the Golden Boot after being named the International Player of the Year while Israel Folau set an NRL rookie record, scoring 21 tries for the season.[1]

Season Summary

  • 15 January – The drawn-out battle over the services of Melbourne winger Steve Turner is finally resolved when new NRL team the Gold Coast Titans agree to release him from his contract. "It would have been devastating [to leave]," Turner said. "I feel like I’ve come all this way with the Storm and leaving now would have been really hard to handle." Storm rookies Smith Samau and Daniel Isaac are 'traded' to the Titans as compensation for the loss of Turner.[2]
  • 3 March – In the club's first trial match played in metropolitan Melbourne, Storm thrash 2006 premiers Brisbane Broncos 46–0 in a well-attended game at the club's training base Princes Park.[2]
  • 14 March – The club confirms that Cooper Cronk and Dallas Johnson will join the captaincy group for the season, following the departures of David Kidwell and Scott Hill.[3]
  • Round 1 – Israel Folau becomes the youngest player to play for the club, making his debut at just 17 years and 347 days. Folau scores a try in a tight 18–16 win against Wests Tigers, with the goalkicking of Cameron Smith proving the difference on the scoreboard.[2]
  • Round 5 – Melbourne get off to their best start to a season, winning their fifth straight game.
  • Round 6 – Playing his second game in 24 hours, Cameron Smith scores a double and five goals in a commanding performance against Penrith Panthers.[2]
  • 3 May – Craig Bellamy coaches the NSW Country representative team in the annual City vs Country Origin held in Coffs Harbour.
  • Round 8 – Melbourne suffer their first loss of the season, going down 30–12 against Wests Tigers at Gosford.
  • Round 10 – Despite the loss of five players to State of Origin duty, Melbourne trounce bottom-placed Sydney Roosters 26–2, holding the Roosters tryless.[2]
  • Round 11 – In a top of the table clash at Brookvale Oval, former Storm halfback Matt Orford kicked the decisive field goal to give Manly Warringah Sea Eagles a dramatic 13–12 win over Melbourne. Coach Craig Bellamy could not fault the team's effort, but was critical of some options taken when the match was in the balance, saying "we were very brave, but very dumb".[2]
  • Round 13 – In the lowest scoring game for 14 years, Melbourne score a late try to win 4–2 against the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland. Missing nine regular players, including six on State of Origin duty, Melbourne trailed 2–0 for much of the game played in cold and wet conditions. Midseason signing Clint Newton made his debut for the club, becoming the 100th player to play for the club; while Matt Rua played his first NRL game since 2002.[2]
  • Round 14 – Melbourne march to a 40–4 halftime lead against North Queensland Cowboys, going on to win 58–12, eclipsing the highest score posted by the club against the Cowboys. Matt Geyer scores his 100th NRL try, becoming the first Melbourne player to reach that milestone.
  • 22 June – As part of the club's 10-year celebrations, a 17-man team of the decade is announced at a gala presentation held at The Great Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria.[4]
  • Round 15 – Celebrating the club's 10th birthday with fireworks and cake postgame, Melbourne dominate St George Illawarra Dragons 28–6.
  • 10 July – Crowd favourite Matt King announces he will be leaving Melbourne at the end of the season to join Super League club Warrington Wolves on a lucrative four-year deal.[2]
  • Round 18 – Midseason signing Clint Newton scores a try against former club Newcastle Knights as Melbourne thrash Newcastle 44–0. Billy Slater, Steve Turner, and Anthony Quinn all score double in the big win, with Newton saying the victory was "sweet (to beat) someone that wasn't playing tonight" referring to Knights coach Brian Smith.[2]
  • Round 20 – A poor attitude was blamed as Melbourne suffered a 26–16 defeat against the previously hapless Sydney Roosters, under caretaker coach Brad Fittler. Melbourne had rested Matt Geyer and Ryan Hoffman from the match.
  • Round 21 – Behind 14–0 after 30 minutes, Cooper Cronk lands a late field goal to secure a 17–16 win over Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, with Sharks coach Ricky Stuart upset over various decisions by referee Paul Simpkins.[2]
  • 3 August – Coach Craig Bellamy confirms that the club's rotational captaincy group is over, with Cameron Smith appointed as permanent captain. Bellamy quoted as saying "Obviously, we've had the leadership group for nearly two years, but we just thought going back to the traditional captain was the way to go. We probably would have done it at the start of the year, but I just didn't think Cameron was quite ready for it. There were a couple of areas he needed to get better at...and he's worked on those areas and he's right to go now."[5][6][7]
  • 8 August – Long-time Melbourne recruitment officer Peter O'Sullivan is poached by Sydney Roosters in a two-year deal worth $150,000 a season.[2]
  • Round 22 – A 'grapple tackle' furore erupts after Melbourne's 14–6 win over Brisbane Broncos with Broncos captain Petero Civoniceva and coach Wayne Bennett particularly vocal in complaining.[2]
  • Round 24 – Melbourne secure their second successive minor premiership with a dominant second half performance against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. The 38–6 win came with a hat-trick of tries to Israel Folau, who in doing so equaled the club record for tries for a season.
  • Round 25 – Israel Folau scores his 21st try of the season as Melbourne thrash new club Gold Coast Titans 50–6 in the first meeting between the teams. The victory saw Melbourne finish the season with a perfect 12–0 record in games played at Olympic Park.
  • Preliminary Final – Returning to Telstra Dome for the first time since 2001, Melbourne progress to their second successive NRL Grand Final with a 26–10 win over Parramatta Eels.
  • 30 November – Cameron Smith is awarded the Golden Boot as the best player in the world.[8]

Milestone games

More information Round, Player ...

Jerseys

Continuing with apparel manufacturer Reebok, the designs of Melbourne's home and clash jerseys were unchanged from 2006.

Fixtures

Pre Season

More information Date, Rd ...

Regular season

Source:[15]

More information Date, Rd ...

Finals

More information Melbourne Storm, 40 – 0 ...
Qualifying final
Sunday, 9 September
16:00 AEST (UTC+10)
Olympic Park, Melbourne
Attendance: 15,522
Referee: Steve Clark
More information Melbourne Storm, 26 – 10 ...
Preliminary final
Sunday, 23 September
16:00 AEST (UTC+10)
Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 33,427
Referee: Tony Archer
Player of the Match: Ryan Hoffman (Melbourne)
Main article: 2007 NRL Grand Final
More information Melbourne Storm, 34 – 8 ...
2007 NRL Grand Final
Sunday, 30 September
19:15 AEST (UTC+10)
ANZStadium, Sydney
Attendance: 81,392[40][41]
Referee: Tony Archer
Touch judges: Steve Chiddy, Russell Turner
Clive Churchill Medal: Greg Inglis (Melbourne)

Ladder

Main article: 2007 NRL season
More information Pos, Team ...

2007 Coaching Staff

2007 Squad

List current as of 18 October 2021

Further information: List of Melbourne Storm players
More information Cap, Nat. ...

2007 Grand Final Winning Team

More information Interchange, Coach ...

Team of the decade

As part of their 10-year celebrations in 2007, Melbourne Storm released a team of the decade. The 17-man team was selected by former assistant coach Greg Brentnall, foundation CEO John Ribot, and then board member Frank Stanton (all 3 were members of the 1982 Kangaroo tour "Invincibles", Brentnall and Ribot as players with Stanton the coach). The trio were joined by The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) journalist Steve Mascord.[4]

More information Team of the Decade, Interchange ...

Player movements

Representative honours

This table lists all players who have played a representative match in 2007.

Further information: List of Melbourne Storm representatives
More information Player, City vs Country Origin ...

Statistics

This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 2007 NRL season.

Further information: List of Melbourne Storm records
More information Name, Appearances ...

Scorers

Most points in a game: 18 points

  • Round 6 – Cameron Smith (2 tries, 5 goals) vs Penrith Panthers
  • Round 14 – Cameron Smith (9 goals) vs North Queensland Cowboys

Most tries in a game: 3

  • Round 24 – Israel Folau vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
  • Qualifying Final – Steve Turner vs Brisbane Broncos

Winning games

Highest score in a winning game: 58 points

  • Round 14 vs North Queensland Cowboys

Lowest score in a winning game: 4 points

  • Round 13 vs New Zealand Warriors

Greatest winning margin: 46 points

  • Round 14 vs North Queensland Cowboys

Greatest number of games won consecutively: 8

  • Round 21 – Grand Final

Losing games

Highest score in a losing game: 16 points

  • Round 20 vs Sydney Roosters

Lowest score in a losing game: 12 points

  • Round 8 vs Wests Tigers
  • Round 11 vs Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

Greatest losing margin: 18 points

  • Round 8 vs Wests Tigers

Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 1

Feeder Team

For a tenth and ultimately final season, Melbourne continued their affiliation with Norths Devils, with reserve players travelling to Brisbane each week to play with the Devils in the Queensland Cup.

Coached by former Storm player Kevin Carmichael, the Devils missed the Queensland Cup finals for the second year in a row.

Main article: 2007 Queensland Cup
More information Pos, Team ...

Awards and honours

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. Bartlett was released on 1 June 2007 to join the Cowboys.
  4. Donnelly was released on 6 June 2007 to join the Titans.

References

  1. [1]
    "History Melbourne Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  2. [2]
    Middleton, David. 2007 Official Rugby League Annual. Surrey Hills: News Magazines.
  3. [3]
    "Smith still keen to be Storm captain". theage.com.au. 14 March 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  4. [4]
    "Melbourne Storm Team of the Decade". Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
  5. [5]
    "CAMERON Smith has been named Melbourne's permanent captain". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, New South Wales. 3 August 2007. p. 52.
  6. [6]
    Donaghy, Dave (3 August 2007). "One hand back on Storm tiller". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, New South Wales. p. 99.
  7. [7]
    Paxinos, Stathi (3 August 2007). "Delighted Smith rewarded with sole captaincy of Storm". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. p. 13.
  8. [8]
    Middleton, David. 2008 Official Rugby League Annual. Surrey Hills: News Magazines.
  9. [9]
    "RESULTS: NRL Trial Matches 2007". leagueunlimited.com. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  10. [10]
    de Kroo, Karl (19 February 2007). "Punt pays off for Cartwright - Titans take up Storm's challenge". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane, Queensland: Nationwide News Pty Ltd. p. 68.
  11. [11]
    Masters, Roy (19 February 2007). "Titans the brighter despite defeat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. p. 8.
  12. [12]
    "NRL trials latest". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane, Queensland: Nationwide News Pty Ltd. 25 February 2007. p. 99.
  13. [13]
    Donaghy, Dave (25 February 2007). "Early lead blown by Storm". Herald-Sun. Melbourne, Victoria: Nationwide News Pty Ltd. p. 63.
  14. [14]
    Paxinos, Stathi (4 March 2007). "Storm crushes Brisbane". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria: Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited. p. 15.
  15. [15]
    "Rugby League Tables - Melbourne". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  16. [16]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 1". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  17. [17]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 2". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  18. [18]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 3". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  19. [19]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 4". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  20. [20]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 5". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  21. [21]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 6". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  22. [22]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 7". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  23. [23]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 8". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  24. [24]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 9". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  25. [25]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 10". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  26. [26]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 11". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  27. [27]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 12". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  28. [28]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 13". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  29. [29]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 14". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  30. [30]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 15". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  31. [31]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 17". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  32. [32]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 18". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  33. [33]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 19". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  34. [34]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 20". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  35. [35]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 21". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  36. [36]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 22". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  37. [37]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 23". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  38. [38]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 24". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  39. [39]
    "NRL 2007 - Round 25". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  40. [40]
    Middleton, David. 2007 Official Rugby League Annual. Surrey Hills: News Magazines. p. 110.
  41. [41]
    NRL Grand Final History Archived 9 February 2010 at archive.today at rl1908.com
  42. [42]
    "2007 Melbourne Point Scorers". afltables.com. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  43. [43]
    "Melbourne Storm - NRL 2007". rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  44. [44]
    "NRL Honour Board". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  45. [45]
    Byrne, Fiona (7 October 2007). "MELBOURNE STORM PRESENTATION EVENING". Herald-Sun. Melbourne, Victoria: Nationwide News Pty Ltd. p. 122.
  46. [46]
    "Dream year even better for Smith". melbournestorm.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 October 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 2007_Melbourne_Storm_season, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.