2006 Melbourne Storm season

The 2006 Melbourne Storm season was the 9th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership, winning a record 20 out of 24 regular season games to finish in first place and win the minor premiership, eight points clear of the second-placed Bulldogs. The team backed up their stellar defensive effort the previous year to concede just 404 points in 2006. The retirement of Robbie Kearns saw a rotating captaincy introduced between David Kidwell, Scott Hill, Cameron Smith, Matt Geyer and Michael Crocker. Cooper Cronk also assumed the halfback duties following the departure of Matt Orford. Storm won 13 of their last 14 games of the season to take a great run of form into the finals where they progressed to reach their first Grand Final since 1999 after wins over the Eels and Dragons. This broke a run of three straight semi-final exits for Craig Bellamy’s team.

2006 Melbourne Storm season
NRL Rank1st
Play-off resultRunner Up
2006 recordWins: 20; Draws: 0; Losses: 4
Points scoredFor: 605; Against: 404
Team information
CEOBrian Waldron
CoachCraig Bellamy
Captain
StadiumOlympic Park Stadium
Top scorers
TriesGreg Inglis (18)
Steve Turner (18)
GoalsCameron Smith (79)
PointsCameron Smith (178)
< 2005 List of seasons 2007 >

Melbourne fell just short in the decider against Brisbane however the platform had now been built for a sustained run of success. The Storm's Queensland trio of Greg Inglis, Cameron Smith and Antonio Kaufusi were selected to make their international debuts for Australia in 2006. Post-season the Storm farewelled Nathan Friend and Jake Webster (Gold Coast Titans), David Kidwell (South Sydney) and Scott Hill (Harlequins Rugby League). [1]

Fixtures

Regular season
RoundOpponentResultMel.Opp.DateVenue
1New Zealand WarriorsWin2216Mar 12Mt. Smart
2Sydney RoostersWin2218Mar 19SFS
3North Queensland CowboysLoss840Mar 25Dairy Farmers Stadium
4Wests TigersLoss2830Apr 2Leichhardt Oval
5BYE
6Penrith PanthersWin4018Apr 15Hindmarsh Stadium
7Newcastle KnightsWin526Apr 22Olympic Park
8St. George Illawarra DragonsWin2410Apr 29Olympic Park
9South Sydney RabbitohsWin3814May 6Telstra Stadium
10North Queensland CowboysWin186May 13Olympic Park
11Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesLoss1234May 20Brookvale Oval
12Melbourne StormWin1716May 28Olympic Park
13Sydney RoostersWin2016Jun 6Olympic Park
14Parramatta EelsWin3422Jun 11Parramatta Stadium
15Canberra RaidersWin2212Jun 18Olympic Park
16Canterbury BulldogsWin1612Jun 23Olympic Park
17BYE
18Brisbane BroncosWin104Jul 7Olympic Park
19Newcastle KnightsWin2416Jul 16EnergyAustralia Stadium
20Cronulla SharksWin2812Jul 21Olympic Park
21St. George Illawarra DragonsWin3424Jul 30Oki Jubilee Stadium
22Wests TigersWin464Aug 5Olympic Park
23Brisbane BroncosWin1812Aug 13Suncorp Stadium
24New Zealand WarriorsLoss2024Aug 19Olympic Park
25Canberra RaidersWin2218Aug 26Canberra Stadium
26Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesWin3020Sep 2Olympic Park

Finals
RoundOpponentResultMel.Opp.DateVenue
Qualifying FinalParramatta EelsWin126Sep 10Olympic Park
Preliminary FinalSt. George Illawarra DragonsWin2410Sep 23Telstra Stadium
GRAND FINALBrisbane BroncosLoss815Oct 1Telstra Stadium

Ladder
Team Pld W D L B F A PD Pts
1 Melbourne 2420042605404+20144
2 Bulldogs 2416082608468+14036
3 Brisbane 24140102497392+10532
4 Newcastle 24140102608538+7032
5 Manly 24140102534493+4132
6 St George Illawarra 24140102519481+3832
7 Canberra 24130112525573-4830
8 Parramatta 24120122506483+2328
9 North Queensland 24110132450463-1326
10 New Zealand 24120122552463+8924
11 Wests Tigers 24100142490565-7524
12 Penrith 24100142510587-7724
13 Cronulla 2490152515544-2922
14 Sydney 2480162528650-12220
15 South Sydney 2430212429772-34310
  • New Zealand Warriors were stripped of four competition points due to breaches of the National Rugby League salary cap.

2006 Coaching Staff

2006 Squad
Cap Nat. Player name Position First Storm Game Previous First Grade RL club
5 Scott Hill FE,LK 1998 Hunter Mariners
18 Matt Geyer WG 1998 Perth Reds
35 Glenn Turner SR 2000 Melbourne Storm
55 Cameron Smith (c) HK 2002 Melbourne Storm
58 Dallas Johnson SR,LK 2003 Melbourne Storm
59 David Kidwell SR,LK 2003 Sydney Roosters
60 Billy Slater FB 2003 Melbourne Storm
61 Jake Webster WG 2003 Melbourne Storm
62 Ryan Hoffman SR,LK 2003 Melbourne Storm
67 Nathan Friend HK 2003 Brisbane Broncos
68 Antonio Kaufusi PR 2003 Melbourne Storm
69 Matt King CE 2003 Melbourne Storm
72 Steve Turner FB,WG 2004 Penrith Panthers
73 Cooper Cronk HB 2004 Melbourne Storm
74 Jeremy Smith LK 2004 Melbourne Storm
76 Brett White PR 2005 Melbourne Storm
77 Ian Donnelly PR 2005 Manly Sea Eagles
79 Greg Inglis FE,CE, 2005 Melbourne Storm
80 Jamie Feeney SR,LK 2005 Canterbury Bulldogs
83 Michael Crocker SR,LK 2006 Sydney Roosters
84 Garrett Crossman PR 2006 Penrith Panthers
85 Chris Walker WG 2006 Sydney Roosters
86 Adam Blair SR,PR 2006 Melbourne Storm
87 Smith Samau FB, WG 2006 Melbourne Storm
88 Ben Cross PR 2006 Melbourne Storm
89 Matthew Bartlett SR 2006 Melbourne Storm
90 Jeff Lima PR,LK 2006 Wests Tigers
- Ryan Shortland FE,CE Yet to Debut Melbourne Storm
- James Aubusson FE,HK Yet to Debut Melbourne Storm
- Scott Anderson PR Yet to Debut Melbourne Storm
- Sam Tagataese SR, PR Yet to Debut Melbourne Storm

Awards

References
  1. "History Melbourne Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  2. "NRL Honour Board". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
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