2010 Melbourne Storm season
The 2010 Melbourne Storm season was the 13th in the club's history and competed in the NRL's 2010 Telstra Premiership. After winning the first four games of the season, Storm's season would hit a significant challenge after Round 6 when the NRL penalised the Club for salary cap breaches with the team unable to play for points for the remainder of the season. These revelations also saw them stripped of the 2007 and 2009 Premierships and the 2006, 2007 and 2008 minor premiership titles.
| 2010 Melbourne Storm season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 16th (Wooden Spoon) | |||
| 2010 record | Wins: 14; Draws: 0; Losses: 10 | |||
| Points scored | For: 489; Against: 363 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Brian Waldron Matt Hanson Frank Stanton (acting) Ron Gauci | |||
| Coach | Craig Bellamy | |||
| Captain |
| |||
| Stadium | AAMI Park – 30,050 (9 Games) Etihad Stadium - 53,500 (3 Games) | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Greg Inglis (11) | |||
| Goals | Cameron Smith (54) | |||
| Points | Cameron Smith (116) | |||
| ||||
Craig Bellamy and the players maintained an incredible focus to win 14 games for the year, the same number they achieved the previous season. That would have been enough to see them finish in fifth spot on the ladder. This season remains the only time Storm have missed the finals in the Bellamy era.
Greg Inglis scored 11 tries to finish as the team's leading try scorer in his final year at Storm. Other notable players to leave included Brett White, Ryan Hoffman, Brett Finch, Jeff Lima and Aiden Tolman. However, there were several highlights during the season with youngsters Jesse Bromwich, Matthew Duffie, Luke Kelly, Rory Kostjasyn, Justin O’Neill and Gareth Widdop all bursting on the scene.
Storm also played their first ever game at AAMI Park in Round 9. Ryan Hinchcliffe was named Storm's player of the year while Ron Gauci was installed as Storm CEO midway through the difficult season and set about rebuilding the Club over the next several seasons. Craig Bellamy continues to be highly regarded for the way he led the Club throughout 2010 and had this to say when summing up the season.
"When we found out it was obviously devastating and the year has been a drawn-out and difficult one ever since. But we stayed competitive, we unearthed some good kids and we conducted ourselves with dignity. For that I’m proud of the boys. It’s sad to see guys go especially given the massive contribution they have had to this club". - Craig Bellamy
Season summary
The Storm began 2010 by travelling to England to play in the 2010 World Club Challenge. This involved a warm up game against Harlequins RL followed by the World Club Challenge a week later against Leeds Rhinos. The Storm won both games.
The regular season commenced with the Storm defeating Cronulla away in what was the first of three consecutive away games to begin the season. The Storm played their first home game at Etihad Stadium against St George Illawarra in front of a crowd of 25,480 which is a record home crowd, excluding finals games. They won the game which made them the only undefeated side in the League after Round 4.
Salary cap scandal
On 22 April 2010, the Melbourne Storm were stripped of their titles of 2007 and 2009 premierships and their 2006, 2007 and 2008 minor premierships following an alleged insider tip-off to the NRL auditing body that the club had not been complying with the NRL salary cap. The club had a long-term system of keeping two sets of books, one set displaying players incomes' complying with the NRL salary cap and another hidden set in a separate room disclosing the true player payments. Following evidence of salary cap breaches, Melbourne were also fined a record $1,689,000, deducted all eight premiership points received in the season and barred from receiving any further premiership points (including those for the two byes) for the rest of the season, guaranteeing them zero points and the wooden spoon for 2010.[2]
On 24 April coach Craig Bellamy publicly announced that he vowed to rebuild the shattered club, and welcomed the NRL's investigation into the salary cap rorting before a training session with the team which was watched by thousands of cheering supporters.[3]
Players were still allowed to play Test and/or State of Origin matches and for some of those players it did not affect Queensland's bid for a fifth straight Origin series victory. Later in the season the Storm were also stripped of the 2010 World Club Challenge title. The team's under-20s team was not affected.
The Storm defeated the New Zealand Warriors 40-6 in the first match since the scandal was revealed. This was followed up with a 34-6 win over the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville the week after.
Melbourne Storm 2010 season crowd averages
| Total Crowd | Total Games | Crowd Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 176,041 | 12 | 14,670 |
| Away | 168,109 | 12 | 14,009 |
| All Games | 344,150 | 24 | 14,340 |
Fixtures
Pre-season
21 February 2010 14:00 GMT |
 Harlequins RL |
10–34 | Melbourne Storm  |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Ben Jones-Bishop, Will Sharp Goals: Danny Orr |
(Report) | Tries: Anthony Quinn, Kevin Proctor, Dane Nielsen (2), Hep Cahill, Rory Kostjaysn Goals: Gareth Widdop (5) |
The Stoop Attendance: 3,612 |
- World Club Challenge 2010
28 February 2010 18:30 GMT |
 Leeds Rhinos |
10–18 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Danny Maguire Goals: Kevin Sinfield, Rob Burrow (2) |
(Report) | Tries: Luke MacDougall, Anthony Quinn Goals: Cameron Smith (5) |
Regular season - Rounds 1 to 12
During the regular season, the Storm will play their first three home games at Etihad Stadium before moving to their new purpose built and permanent home AAMI Park.
Round 1 13 March 2010 7:30pm Local |
 Cronulla Sharks |
10 - 14 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Douglas Goals: Covell 2/2 Porter 1/1 Field Goal |
Tries: Inglis, MacDougall Goals: Smith 3/3 Field Goal |
Round 2 20 March 2010 7:30pm Local |
 Newcastle Knights |
14 - 20 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: MacDougall, Uate Goals:Naiqama 3/3 Field Goal |
Tries: MacDougall, Quinn, Nielson Goals: Smith 4/5 Field Goal |
Round 3 27 March 2010 5:30pm Local |
 Penrith Panthers |
10 - 16 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Coote, McKendry Goals: Gordon 1/2 Field Goal |
Tries: Finch, Slater, MacDougall Goals: Smith 2/3 Field Goal |
Round 4 2 April 2010 2:10pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
17 - 4 | St George Illawarra Dragons  |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Nielson, Quinn, Slater Goals: Smith 2/5 Field Goal: Cronk |
Tries: Nightingale Goals:Soward 0/1 Field Goal: |
Round 5 9 April 2010 7:35pm Local |
 Gold Coast Titans |
20 - 16 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Tomane, Harrison, Bird Goals: Rogers 4/5 Field Goal |
Tries: Quinn (3) Goals: Smith 2/3 Field Goal |
Round 6 19 April 2010 7:00pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
16 - 18 | Manly Sea Eagles  |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Cronk (2), Norrie Goals: Smith 2/3 Field Goal |
Tries: Robertson (2), Stewart Goals: Lyon 3/4 Field Goal |
Round 7 25 April 2010 6:00pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
40 - 6 | New Zealand Warriors  |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Duffie (2), Smith, Blair, Tandy, Isa, Slater Goals: Smith 6/7 Field Goal |
Tries: Ta'ai Goals: Maloney 1/1 Field Goal |
Round 8 1 May 2010 7:30pm Local |
 North Queensland Cowboys |
6 - 34 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Bolton Goals: Graham 1/1 Field Goal |
Tries: Norrie, Duffie, Inglis, Finch, Nielson, Quinn, Lima Goals: Smith 3/6 Inglis 0/1 Field Goal |
Round 9 9 May 2010 3:00pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
14 - 36 | Brisbane Broncos  |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Duffe (2), Quinn Goals:Inglis 1/2 Cronk 0/1 Field Goal |
Tries:Folau (2), Beale, Yoh Yeh, Norman, Te'o Goals: Parker 6/6 Field Goal |
Round 10 15 May 2010 7:30pm Local |
 Canberra Raiders |
6 - 17 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Vidot Goals: Campese 1/1 Field Goal: |
Tries: Inglis (3) Goals: Inglis 2/2 Cronk 0/1 Field Goal: Finch 1/1 |
Round 11 |
| . | Bye | . |
|---|---|---|
Round 12 30 May 2010 2:00pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
23 - 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs  |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Nielsen, Stanley, MacDougall, Widdop Goals: Widdop 3/4 Field Goal Finch 1/1 |
Tries: Ryan, Kimmorley Goals: Goodwin 2/2 Field Goal |
Regular season - Rounds 13 - 26
Round 13 4 June 2010 7:35pm Local |
 Parramatta Eels |
24 - 10 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Reddy (2), Keating, Inu Goals: Burt 4/5 Field Goal |
Tries: Slater, Inglis Goals: Smith 1/2 Field Goal |
Round 14 14 June 2010 7:00pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
6 - 38 | Sydney Roosters  |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Kostjasyn Goals: Stanley 1/1 Field Goal |
Tries: Graham (2), Masoe, Linnett, Minichiello, Nuuausala, Perrett Goals: Carney 5/7 Field Goal |
Round 15 19 June 2010 5:30pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
58 - 12 | North Queensland Cowboys |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: O'Neill (3), Duffie (2), Slater (2), Inglis, Lima, Cronk Goals: Smith 5/6, Inglis 3/3, Finch 1/1 Field Goal |
Tries: Tamou, Gallant Goals: Thurston 2/2 Field Goal |
Round 16 26 June 2010 7:30pm Local |
 South Sydney Rabbitohs |
16 - 14 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Talanoa (2), Sandow Goals: Luke 2/3 Field Goal |
Tries: O'Neill (2), Inglis Goals: Smith 1/3 Field Goal |
Round 17 |
| . | Bye | . |
|---|---|---|
Round 18 10 July 2010 7:00pm Local |
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
20 - 18 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Goodwin, Idris, Neumann Goals: Goodwin 4/4 Field Goal |
Tries: Finch, Slater, Manu Goals: Smith 2/2, Inglis 1/1 Field Goal |
Round 19 17 July 2010 7:30pm Local |
| New Zealand Warriors |
13 - 6 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Vatuvei, Ropati Goals: Maloney 2/3 Field Goal: Maloney 1 |
Tries: Slater Goals: Smith 1/1 Field Goal |
Round 20 24 July 2010 7:30pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
18 - 10 | Penrith Panthers |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Nielson, O'Neill, Duffie Goals: Smith 3/3 Field Goal: |
Tries: Purtell, Jennings Goals: Gordon 1/2 Field Goal: |
Round 21 1 August 2010 2:00pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
36 - 12 | Canberra Raiders |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Neilson (2), O'Neill (2), Inglis, Slater, Lowrie Goals: Smith 4/6, Inglis 0/1 Field Goal |
Tries: Low, Croker Goals: Croker 2/3 Field Goal |
Round 22 7 August 2010 5:30pm Local |
| Manly Sea Eagles |
26 - 6 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Lyon (2), Williams, Matai Goals: Lyon 5/5 Field Goal |
Tries: Hoffman Goals: Smith 1/1 Field Goal |
Round 23 15 August 2010 2:00pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
18 - 16 | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Hinchcliffe (2), Slater Goals: Smith 3/3 Field Goal |
Tries: Merritt (2), Capewell Goals: Sandow 2/3 Field Goal |
Round 24 21 August 2010 7:30pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
24 - 4 | Cronulla Sharks |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Smith, Nielsen, Manu, Hinchcliffe Goals: Smith 4/4 Field Goal |
Tries: Covell Goals: Covell 0/1 Field Goal |
Round 25 29 August 2010 2:00pm Local |
 Wests Tigers |
26 - 14 | Melbourne Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Marshall (3), Fifita, Farrah Goals: Marshall 3/5 Field Goal |
Tries: O'Neill, Isa, Hoffman Goals: Smith 1/3 Field Goal |
Round 26 5 September 2010 2:00pm Local |
| Melbourne Storm |
34 - 4 | Newcastle Knights |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Inglis (2), Hinchcliffe, Hoffman, White, Tolman Goals: Smith 4/4, Lima 1/1, Hoffman 0/1 Field Goal |
Tries: Taia Goals: Field Goal |
Ladder
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. George Illawarra Dragons (P) |
24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 518 | 299 | +219 | 38 |
| 2 |  Penrith Panthers |
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 645 | 489 | +156 | 34 |
| 3 | Wests Tigers |
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 537 | 503 | +34 | 34 |
| 4 | Gold Coast Titans |
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 520 | 498 | +22 | 34 |
| 5 | New Zealand Warriors |
24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 539 | 486 | +53 | 32 |
| 6 | Sydney Roosters |
24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 559 | 510 | +49 | 32 |
| 7 | Canberra Raiders |
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 499 | 493 | +6 | 30 |
| 8 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 545 | 510 | +35 | 28 |
| 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 584 | 567 | +17 | 26 |
| 10 | Brisbane Broncos |
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 508 | 535 | −27 | 26 |
| 11 | Newcastle Knights |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 499 | 569 | −70 | 24 |
| 12 | Parramatta Eels |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 413 | 491 | −78 | 24 |
| 13 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 494 | 539 | −45 | 22 |
| 14 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 354 | 609 | −255 | 18 |
| 15 | North Queensland Cowboys |
24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 425 | 667 | −242 | 14 |
| 16 | Melbourne Storm |
24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 489 | 363 | +126 | 01 |
1 Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.[4]
2010 Coaching Staff
- Craig Bellamy - Head Coach
- Brad Arthur- Assistant Coach
- Stephen Kearney- Assistant Coach
- Frank Ponissi - Football Director
- Dean Pay- Under 20s Coach
- Alex Corvo -Strength and Conditioning
2010 squad
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Awards
Melbourne Storm Awards Night
- Melbourne Storm Player of the Year: Ryan Hinchcliffe[5]
- Melbourne Storm Rookie of the Year: Matt Duffie
- Darren Bell U20s Player of the Year Award: Tohu Harris
- U20s Most Improved: Jarome Wilson
- U20s Best Forward: Kenny Bromwich
- U20s Best Back: Kirisome Auva'a
- Mick Moore Club Person of the Year: Craig Bellamy
Additional Awards
- New Zealand Kiwis Junior Player of the Year: Matt Duffie
References
- "History Melbourne Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- "Storm stripped of 2 NRL premierships". Television New Zealand. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- AAP (24 April 2010). "Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy vows to stay". theaustralian.com.au. Australia: News Limited. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
- Stuart Honeysett and Brent Read (23 April 2010) Shocking end to the Melbourne Storm era The Australian
- "NRL Honour Board". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.