2016 Melbourne Storm season
| 2016 Melbourne Storm season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 1st (Minor Premier) | |||
| Play-off result | Runner Up | |||
| 2016 record | Wins: 19; Draws: 0; Losses: 5 | |||
| Points scored | For: 563; Against: 302 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Dave Donaghy | |||
| Coach | Craig Bellamy | |||
| Captain | ||||
| Stadium | AAMI Park – 30,050 | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Suliasi Vunivalu (23) | |||
| Goals | Cameron Smith (87) | |||
| Points | Cameron Smith (184) | |||
|
||||
The 2016 Melbourne Storm season was the 19th in the club's history, they competed in the 2016 NRL season and were coached by Craig Bellamy, coaching for his 14th consecutive season during which he coached his 350th Game. Melbourne Storm were also captained in 2016 by Cameron Smith, who was the sole captain for the team since 2008 making this his 9th consecutive season. In the pre-season the Storm competed in the 2016 Auckland Nines tournament, reaching the semi-finals.
Storm kicked off the season with three straight wins despite playing below their best. Marika Koroibete scored a double in a season-opening win against the Dragons while Will Chambers did the same the following week in a 34-16 triumph over the Gold Coast. Two losses soon followed against the Sharks and Bulldogs before a Round 7 golden point-win over Wests Tigers saw Melbourne hit their straps. Cooper Cronk’s 85th minute field goal in that game kick-started a stellar run for Storm that saw them win 13 of their next 14 games to move into top spot on the NRL ladder. Cronk went on to play his 300th NRL game in a Preliminary final later in the season – becoming just the 25th player to reach that mark. The team managed to do that whilst also experiencing one of the longest injury lists the Club has seen. With their outside back stocks all but depleted, Cheyse Blair, rookie Suliasi Vunivalu and mid-season signing Ryan Morgan were all handed Storm debuts.
For the first time in the Club’s history, Storm kept their opponents scoreless in consecutive weeks, first on ANZAC Day against the Warriors (42-0) then the Titans a week later (38-0). Round 10 saw the Melbourne take part in the first ever NRL Double Header in front of 52,347 fans at Suncorp Stadium – the largest non-finals crowd of the season. That night Cameron Smith helped Storm to a thrilling one-point win over the Cowboys with a field goal in the 71st minute. Melbourne then went through the Origin period with a 5-1 record, its best performance during that part of a season in six years. Big away wins over the Roosters and Broncos by 46 and 42 points respectively were the highlights. Vunivalu scored three tries that night against Brisbane to make it 16 tries from his opening 10 games. The 20-year-old ultimately finished with 23 for the season to finish the year as the NRL’s leading try scorer and break Storm’s try-scoring record. The final game of the season saw the men in purple clinch the Club’s first Minor Premiership since 2011 with a 26-6 win over Cronulla. They backed up their efforts in Week One of the finals, defeating reigning premiers North Queensland 16-10. After earning a week off, Craig Bellamy’s side booked their place in a sixth Grand Final in 11 years, narrowly defeating the Canberra Raiders 14-12. That game also broke a new record for Storm as it was the first time in history the Club recorded four consecutive home crowds of 20,000-plus.
...
Wikipedia