# 2019 Melbourne Storm season

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

* 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.
* 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.
* 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.

### Milestone games

| Round | Player | Milestone |
| Round 1 | Tom Eisenhuth | Storm debut |
| Round 2 | Marion Seve | NRL debut |
| Round 4 | Ryan Papenhuyzen | NRL debut |
| Round 5 | Sandor Earl | Storm debut |
| Round 5 | Cameron Smith | NRL points scoring record |
| Round 9 | Will Chambers | 200th Game |
| Round 11 | Cameron Munster | 100th Game |
| Round 15 | Felise Kaufusi | 100th Game |
| Round 16 | Tino Faasuamaleaui | NRL debut |
| Round 16 | Billy Walters | NRL debut |
| Round 16 | Cameron Smith | 2500th point |
| Round 16 | Sandor Earl | 50th Game |
| Round 16 | Craig Bellamy | 300th win as coach |
| Round 17 | Cameron Smith | 400th Game |
| Round 20 | Cameron Smith | 300th Game as Captain |
| Round 21 | Nicho Hynes | NRL debut |
| Round 21 | Joe Stimson | 50th Game |
| Round 22 | Max King | Storm debut |
| Round 24 | Nelson Asofa-Solomona | 100th Game |
| Prelim Final | Kenny Bromwich | 150th Game |

## Fixtures
### Pre-season

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

### Regular season

Source:
* (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 | | |
| 22 March | 2 | Canberra Raiders | GIO Stadium, Canberra | Won | 22 | 10 | S Vunivalu (3), N Asofa-Solomona | C Smith 3/5 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 7 April | 4 | Canterbury Bulldogs | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Won | 18 | 16 | W Chambers (pen), T Kamikamica, C Munster | C Smith 3/3 | | |
| 12 April | 5 | North Queensland Cowboys | 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville | Won | 18 | 12 | J Addo-Carr (2), W Chambers | C Smith 3/5 | | |
| 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 | |
| 25 April | 7 | New Zealand Warriors | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Won | 13 | 12 | C Munster, J Hughes | C Munster 2/3 | B Croft 1/1 | |
| 3 May | 8 | Cronulla Sharks | Shark Park, Sydney | Lost | 18 | 20 | J Addo-Carr, J Bromwich, R Papenhuyzen | C Smith 3/4 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 16 May | 10 | Wests Tigers | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Won | 24 | 22 | R Papenhuyzen, F Kaufusi, M Seve, W Chambers | C Smith 3/4 | | |
| 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 | | |
| | 12 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 28 June | 15 | Sydney Roosters | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | Won | 14 | 12 | R Papenhuyzen, B Croft | C Smith 3/3 | | |
| 4 July | 16 | St George-Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | Won | 16 | 14 | J Stimson, J Hughes | C Smith 4/4 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 17 August | 22 | Canberra Raiders | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Lost | 18 | 22 | J Olam, J Addo-Carr, S Vunivalu | C Smith 3/3 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 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 | | |

### Finals

Source:
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Mel. | Opp. | Tries | Goals |
| 14 September | Week 1 - Qualifying Final | Canberra Raiders | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Lost | 10 | 12 | S Vunivalu | C Smith 3/4 |
| 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 |
| 28 September | Week 3 - Preliminary Final | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | Lost | 6 | 14 | N Asofa-Solomona | C Smith 1/1 |

### Ladder

2019 NRL seasonvte :
| 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
* 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 | 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:

## Representative honours

The following players have played a first grade representative match in 2019.
| Player | 2019 All Stars match | State of Origin 1 | 2019 Oceania Cup R1 and Internationals | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | Rugby League World Cup 9s | 2019 Oceania Cup Rds 2 and 3 |
| Josh Addo-Carr | Indigenous All Stars | New South Wales | - | New South Wales | New South Wales | Australia | Australia |
| Will Chambers | Indigenous All Stars | Queensland | - | Queensland | Queensland | - | - |
| Jahrome Hughes | Maori All Stars | - | New Zealand | - | - | - | New Zealand |
| Jesse Bromwich | Maori All Stars | - | New Zealand | - | - | - | - |
| Brandon Smith | Maori All Stars | - | New Zealand | - | - | - | New Zealand |
| Kenny Bromwich | Maori All Stars | - | New Zealand | - | - | - | New Zealand |
| Cameron Munster | - | Queensland | - | Queensland | Queensland | - | Australia |
| Felise Kaufusi | - | Queensland | - | Queensland | Queensland | - | - |
| Nelson Asofa-Solomona | - | - | New Zealand | - | - | - | - |
| Suliasi Vunivalu | - | - | Fiji | - | - | Fiji | Fiji |
| Tui Kamikamica | - | - | Fiji | - | - | - | Fiji |
| Marion Seve | - | - | Samoa | - | - | Samoa | Samoa |
| Dale Finucane | - | - | - | New South Wales | New South Wales | - | - |
| Christian Welch | - | - | - | - | Queensland | - | - |
| Ryan Papenhuyzen | - | - | - | - | - | Australia | - |
| Justin Olam | - | - | - | - | - | Papua New Guinea | - |
| Isaac Lumelume | - | - | - | - | - | Fiji | Fiji |
| Tino Fa'asuamaleaui | - | - | - | - | - | Samoa | Samoa |

## Statistics

Statistics Source: Statistics current as of the end of the 2019 NRL regular season (this table does not include finals matches)
| Name | Appearances | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | Points |
| Josh Addo-Carr | 20 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
| Nelson Asofa-Solomona | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Jesse Bromwich | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Kenny Bromwich | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Will Chambers | 21 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Brodie Croft | 22 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 29 |
| Sandor Earl | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Tom Eisenhuth | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tino Fa'asuamaleaui | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dale Finucane | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Harry Grant | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jahrome Hughes | 21 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Nicho Hynes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tui Kamikamica | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Felise Kaufusi | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Patrick Kaufusi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Max King | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Cameron Munster | 21 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 32 |
| Justin Olam | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Ryan Papenhuyzen | 19 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 34 |
| Curtis Scott | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Marion Seve | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Brandon Smith | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Cameron Smith | 24 | 2 | 99 | 0 | 206 |
| Joe Stimson | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Suliasi Vunivalu | 22 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| Billy Walters | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Welch | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Albert Vete | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 Players used | — | 104 | 107 | 1 | 631 |
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.
Jersey choice :
| RD1 | RD2 | RD3 | RD4 | RD5 | RD6 | RD7 | RD8 | RD9 | RD10 | RD11 | RD12 | RD13 | RD14 | RD15 | RD16 | RD17 | RD18 | RD19 | RD20 | RD21 | RD22 | RD23 | RD24 | RD25 | QF | SF | PF |
| Home | Home | Clash | Home | Clash | Home | ANZAC | Clash | Home | Home | Indigenous$^#$ | — | Clash | Home | Clash | Home | CAM400^ | Clash | Heritage^^ | Clash | Clash | WIL$^&$ | Home | Clash | Home | Home | Home | Clash |
$^#$ Designed by Lenny Briggs. ^ 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
### Trophy Cabinet

* 2019 J. J. Giltinan Shield
* 2019 Michael Moore Trophy