# 2005 Melbourne Storm season

The 2005 Melbourne Storm season was the 8th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2005 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 6th out of 15 teams and making the finals. The season began with two big wins over the Knights and Dragons, each by more than 30 points. The form line followed a similar path to the previous season though as the team struggled to string consecutive wins together and hovered around the lower part of the eight for much of the season before ultimately finishing sixth once again. Future star Greg Inglis made his debut in Round 6. Storm finished the season with the second best defence in the competition and again went to Suncorp Stadium in Week One of the finals, producing the same result to defeat the Broncos. However for the third straight season the side was unable to progress past the semi-final stage, losing to the Cowboys.
At the end of the season, Storm legends Robbie Kearns and Matt Geyer were inducted as inaugural life members of the Club.

## Season Summary

* 22 February – The Supreme Court of New South Wales finds Melbourne and former players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai responsible for the spear tackle that ended the career of Jarrod McCracken in the 2000 NRL season.
* Round 1 – Melbourne open their 2005 season at home with a resounding 48-10 win over Newcastle Knights. Leading 22-0 at half time, the Storm extend their lead on the back of a Billy Slater hat-trick. Former Melbourne winger Dustin Cooper scores a double for the visitors. Brett White makes his NRL debut.
* Round 4 – Storm thrash Brisbane Broncos 50-4 to inflict the heaviest defeat in the Broncos' 18-year history. The 50 point score against Brisbane also bested the 48 points scored by Melbourne in 1999. Before the game, the club honours 1999 premiership players Glenn Lazarus and Tawera Nikau; by renaming the eastern (Nikau) and western (Lazarus) grandstands.
* 13 April – Melbourne is found to have breached the competition's salary cap in 2004 and are fined $120,000.
* Round 6 – Greg Inglis makes his NRL debut at just 18 years and 91 days, scoring a try in a 26–14 loss to a Parramatta Eels side that had been thrashed by the Brisbane Broncos 54–14 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane just six days earlier.
* 30 April – The Victoria State Government confirms that the Olympic Park precinct will undergo a $100m redevelopment, with a new stadium scheduled for completion in 2008.
* 2 May – Controversy over "grapple tackles" erupts with Cronulla prop claiming he was choked in a two-man Storm tackle.
* Round 12 – Melbourne breaks a three-game losing streak at home by beating St George Illawarra by 24–16.
* Round 13 – Melbourne win their first game at Leichhardt Oval since 1998, coming from 8-0 down at half time to win 30-14.
* Round 14 – Missing Origin players, Melbourne are awarded a controversial penalty try to Cooper Cronk early in the second half. It wasn't enough for the victory, as the New Zealand Warriors regained the Michael Moore Trophy win a 24-16 victory.
* Round 16 – Melbourne return to form thrashing South Sydney Rabbitohs 48-6, with Billy Slater scoring another hat-trick.
* Round 17 – Melbourne win just their second game in 13 attempts against 2004 premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, with Slater and Inglis both scoring two tries in a 33-6 win.
* Round 18 – In front of the lowest attended Olympic Park home game in club history (6,063), Melbourne hold Canberra Raiders scoreless for the first time.
* 20 July – After weeks of speculation, it's announced halfback Matt Orford has signed a four-year contract with Manly worth nearly $2m.
* Round 23 – Melbourne celebrate the 100th game at Olympic Park by regaining the Michael Moore Trophy, winning 22-10 over the Warriors.
* Round 25 – In his last home game for the club, Robbie Kearns is chaired from the field following a 34-22 win over Wests Tigers. Coach Craig Bellamy saying that Kearns "without a doubt is the heart and soul of this club."
* Round 26 – A penalty try awarded against Billy Slater in a 30-24 loss to the North Queensland Cowboys was part of a controversial night in Townsville with Cowboys forward Carl Webb suspended for punching Ryan Hoffman allegedly in retaliation for a "grapple tackle." The loss drops Melbourne to sixth on the ladder at the end of the regular season, behind the Cowboys in fourth.
* Qualifying Final – Travelling to Brisbane for the second year in a row, Melbourne hang on for a 24-18 win over the Broncos. Injuries to Robbie Kearns (shoulder) and Billy Slater (ankle) complicating things for the club for the remainder of the finals.
* 12 September – Melbourne and North Queensland spark a war of words over the "grapple tackle", with both clubs accusing the other of using the technique ahead of the semi-final between the teams. Melbourne later release video of 20 incidents in which they claim Cowboys players were putting opponents in headlocks.
* Semi-final – For the third year in a row, Melbourne are eliminated in the second week of the NRL finals, this time going down 24-16 to the Cowboys at Aussie Stadium. Down 16-0 at half time, Melbourne were gifted a try by referee Paul Simpkins who failed to consult the video referee when centre Steven Bell lost control of the ball while attempting to score. A frantic final flurry almost saw Melbourne level the scores led by fill-in captain Matt Orford.

### Milestone games

| Round | Player | Milestone |
| Round 1 | Dennis Scott | Storm debut |
| Round 1 | Brett White | NRL debut |
| Round 1 | Cameron Smith | 50th game |
| Round 2 | Billy Slater | 50th game |
| Round 3 | Ian Donnelly | Storm debut |
| Round 4 | Jamie McDonald | Storm debut |
| Round 4 | Matt Geyer | 500 points |
| Round 5 | Alex Chan | 50th game |
| Round 6 | Greg Inglis | NRL debut |
| Round 7 | Jamie Feeney | Storm debut |
| Round 11 | Josh Graham | NRL debut |
| Round 12 | Dallas Johnson | 50th game |
| Round 14 | Tevita Metuisela | Storm debut |
| Round 18 | Glen Turner | 50th game |
| Round 20 | Steven Bell | 100th game |
| Round 21 | Ryan Hoffman | 50th game |

### Jerseys

For the 2005 season, Melbourne signed a new apparel contract with Reebok. The home jersey remained largely unchanged from the 2001-02 design, but now with a simple navy blue T-shirt style collar. This meant the home jersey did not feature gold for the first time in team history.
A new white clash jersey was designed, featuring a large gold thunderbolt with purple block shadowing, which was partially obscured by the jersey advertiser Adecco. The clash jersey was worn with different navy blue shorts featuring the thunderbolt design on the right.
The clash jersey was worn on seven occasions during the regular season (rounds 5, 13, 14, 19, 21, 22, 26); with Melbourne only winning on one occasion against Wests Tigers. Both finals games were also played with Melbourne wearing the clash jersey.

## Fixtures
### Pre Season

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Mel. | Opp. | Tries | Goals |
| 5 February | Trial | Central Comets | Browne Park, Rockhampton | Won | 58 | 18 | J Webster (2), M Brentnall (2), J Tatupu, R Shortland, T Metuisela, A Kaufusi, P Robinson | G Inglis (7) |
| 19 February | Trial | Brisbane Broncos | Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast | Won | 24 | 10 | S Turner, S Bell, J Smith, B Slater, G Inglis | S Turner (2) |
| 25 February | Trial | North Queensland Cowboys | Barlow Park, Cairns | Won | 30 | 18 | C Smith, R Kearns, B Slater, R Hoffman, J Webster | M Orford (3), C Smith, G Inglis |

### Regular season
#### Result by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | – | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | – | H | A |
| Result | W | W | L | W | L | L | W | L | B | W | L | W | W | L | L | W | W | W | L | W | L | L | W | B | W | L |
| Position | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Points | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 30 |

#### Matches

Source:
* (g.p.) – Golden Point extra time
* (pen) – Penalty try
| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Mel. | Opp. | Tries | Goals | Field goals | Ref |
| 13 March | 1 | Newcastle Knights | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Won | 48 | 10 | B Slater (3), M Orford (2), C Cronk, R Hoffman, J Webster, B White | M Orford 4/5, M Geyer 2/2, C Smith 0/2 | | |
| 19 March | 2 | St George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | Won | 46 | 12 | S Bell (2), M Orford (2), R Kearns, M King, B Slater, C Smith | M Orford 4/5, C Smith 3/4 | | |
| 27 March | 3 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | Lost | 18 | 25 | S Bell, C Cronk, B Slater | C Smith 3/3 | | |
| 2 April | 4 | Brisbane Broncos | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Won | 50 | 4 | M Geyer (2), M King (2), B Slater (2), J Webster (2), S Bell, R Hoffman | M Orford 4/7, C Smith 1/3 | | |
| 8 April | 5 | Penrith Panthers | CUA Stadium, Sydney | Lost | 16 | 36 | S Bell, A Chan, M King | M Orford 1/3, C Smith 1/1 | | |
| 16 April | 6 | Parramatta Eels | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Lost | 14 | 26 | G Inglis, M King, M Orford | C Smith 1/2, M Orford 0/1 | | |
| 24 April | 7 | Canberra Raiders | Canberra Stadium, Canberra | Won | 46 | 10 | M King (2), B Slater (2), M Geyer, S Hill, R Hoffman, J Webster | M Orford 4/5, C Smith 3/4 | | |
| 30 April | 8 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Lost | 10 | 30 | P Robinson, D Scott | M Orford 1/2 | | |
| 6 May | 9 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 14 May | 10 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Aussie Stadium, Sydney | Won | 38 | 12 | G Turner (2), S Bell, A Chan, M Geyer, G Inglis, D Kidwell, M Orford | C Smith 3/8 | | |
| 21 May | 11 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Lost | 16 | 26 | J Graham, R Kearns, D Kidwell | M Orford 2/3 | | |
| 29 May | 12 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Won | 24 | 16 | M King, M Orford, C Smith, G Turner | M Orford 3/4, C Smith 1/1 | | |
| 5 June | 13 | Wests Tigers | Leichhardt Oval, Sydney | Won | 30 | 14 | B Slater (2), S Bell, M Geyer, J Webster | M Orford 3/3, C Smith 2/2 | | |
| 12 June | 14 | New Zealand Warriors | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 16 | 24 | M Geyer (2), C Cronk | M Orford 2/4 | | |
| 18 June | 15 | Penrith Panthers | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Lost | 14 | 28 | S Bell, M Geyer, M King | M Orford 1/3 | | |
| 25 June | 16 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Won | 48 | 6 | B Slater (3), M Geyer (2), S Bell, D Kidwell, G Turner, J Webster | M Orford 4/7, C Smith 2/2 | | |
| 2 July | 17 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Sydney Showground, Sydney | Won | 33 | 6 | G Inglis (2), B Slater (2), G Turner | M Orford 6/7 | M Orford | |
| 9 July | 18 | Canberra Raiders | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Won | 20 | 0 | J Webster (2), S Bell | M Orford 2/3, C Smith 2/2 | | |
| 17 July | 19 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | Lost | 15 | 28 | D Johnson, M Orford | M Orford 3/4 | M Orford | |
| 24 July | 20 | Sydney Roosters | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Won | 24 | 10 | D Johnson, D Kidwell, M King, B Slater | M Orford 3/4, C Smith 1/1 | | |
| 30 July | 21 | Newcastle Knights | EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle | Lost | 18 | 37 | C Cronk, D Scott, B Slater | M Orford 2/2, C Smith 1/1 | | |
| 6 August | 22 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Toyota Park, Sydney | Lost | 16 | 40 | S Bell, A Kaufusi, J Webster | M Orford 1/1, C Smith 1/2 | | |
| 13 August | 23 | New Zealand Warriors | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Won | 22 | 10 | M King (2), M Orford, B Slater | M Orford 3/4 | | |
| 20 August | 24 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 27 August | 25 | Wests Tigers | Olympic Park, Melbourne | Won | 34 | 22 | S Bell, M Geyer, G Inglis, A Kaufusi, M Orford, C Smith | M Orford 5/5, C Smith 0/1 | | |
| 3 September | 26 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville | Lost | 24 | 30 | S Bell, R Hoffman, G Inglis, D Scott | M Orford 2/2, C Smith 4/5 | | |

### Finals

* Qualifying final 10 September 2005
| Brisbane Broncos | 18 - 24 | Melbourne Storm |
| Tries: Scott Minto Brett Seymour Darren Smith Goals: Brett Seymour 3/4 | | Tries: Greg Inglis Matt King Billy Slater Jake Webster Goals: Matt Orford 2/2 Cameron Smith 2/2 |
* Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 25,193 Referee: Steve Clark
* Semi final 17 September 2005
| Melbourne Storm | 16 - 24 | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Tries: Steven Bell Matt King Matt Orford Goals: Matt Orford 1/2 Cameron Smith 1/1 | | Tries: Ty Williams (2) Matt Bowen David Faiumu Goals Josh Hannay 2/3 Johnathan Thurston 2/2 |
* Aussie Stadium Attendance: 16,801 Referee: Paul Simpkins

## Ladder

2005 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 704 | 456 | +248 | 36 |
| 2 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 655 | 510 | +145 | 36 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 597 | 484 | +113 | 34 |
| 4 | Wests Tigers (P) | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 676 | 575 | +101 | 32 |
| 5 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 639 | 563 | +76 | 32 |
| 6 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 640 | 462 | +178 | 30 |
| 7 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 550 | 564 | -14 | 28 |
| 8 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 554 | 632 | -78 | 28 |
| 9 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 488 | 487 | +1 | 26 |
| 10 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 554 | 554 | 0 | 26 |
| 11 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 515 | 528 | -13 | 24 |
| 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 472 | 670 | -198 | 23 |
| 13 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 482 | 700 | -218 | 23 |
| 14 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 465 | 606 | -141 | 22 |
| 15 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 467 | 667 | -200 | 20 |

## 2005 Coaching Staff

* Head coach: Craig Bellamy
* Assistant coaches : Dean Lance, Michael Maguire & Peter Sharp
* Development coach: Marc Brentnall
* Strength and conditioning Coach: Alex Corvo
* Football Manager: Peter O'Sullivan

## 2005 squad

List current as of 28 September 2021
| Cap | Player name | Position | First Storm Game | Previous First Grade RL club |
| 6 | Scott Hill | FE, LK | 1998 | Hunter Mariners |
| 10 | Robbie Kearns | PR | 1998 | Perth Reds |
| 18 | Matt Geyer | WG | 1998 | Perth Reds |
| 37 | Glen Turner | SR | 2000 | Melbourne Storm |
| 38 | Peter Robinson | SR | 2000 | Melbourne Storm |
| 43 | Matt Orford | HB | 2001 | Northern Eagles |
| 44 | Steven Bell | CE | 2001 | Melbourne Storm |
| 55 | Cameron Smith (c) | HK | 2002 | Melbourne Storm |
| 58 | Billy Slater | FB | 2003 | Melbourne Storm |
| 59 | David Kidwell | SR, LK | 2003 | Sydney Roosters |
| 60 | Dallas Johnson | SR, LK | 2003 | Melbourne Storm |
| 61 | Jake Webster | WG | 2003 | Melbourne Storm |
| 62 | Ryan Hoffman | SR, LK | 2003 | Melbourne Storm |
| 64 | Robert Tanielu | PR | 2003 | Brisbane Broncos |
| 67 | Nathan Friend | HK | 2003 | Brisbane Broncos |
| 68 | Antonio Kaufusi | PR | 2003 | Melbourne Storm |
| 69 | Matt King | CE | 2003 | Melbourne Storm |
| 71 | Alex Chan | PR | 2004 | Parramatta Eels |
| 72 | Steve Turner | FB, WG | 2004 | Penrith Panthers |
| 73 | Cooper Cronk | HB | 2004 | Melbourne Storm |
| 74 | Jeremy Smith | LK | 2004 | Melbourne Storm |
| 75 | Dennis Scott | SR | 2005 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| 76 | Brett White | PR | 2005 | Melbourne Storm |
| 77 | Ian Donnelly | PR | 2005 | Manly Sea Eagles |
| 78 | Jamie McDonald | PR | 2005 | North Queensland Cowboys |
| 79 | Greg Inglis | CE, FB | 2005 | Melbourne Storm |
| 80 | Jamie Feeney | SR, LK | 2005 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| 81 | Josh Graham | CE | 2005 | Melbourne Storm |
| 82 | Tevita Metuisela | PR | 2005 | Sydney Roosters |
| - | Ryan Shortland | FE, CE | Yet to Debut | Melbourne Storm |
| - | Scott Anderson | PR | Yet to Debut | Melbourne Storm |
| - | Sam Tagataese | SR, PR | Yet to Debut | Melbourne Storm |
| - | Jeremiah Pai | FE, HB | Yet to Debut | New Zealand Warriors |

## Representative honours

This table lists all players who have played a representative match in 2005.
| Player | 2005 ANZAC Test | City vs Country Origin | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | Tri-Nations |
| Scott Hill | – | Country | – | – | – | – |
| David Kidwell | New Zealand | – | – | – | – | New Zealand |
| Matt King | – | Country | New South Wales | New South Wales | New South Wales | Australia |
| Billy Slater | – | – | Queensland | Queensland | – | – |
| Cameron Smith | – | – | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland | – |
| Jake Webster | – | – | – | – | – | New Zealand |

## Statistics

This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 2005 NRL season.
* Statistics sources:
| Name | Appearances | Tries | Goals | Field goals | Points |
| Steven Bell | 26 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
| Alex Chan | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Cooper Cronk | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Ian Donnelly | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Feeney | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nathan Friend | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Geyer | 26 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 48 |
| Josh Graham | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Scott Hill | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Ryan Hoffman | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Greg Inglis | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Dallas Johnson | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Antonio Kaufusi | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Robbie Kearns | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| David Kidwell | 25 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Matt King | 23 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
| Jamie McDonald | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tevita Metuisela | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Orford | 26 | 11 | 63 | 2 | 172 |
| Peter Robinson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Dennis Scott | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Billy Slater | 21 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 80 |
| Cameron Smith | 23 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 72 |
| Glen Turner | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Jake Webster | 24 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| Brett White | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 26 players used | — | 122 | 95 | 2 | 680 |

### Scorers

Most points in a game: 16 points
* Round 1 – Matt Orford (2 tries, 4 goals) vs Newcastle Knights
* Round 2 – Matt Orford (2 tries, 4 goals) vs St George Illawarra Dragons
Most tries in a game: 3
* Round 1 – Billy Slater vs Newcastle Knights
* Round 16 – Billy Slater vs South Sydney Rabbitohs

### Winning games

Highest score in a winning game: 50 points
* Round 4 vs Brisbane Broncos
Lowest score in a winning game: 20 points
* Round 18 vs Canberra Raiders
Greatest winning margin: 46 points
* Round 4 vs Brisbane Broncos
Greatest number of games won consecutively: 3
* Round 16 - Round 18

### Losing games

Highest score in a losing game: 24 points
* Round 26 vs North Queensland Cowboys
Lowest score in a losing game: 10 points
* Round 8 vs Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Greatest losing margin: 24 points
* Round 22 vs Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 2
* Round 5 - Round 6
* Round 14 - Round 15
* Round 21 - Round 22

## Feeder Teams

Under a new affiliation agreement, Melbourne split their reserve players between two feeder clubs during the 2005 season. The agreement with Norths Devils continued for an eighth season, with players who were dual-registered in Queensland travelling to Brisbane each week to play with in the Queensland Cup. Melbourne also formed an affiliation with foundation New South Wales Rugby League club North Sydney Bears for some players to play in the NSWRL Premier League.
In a repeat of the 2004 season, the Devils finished second on the ladder, but were bundled out of the finals in straight sets.
Coached by Gary Freeman, the Bears finished tenth and missed the finals, with Alex Chan, Ian Donnelly, Jamie Feeney and Tevita Metuisela attracting praise from Freeman for their efforts.
2005 Queensland Cup :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 2 | Norths Devils | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 719 | 454 | +265 | 31 |
| 2005 NSWRL Premier League |||||||||||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 10 | North Sydney Bears | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 604 | 686 | -82 | 23 |