2007 Melbourne Storm season
The 2007 Melbourne Storm season was the 10th in the club's history. They competed for NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, finishing the season in 1st place to claim the minor premiership before going on to reach the 2007 NRL grand final, their third. In the grand final the Storm defeated the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to claim their second premiership. However two years after the event Melbourne were stripped of their 2007 titles after being found guilty of long-term salary cap breaches.
| 2007 Melbourne Storm season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 1st | |||
| Play-off result | Grand Final Winners | |||
| 2007 record | Wins: 21; Draws: 0; Losses: 3 | |||
| Points scored | For: 627; Against: 277 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Brian Waldron | |||
| Coach | Craig Bellamy | |||
| Captain |
| |||
| Stadium | Olympic Park Stadium | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Israel Folau (21) | |||
| Goals | Cameron Smith (88) | |||
| Points | Cameron Smith (192) | |||
| ||||
The most successful season in the Club’s history as the team managed 21 wins on their way to winning the NRL Grand Final. Storm’s success was built on the back of incredibly strong defence. Craig Bellamy’s men conceded just 11.5 points per game, the best defensive season in the Club’s history. The year began with seven straight wins and by Round 12 Melbourne had moved into first place, where they remained for the rest of the season. Storm earned redemption from the 2006 Grand Final loss by beating the Broncos 40-0 in the Qualifying final. They faced Manly in the decider, running away with a 34-8 victory as Greg Inglis scored a double on the night to be named the Clive Churchill medalist. Cameron Smith increased his standing as the best player in the game by being awarded the Golden Boot after being named the International Player of the Year while Israel Folau set an NRL rookie record, scoring 21 tries for the season. [1]
Summary
A total of four Storm players, Cooper Cronk, Israel Folau, Dallas Johnson and Ryan Hoffman were selected to make their international representative debuts for Australia in 2007.
Fixtures
Regular season
Finals
| Round | Opponent | Result | Mel. | Opp. | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying Final | Brisbane Broncos | Win | 40 | 0 | September 9 | Olympic Park |
| Preliminary Final | Parramatta Eels | Win | 26 | 10 | September 22 | Telstra Dome |
| GRAND FINAL | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Win | 34 | 8 | September 30 | Telstra Stadium |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Melbourne |
24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 627 | 277 | +350 | 44 |
| 2 |  Manly-Warringah |
24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 597 | 377 | +220 | 38 |
| 3 |  North Queensland |
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 547 | 618 | -71 | 32 |
| 4 |  Warriors |
24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 593 | 434 | +159 | 29 |
| 5 |  Parramatta |
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 573 | 481 | +92 | 28 |
| 6 |  Bulldogs |
24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 575 | 528 | +47 | 26 |
| 7 |  South Sydney |
24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 408 | 399 | +9 | 26 |
| 8 |  Brisbane |
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 511 | 476 | +35 | 24 |
| 9 |  Wests Tigers |
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 541 | 561 | -20 | 24 |
| 10 |  Sydney |
24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 445 | 610 | -165 | 23 |
| 11 |  Cronulla-Sutherland |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 463 | 403 | +60 | 22 |
| 12 |  Gold Coast |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 409 | 559 | -150 | 22 |
| 13 |  St George Illawarra |
24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 431 | 509 | -78 | 20 |
| 14 |  Canberra |
24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 522 | 650 | -128 | 20 |
| 15 |  Newcastle |
24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 418 | 708 | -290 | 20 |
| 16 |  Penrith |
24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 539 | 607 | -68 | 18 |
2007 Coaching Staff
- Craig Bellamy -Head Coach
- Michael Maguire -Assistant Coaches
- Stephen Kearney -Assistant Coaches
- Matthew Johns -Halves Coach
- Brad Arthur -Development Coach
- Frank Ponissi -Football Director
- Alex Corvo -Strength and Conditioning
2007 Squad
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
2007 Grand Final Winning Team
| 2007 Grand Final Winning Team | Interchange | Coach | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Head coach
| |||||||
Player movements
Gains
| 2007 Signings/Transfers | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Previous Club | Years Signed | Until the End of | |||||||
Losses
| Losses | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Notes | |||||||||
| Matt King | Warrington Wolves (Super League) | |||||||||
| Clint Newton | Hull KR (Super League) | |||||||||
| Ben Cross | Newcastle Knights (National Rugby League) | |||||||||
Re-Signings
| Re-Signings | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Awards
Troohy Cabinet
Melbourne Storm Awards Night
- Melbourne Storm Player of the Year- Cameron Smith[2]
- Melbourne Storm Rookie of the Year: Israel Folau
- Mick Moore Club Person of the Year: Matt King
- Melbourne Storm team of the decade: Billy Slater, Matt Geyer, Matt King, Greg Inglis, Marcus Bai, Scott Hill, Brett Kimmorley, Glenn Lazarus, Cameron Smith, Robbie Kearns, Dallas Johnson, Stephen Kearney, Tawera Nikau, Cooper Cronk, Rodney Howe, Ryan Hoffman, David Kidwell and Coach Craig Bellamy.
Dally M Awards Night
- Peter Moore Rookie of the Year: Israel Folau
- Dally M Representative Player of the Year: Cameron Smith
- Dally M Coach of the Year: Craig Bellamy
- Dally M Top Try Scorer of the Year: Israel Folau
- Dally M Lock of the Year: Dallas Johnson
Rugby League World Golden Boot Awards Night
RLIF Awards
- RLIF International Newcomer of the Year: Israel Folau
Additional Awards
- Clive Churchill Medal- Greg Inglis
- Wally Lewis Medal- Cameron Smith
- QRL Ron McAuliffe Medal- Cameron Smith
References
- "History Melbourne Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- "NRL Honour Board". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.