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2001 Melbourne Storm season

Summary

The 2001 Melbourne Storm season was the 4th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2001 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season in 9th place. [1]

2001 Melbourne Storm season
NRL Rank9th
2001 recordWins: 11; draws: 1; losses: 14
Points scoredFor: 704; against: 725
Team information
Executive DirectorJohn Ribot
CoachChris Anderson
Mark Murray
Captain
StadiumDocklands Stadium
Avg. attendance11,969
High attendance15,470 (Round 21)
Top scorers
TriesMatt Orford (15)
Aaron Moule (15)
GoalsMatt Orford (78)
PointsMatt Orford (216)
← 2000 List of seasons 2002 →

The 2001 season was the least successful in the Storm's history, missing the play-offs for the first time. After making a decision to move base from Olympic Park to the larger Colonial Stadium, the club seemed to lack the support, atmosphere and composure they had built up. It reflected in the team's on field performances, losing four of their first six homes games and 7 from their opening 10 overall. Amidst this time the Storm was rocked when coach Anderson quit the club after the 42-18 loss to Parramatta in Round 7.

Along with Richard Swain and Matt Orford, replacement coach Mark Murray lifted the Storm from their bad beginning. Melbourne won seven of their next ten games to reach 6th place on the ladder.

But the bad start had taken its toll, and with the 2001 finals in sight they won only two more games. A last round loss to Canberra saw the Storm finish outside the Top 8.

The 2001 season continued to mark the endurability of Kiwi Test hooker Richard Swain. He was on the field for every minute of the Storm's season and had yet to miss a game for Melbourne in the club's history. [2]

Season Summary edit

  • Round 1 – 15,070 fans watch the first ever rugby league game played indoors, as Melbourne go down 10-14 against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Colonial Stadium. Referee Tim Mander, the touch judges and video referees are dropped after the round for failing to send off Storm prop forward Rodney Howe for a reckless high tackle on Steve Price. Howe is suspended for six games after pleading guilty to the charge.
  • Round 6 – Despite a ruling from the NRL, the Colonial Stadium roof stays open for Melbourne's game against Newcastle Knights.
  • 2 April – Head coach Chris Anderson quits after a poor start to the season and rumours of a falling out with club management. It had been reported that Anderson was interested in replacing outgoing Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks coach John Lang.[3] Norths Devils coach Mark Murray is installed as caretaker coach.
  • 9 April – Storm owners News Limited indicate that the company was willing to sell its 50% share of the North Queensland Cowboys, but had no intention of deserting Melbourne.
  • Round 9 – On Good Friday, halfback Matt Orford outpoints former Melbourne halfback Brett Kimmorley in the former Storm halfback's first game in Northern Eagles colours against Melbourne. Aaron Moule equals the club record with four tries in the game.[4]
  • 23 April – Former head coach Chris Anderson is appointed head coach of Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks from the 2002 season.
  • 24 May – Fullback Robbie Ross undergoes surgery on a chronic hamstring injury that is expected to sideline him for six weeks. In his place, Melbourne select former Australian Schoolboys rugby union halfback Paul Sheedy.[3]
  • Round 14 – Richard Swain plays his 100th consecutive first grade game.
  • Round 16 – Tasesa Lavea becomes the first Melbourne player to be an unused interchange player in club history.[5]
  • 1 July – The Sunday Mail reports that the Queensland Government has confirmed that it has held talks with the Melbourne Storm about relocating to Brisbane and basing itself at Lang Park.[3]
 
Mebourne Storm 100th game banner unfurled before the round 18 match against Wests Tigers
 
Inverse side of the Mebourne Storm 100th game banner
  • Round 18 – Melbourne celebrate their 100th game of premiership football with a record-breaking 64-0 win over Wests Tigers at Colonial Stadium. The 64 points is Melbourne's greatest winning margin, it was the first time holding the opposition to nil; while Matt Orford sets a new club record with 10 goals in the game. Richard Swain becomes the first player to have played in 100 games for the club, featuring in every game played since 1998.
  • 12 July – Penrith Panthers sign Storm forward Ben Roarty on a two-year contract from the 2002 NRL season.
  • Round 20 – Conceding a new club record of 54 points, Melbourne are thrashed by premiership fancy Parramatta Eels 10-54, with Jason Taylor equaling the Australian rugby league points scoring record of Daryl Halligan.
  • Round 21 – The retractable seats at Colonial Stadium are brought in for the first time for a Storm game. It is rumoured that the costs to bring the seats in and replace damaged turf is in excess of $1m. Marcus Bai scores his 50th try for the club, the first player to reach that milestone.[4]
  • Round 24 – Melbourne maintain slim hopes of a place in the top eight with a narrow 28-24 victory over last-placed Penrith in a Monday night match at Colonial Stadium.
  • Round 25 – A controversial 24-all draw with New Zealand Warriors seals the top eight door shut for Melbourne, meaning the club will miss the NRL finals for the first time. Referee Tim Mander is admonished for directing Matt Geyer to take a conversion kick two metres closer to the sideline than from where the Storm's final try was scored.[3]
  • Round 26 – Richard Swain becomes the first player to make 1000 tackles in a season. Swain also completes the marathon achievement of being the only forward to have played every minute of every game throughout the season.[3]
  • 20 November – Melbourne turn their back on Colonial Stadium, making the move back to Olympic Park for the 2002 season.

Milestone games edit

Round Player Milestone
Round 1 Junior Langi Storm debut
Round 1 Matt Orford Storm debut
Round 1 Steven Bell NRL debut
Round 4 Paul Whatuira Storm debut
Round 5 Richard Swain 100th game
Round 5 Henry Perenara Storm debut
Round 11 Marcus Bai 100th game
Round 14 Paul Sheedy NRL debut
Round 15 Scott Hill 100th game
Round 18 Melbourne Storm 100th game
Round 23 Russell Bawden 100th game
Round 24 Semi Tadulala NRL debut

Jerseys edit

 
2001 home jersey

Melbourne's jerseys were again manufactured by Fila and carried the same design as the 1999-2000 home jersey. A new purple away jersey design with white and silver thunderbolts was worn in select games, with navy shorts and purple socks. For the first time, the jerseys displayed a front sponsor, with a white Adecco logo in a red box on the home jersey, with just the white logo on the purple away jersey.

Fixtures edit

Pre Season edit

Date Rd Opponent Venue Result Mel. Opp. Tries Goals Field goals Ref
27 January Trial   Penrith Panthers Lavington Sports Ground, Albury Won 40 18 B Roarty (2), B Martin, P Robinson, T Whatuira, M Bai, D Williams, B Watts M Orford (3), T Lavea [6]
2 February Trial   Northern Eagles Brookvale Oval, Sydney Lost 30 40 M Orford (2), B Roarty, J Langi, B Watts, R Ross T Lavea (3) [7][8][9]

Regular season edit

Date Rd Opponent Venue Result Mel. Opp. Tries Goals Field goals Ref
18 February 1   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Lost 10 14 M Bai T Lavea 3/3 [10]
24 February 2   North Queensland Cowboys Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Lost 28 32 B Roarty (2), M Bai, B Watts, D Williams T Lavea 2/3, M Orford 2/3 [11]
3 March 3   St George Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium, Wollongong Won 20 16 B Watts (2), M Bai, M Orford T Lavea 2/5 [12]
11 March 4   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Won 34 24 M Geyer, S Hill, J Langi, M Orford, M Rua, P Whatuira T Lavea 5/7 [13]
18 March 5   Wests Tigers Leichhardt Oval, Sydney Lost 10 40 R Kearns, R Swain T Lavea 1/2 [14]
25 March 6   Newcastle Knights Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Lost 28 36 S Hill, A Moule, M Orford, R Ross, R Swain T Lavea 3/4, M Geyer 1/1 [15]
31 March 7   Parramatta Eels Parramatta Stadium, Sydney Lost 18 42 J Langi, A Moule, H Perenara M Orford 3/3 [16]
8 April 8   Brisbane Broncos ANZ Stadium, Brisbane Lost 16 18 M Bai, M Orford, H Perenara M Orford 2/3 [17]
13 April 9   Northern Eagles Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Won 52 18 A Moule (4), M Bai (2), R Bawden, S Hill, S Kearney M Orford 8/10 [18]
22 April 10   Sydney Roosters Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Lost 22 23 M Bai, M Orford, M Rua, P Whatuira M Orford 3/5 [19]
29 April 11   Penrith Panthers Penrith Park, Sydney Won 14 58 M Orford (2), D Williams (2), S Bell, M Geyer, S Hill, B Roarty, R Ross, M Rua, R Swain M Orford 7/11 [20]
12 May 12   New Zealand Warriors Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Won 40 20 A Moule (2), S Bell, S Hill, M Orford, R Ross, D Williams M Orford 6/8 [21]
19 May 13   Canberra Raiders Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Won 32 28 M Geyer (2), R Bawden, A Moule, P Robinson, R Ross M Orford 4/7 [22]
27 May 14   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Sydney Showground, Sydney Lost 28 26 M Bai, R Bawden, S Bell, M Geyer, P Robinson M Orford 3/6 [23]
2 June 15   North Queensland Cowboys Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville Won 24 38 S Bell (2), M Geyer (2), S Kearney, A Moule, H Perenara M Orford 5/8 [24]
17 June 16   St George Illawarra Dragons Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Won 34 28 M Bai, S Bell, M Geyer, S Hill, F Moala, H Perenara M Orford 5/6 [25]
23 June 17   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Toyota Park, Sydney Lost 18 40 S Bell, M Geyer, A Moule, M Orford M Orford 1/4 [26]
5 July 18   Wests Tigers Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Won 64 0 M Geyer (3), A Moule (2), R Howe, F Moala, M Orford, H Perenara, B Roarty, R Swain M Orford 10/11 [27]
15 July 19   Newcastle Knights Marathon Stadium, Newcastle Lost 16 48 M Bai, F Moala, M Orford M Orford 2/4 [28]
20 July 20   Parramatta Eels Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Lost 10 54 A Moule, M Orford M Orford 1/2 [29]
29 July 21   Brisbane Broncos Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Won 32 28 M Bai, S Bell, M Geyer, F Moala, M Orford, R Swain M Orford 4/6 [30]
4 August 22   Northern Eagles NorthPower Stadium, Gosford Lost 12 20 F Moala, M Orford M Orford 2/4 [31]
12 August 23   Sydney Roosters Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Lost 28 50 S Kearney (2), S Bell, F Moala, P Robinson M Orford 4/5 [32]
20 August 24   Penrith Panthers Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Won 28 24 R Ross (2), R Bawden, S Bell, T Lavea M Orford 4/6 [33]
27 August 25   New Zealand Warriors Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Draw 24 24 S Bell, M Geyer, A Moule, M Orford, H Perenara M Geyer 1/2, M Orford 1/3 [34]
1 September 26   Canberra Raiders Bruce Stadium, Canberra Lost 6 32 D Williams M Orford 1/1 [35]

Source:[36]

Ladder edit

2001 NRL season
  • v
  • t
  • e
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1   Parramatta Eels 26 20 2 4 839 406 +433 42
2   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 26 17 3 6 617 568 +49 37
3   Newcastle Knights (P) 26 16 1 9 782 639 +143 33
4   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 26 15 2 9 594 513 +81 32
5   Brisbane Broncos 26 14 1 11 696 511 +185 29
6   Sydney Roosters 26 13 1 12 647 589 +58 27
7   St. George Illawarra Dragons 26 12 2 12 661 573 +88 26
8   New Zealand Warriors 26 12 2 12 638 629 +9 26
9   Melbourne Storm 26 11 1 14 704 725 -21 23
10   Northern Eagles 26 11 1 14 603 750 -147 23
11   Canberra Raiders 26 9 1 16 600 623 -23 19
12   Wests Tigers 26 9 1 16 474 746 -272 19
13   North Queensland Cowboys 26 6 2 18 514 771 -257 14
14   Penrith Panthers 26 7 0 19 521 847 -326 14

2001 Coaching Staff edit

2001 Squad edit

List current as of 10 August 2021[37]

Cap [a] Nat. Player name Position First Storm Game Previous First Grade RL club [b]
1   Robbie Ross FB 1998   Hunter Mariners
3   Aaron Moule WG, CE 1998   South Queensland Crushers
5   Marcus Bai WG 1998   Gold Coast Chargers
6   Scott Hill FE 1998   Hunter Mariners
8   Rodney Howe PR 1998   Perth Reds
9   Danny Williams LK, SR, HK 1998   North Sydney Bears
10   Robbie Kearns PR 1998   Perth Reds
12   Ben Roarty PR, SR, LK 1998   Melbourne Storm
15   Richard Swain HK 1998   Hunter Mariners
16   Russell Bawden PR 1998   Brisbane Broncos
18   Matt Geyer WG 1998   Perth Reds
26   Matt Rua PR, SR 1998   Melbourne Storm
28   Stephen Kearney SR 1999   New Zealand Warriors
30   Tasesa Lavea FE 1999   Melbourne Storm
31   Brad Watts FB 1999   Melbourne Storm
32   Brett O'Farrell PR 1999   Melbourne Storm
34   Fifita Moala WG 2000   Melbourne Storm
35   Brook Martin WG 2000   Melbourne Storm
37   Glen Turner SR 2000   Melbourne Storm
38   Peter Robinson SR 2000   Melbourne Storm
41   Brenton Pomery PR 2000   Wests Tigers
42   Junior Langi CE 2001   St George Illawarra Dragons
43   Matt Orford HB 2001   Northern Eagles
44   Steven Bell CE 2001   Melbourne Storm
45   Paul Whatuira CE 2001   Auckland Warriors
46   Henry Perenara LK 2001   Auckland Warriors
47   Paul Sheedy FB 2001   Melbourne Storm
48   Semi Tadulala WG 2001   Melbourne Storm
-   Nic Henderson SR Yet to Debut   Melbourne Storm
-   Tai Lavea FB Yet to Debut   Melbourne Storm
-   Marty Turner HB Yet to Debut   Melbourne Storm
-   Jason Wrigley PR Yet to Debut   Melbourne Storm

Player movements edit

Team of the Century edit

In conjunction with the celebrations for Melbourne's 100th game in round 18 against Wests, Melbourne ran a "team of the century" promotion to honour the best 17 players over the first 100 games of the club's existence. The team was announced during half time of the round 21 game against Brisbane.[4]

Melbourne Storm
Team of the Century Interchange Coach

Head coach


Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)

Updated: 14 September 2021
Source(s): [4]


Representative honours edit

This table lists all players who have played a representative match in 2001.

Player City vs Country Origin State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3 Midseason Tests[c] October Test[d] 2001 Kangaroo tour
Marcus Bai — — — — — Papua New Guinea —
Russell Bawden — — Queensland — — — —
Scott Hill Country — — — — — —
Rodney Howe — New South Wales — — — — —
Stephen Kearney — — — — New Zealand — —
Robbie Kearns — New South Wales — — Australia Australia Australia
Tasesa Lavea — — — — New Zealand — —
Matt Orford City — — — — — —
Henry Perenara — — — — New Zealand — —
Matt Rua — — — — New Zealand — —
Richard Swain — — — — New Zealand — —

Statistics edit

This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 2001 NRL season.

Name Appearances Tries Goals Field goals Points
Marcus Bai 21 11 0 0 44
Russell Bawden 23 4 0 0 16
Steven Bell 20 11 0 0 44
Matt Geyer 26 14 2 0 60
Scott Hill 20 6 0 0 24
Rodney Howe 17 1 0 0 4
Stephen Kearney 26 4 0 0 16
Robbie Kearns 23 1 0 0 4
Junior Langi 10 2 0 0 8
Tasesa Lavea 19 1 16 0 36
Fifita Moala 10 6 0 0 24
Aaron Moule 21 15 0 0 60
Brett O'Farrell 9 0 0 0 0
Matt Orford 26 15 78 0 216
Henry Perenara 21 6 0 0 24
Brenton Pomery 2 0 0 0 0
Ben Roarty 23 4 0 0 16
Peter Robinson 20 3 0 0 12
Robbie Ross 14 6 0 0 24
Matt Rua 25 3 0 0 12
Paul Sheedy 2 0 0 0 0
Richard Swain 26 5 0 0 20
Semi Tadulala 1 0 0 0 0
Brad Watts 7 3 0 0 12
Paul Whatuira 6 2 0 0 8
Danny Williams 21 5 0 0 20
26 players used — 128 96 0 704

Scorers edit

Most points in a game: 24 points

  • Round 18 - Matt Orford (1 try, 10 Goals) vs Wests Tigers

Most tries in a game: 4 [e]

  • Round 9 - Aaron Moule vs Northern Eagles

Winning games edit

Highest score in a winning game: 64 points

  • Round 18 vs Wests Tigers

Lowest score in a winning game: 20 points

  • Round 3 vs St George Illawarra Dragons

Greatest winning margin: 64 points [f]

  • Round 18 vs Wests Tigers

Greatest number of games won consecutively: 3

  • Round 11 - Round 13

Losing games edit

Highest score in a losing game: 28 points

  • Round 2 vs North Queensland Cowboys
  • Round 6 vs Newcastle Knights
  • Round 23 vs Sydney Roosters

Lowest score in a losing game: 6 points

  • Round 26 vs Canberra Raiders

Greatest losing margin: 44 points

  • Round 20 vs Parramatta Eels

Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 4 [e]

  • Round 5 - Round 8

Feeder Team edit

Melbourne Storm reserve players again travelled to Brisbane each week to play with Queensland Cup team Norths Devils. Making the finals for the fourth straight season, Norths Devils finished fourth, but were eliminated in the first week of the 2001 Queensland Cup finals.

2001 Queensland Cup
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
4   Norths Devils 20 11 3 6 2 558 446 +112 29

Awards and honours edit

Melbourne Storm Awards Night edit

Other Awards edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Players are listed with the cap number as they appear on the Melbourne Storm honour board. Additional squad members do not have a cap number.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Tests between Australia vs NZ, NZ vs France
  4. ^ Tests between Australia vs PNG
  5. ^ a b Equal club record
  6. ^ New club record

References edit

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "Melbourne Storm History". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e Middleton, David (2002). Rugby League 2002. Sydney: Harper Sports. ISBN 0732274664.
  4. ^ a b c d e 2002 Melbourne Storm Info Guide. Melbourne Storm.
  5. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 16". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  6. ^ Barrow, Tim (28 January 2001). "Orford a real impact player". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, New South Wales: Nationwide News Pty Ltd. p. 57.
  7. ^ Beikoff, Katrin (2 February 2001). "Eagle returns to nest - Charm before the Storm for Bret". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, New South Wales: Nationwide News Pty Ltd. p. 123.
  8. ^ Vernon, Ben (3 February 2001). "Orford takes the points, not Storm". Herald-Sun. Melbourne, Victoria: Nationwide News Pty Ltd. p. 81.
  9. ^ Ritchie, Dean (3 February 2001). "Kimmorley sinks his former mates". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, New South Wales: Nationwide News Pty Ltd.
  10. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 1". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  11. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 2". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  12. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 3". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  13. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 4". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  14. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 5". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  15. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 6". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  16. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 7". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  17. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 8". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  18. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 9". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  19. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 10". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  20. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 11". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  21. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 12". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  22. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 13". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  23. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 14". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  24. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 15". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  25. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 16". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  26. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 17". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  27. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 18". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  28. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 19". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  29. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 20". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  30. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 21". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  31. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 22". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  32. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 23". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  33. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 24". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  34. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 25". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  35. ^ "NRL 2001 - Round 26". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  36. ^ "Rugby League Tables - Melbourne". Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  37. ^ "Storm Team List (2001)". melbournestorm.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 June 2001. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  38. ^ "2001 Melbourne Point Scorers". afltables.com. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  39. ^ "Melbourne Storm - NRL 2001". rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  40. ^ "NRL Honour Board". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  41. ^ 2002 Melbourne Storm Info Guide. Melbourne Storm. p. 123.
  42. ^ "Recent news | AFANA".

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