A Historic Club in Turmoil
Just a few months ago, it wouldn’t have been silly to suggest the Melbourne Storm were the most stable sporting club in the country. The perennial NRL premiership heavyweight has become a force under the guidance of head coach Craig Bellamy and his trusted right-hand man Frank Ponissi over more than two decades.
The salary cap scandal that ultimately stripped the Storm of the 2007 and 2009 premierships, and consigned them to the bottom of the ladder in 2010, was a major stain on their history. But the way the club bounced back from that has been nothing short of astonishing. Since 2010, Melbourne has won six minor premierships and three premierships, with the Storm playing in a further four grand finals, including the past two.
However, in the months since losing last year’s grand final 26-22 to Brisbane, things have taken a nasty turn in the Victorian capital. A string of bad fortune has hit the team, which now finds itself in the midst of its worst losing streak since Bellamy took the reins in 2003.
After a sixth straight loss on Saturday, being belted 48-6 by South Sydney at AAMI Park, Bellamy said it was the most embarrassed he’s ever felt. There are now concerns for the supercoach’s health and wellbeing, especially after a club statement revealed he’s been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder. While the club reiterated that the diagnosis isn’t expected to impact Bellamy’s ability to coach the team in the immediate future, it’s just the latest knock for a club that went within one game of adding another premiership trophy to the cabinet only seven months ago.
Shock Retirements
After losing the grand final by just four points to the Broncos, the Storm were then hit by a couple of surprise departures. The loss of giant forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona wasn’t the biggest shock in the world but, in hindsight, it was an exit the club is probably feeling now. The two-metre Kiwi behemoth has quit football and turned his hand to boxing full time.
The bigger shock was the retirement of gun fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen, who quit to pursue rebel rugby competition R360 before that venture fell over. Papenhuyzen later basically retired from football at 27 years of age, following a rollercoaster career that was plagued by several bad injuries. He’s been replaced in the No.1 jersey by rising star Sua Fa’alogo, who has plenty of talent but isn’t at the level Papenhuyzen was just yet.
Boom Star’s Freak Injury
Eli Katoa was arguably the most dangerous attacking backrower in the game last season and he was well on his way to becoming a superstar of the competition. Now he’s sitting out the entire NRL season after an ugly incident during the Pacific Championships in November. Katoa was floored by Tongan teammate Lehi Hopoate during warm-up, then copped another two knocks during the game before being taken to hospital. Scans later revealed a brain bleed and he underwent emergency surgery.
The gun forward is still recovering and won’t play at all this season, and his future in the game remains in doubt.
And Another Forward Goes Down
On the back of losing Asofa-Solomona and Katoa, the Storm lost another experienced forward just a few rounds into the season. Fijian big man Tui Kamikamica was rushed to hospital after falling ill after training, and doctors believe he suffered a stroke. He hasn’t played for several weeks now but the Storm are hopeful he is cleared to return to the field soon.
League legends Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler believe the dearth of quality forwards has contributed to Melbourne’s form slump, with gun spine players Harry Grant, Jahrome Hughes, and Cameron Munster all struggling to hit their straps behind a depleted pack. “They are superstars who perform on the back of go-forward, they’re not getting go-forward,” Johns said on Wide World of Sports’ Freddy and the Eighth. “They are missing some forwards. And they’ve got inexperienced players out wide.”
Star’s Injury Leads to Legal Brouhaha
On top of losing Papenhuyzen, Asofa-Solomona, Katoa, and then Kamikamica, Melbourne has also been without representative winger Xavier Coates. The State of Origin flyer suffered an Achilles injury and has not played yet this season, and is not expected back for a couple of weeks yet. As a result, the Storm attempted to bring rival Origin winger Zac Lomax to the club. Lomax quit his Eels contract to pursue R360 – as Papenhuyzen had – but when R360 fell over, Melbourne tried to snag Lomax’s services as a replacement for Coates. Parramatta dug its heels in and refused to let that happen. It ended up going to court, with the Eels blocking Lomax’s return to the NRL with a rival club.
How Rule Changes Have Cruelly Cracked the Storm
Melbourne has always prided itself on the famed “next man up mentality” – whenever a player goes out of the team, someone else is ready to come in and do a job for Bellamy. So why has the team struggled to deal with the losses listed above so badly this year?
Johns and Fittler believe some NRL rule changes have hit the Storm in an unexpected way. With referees policing ruck infringements more strictly, able to award set restarts for holding down the ball-carrier, Melbourne has been robbed of a key tactic. “They invented the wrestle. Now the wrestle’s not there, so this is all foreign to them,” Johns said on Wide World of Sports’ Immortal Behaviour. “The personnel (missing) to start, the quicker ruck, not controlling the ruck, and the frustration of Munster and Harry and Jahrome being on the back foot, they are making errors.”
Fittler says the NRL rule changes mean the game has now moved on from the style that Melbourne mastered for so many years under Bellamy. “They are a totally changed team and on the back of two lost grand finals… this is the first time I’ve ever seen Melbourne have a down patch like this,” Fittler said on Freddy and the Eighth. “The game has changed. They are a team in the last 20 years that have based their game on controlling the ruck. You can’t control the ruck anymore, it’s impossible.”
The Storm sit 16th on the NRL ladder with just two wins from eight games this season. They next travel to Brisbane on Friday night to take on the Dolphins.
