my-server
← Wiki

1998 Melbourne Storm season

The 1998 Melbourne Storm season was the first in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's inaugural Premiership and their first season was a major surprise to many, with the new team reaching the top of the ladder in Round 15 and finishing the regular season in 3rd place, only one win behind minor premiers Brisbane. Adopting coach Chris Anderson's new "flat-line" attack, the big Storm forwards laid a platform for their young halves Scott Hill and Brett Kimmorley to wreak havoc on opposing teams. Melbourne's front-rowers Glenn Lazarus, Robbie Kearns and Rodney Howe were all selected to play for New South Wales in the 1998 State of Origin series. A late season injury to captain Lazarus combined with a lack of Finals experience saw the Storm knocked out in the play-offs. The club though had proven they were to be taken seriously, and they had easily produced the best debut season of any new team in the game's history.

Season summary

  • 11 January – Melbourne sign former Hunter Mariners players Brett Kimmorley, Scott Hill, John Carlaw, and Paul Marquet to mostly complete their roster ahead of the season. Melbourne had previously signed two former Mariners players Robbie Ross and Richard Swain. The signature of Kimmorley was particulary crucial for the new club, with the Illawarra Steelers keen to sign the former Super League Australia test halfback.
  • 21 January – Captain Glenn Lazarus was officially ruled out of playing in the pre-season fixtures. Lazarus had broken his ankle in July 1997 and was not able to return for his former club during the 1997 season.
  • 25 January – Bookmakers install Melbourne as the $2.50 favourite to win the inaugural NRL wooden spoon.
  • 7 February – Wearing white jerseys, Melbourne win their first preseason trial match against Adelaide Rams in Hobart in front of 2,500 fans at the North Hobart Oval. Brett Kimmorley scored the first try in club colours. In the absence of Glenn Lazarus, New Zealand international Tawera Nikau captained the Storm squad. Ahead of the match, the team visited the site of the Port Arthur massacre to pay their respects to the victims.
  • 12 February – At the club's season launch, John Ribot reveals the official uniform of navy blue jerseys with a stylised white and purple chevron design, worn with navy blue shorts and socks. It was reported that Ribot was looking to sell up to 51% of his ownership in the club back to News Limited in order to "share around the bills." Ribot later said that his intention was always to form a consortium to run the club. At the launch, former News Limited chairman Ken Cowley was appointed the Storm's foundation chairman.
  • 28 February – In their final preseason match in front of 6,000 spectators at Albury, Melbourne were level at 12-all against the Canberra Raiders at half time, before the experienced Raiders team scored a 34–16 victory. Five-eighth Scott Hill suffered an arm injury in the match, but was later cleared of serious injury.
  • Round 1 – Melbourne upset Illawarra Steelers to record their inaugural premiership victory, with Scott Hill scoring the club's first tries. Hill's second try, converted by winger Craig Smith with two minutes remaining in the match, gave Melbourne their first lead of the match. The Storm were only the fourth non-foundation team to win on debut, and only the second to win away from home. Brett Kimmorley would later receive a warning letter from the NRL Judiciary following a high tackle on Illawarra's Craig Wilson, while Aaron Moule suffered a dislocated shoulder which kept him out for two months.
  • Round 3 – Melbourne extend their undefeated start to the season, earning a 26–18 win against the 1997 Super League runners-up Cronulla Sharks. Interchange forward Russell Bawden scored two tries in the match, while hooker Danny Williams was reported for a reckless tackle on Dean Treister. Williams was later suspended for three matches.
  • Round 4 – A record crowd of 20,522 watch unbeaten Melbourne play their first home game at Olympic Park. With chaotic scenes outside the ground, fans are allowed to sit on the running track after half time due to overcrowding. Paul Marquet scored the first try for the club at their redeveloped home venue.
  • Round 5 – On Good Friday, the Auckland Warriors inflict the Storm's first defeat of the season in a 16–12 victory in New Zealand. Melbourne had led early after referee Bill Harrigan missed a forward pass from Tawara Nikau to Marcus Bai for the Storm's first try. The Storm had a chance late in the match to steal the win after the Warriors were penalised, only for Melbourne to lose possession.
  • Round 6 – Late tries to Marcus Bai and Rodney Howe saw Melbourne break a 22–all tie after 65 minutes, to defeat Parramatta 32–22. Following the match, prop forwards Glenn Lazarus and Rodney Howe were selected in the Australia squad for the match against New Zealand.
  • Round 7 – Returning to Olympic Park, Melbourne hold out against a depleted Penrith team, scoring a 22–14 victory. John Carlaw scored two tries in the first half, while both Rodney Howe and Glenn Lazarus backed up from their appearances for Australia against New Zealand the previous evening's test match in Auckland. Howe had been rushed to hospital following the test match with suspected broken ribs, but played through the pain.
  • Round 8 – Melbourne thrash the lowly Western Suburbs Magpies 54–16 at Olympic Park, with Robbie Ross scoring two tries and Craig Smith converting all nine tries to score 18 points. The Storm led 30–4 at half time after the visitors scored the opening try of the match.
  • Round 9 – In the last of three straight home matches, two length of the field intercept tries to Dragons winger Nathan Blacklock helped St George to an upset 18–14 win over Melbourne to end the club's unbeaten run at Olympic Park. Melbourne led 14–12 at half time after tries to Russell Bawden and Danny Williams, but were shut out in the second half. Disappointed club executives later meeting with broadcaster Nine Network after the match was not shown live or replayed on either free-to-air or pay television.
  • Round 10 – Aaron Moule returned from injury, scoring a try in the club's 14–6 win over South Sydney.
  • Round 11 – Melbourne and Illawarra Steelers play out a 14–all draw, with Melbourne denied four second half tries after leading 14–4 at half time. Illawarra goalkicker Rod Wishart had a chance to win the match in the dying minutes, but his conversion attempt was waved away. Glenn Lazarus scored his first try of the season, meaning every member of the club's inaugural team had scored at least one try during the season. Steelers player Shaun Timmins was sent off for a high tackle on Melbourne fullback Robbie Ross during the second half. Referee Paul Simpkins was later dropped from the next weekend of matches after a number of errors, including denying Melbourne a late try to Danny Williams, instead ruling that Williams was held up over the line without consulting his in-goal touch judge.
  • Round 12 – Melbourne record the biggest win by a debut team in premiership history, thrashing Gold Coast Chargers 62–6 in that club's heaviest defeat in their history. Melbourne running in 11 tries to one in the match, with Robbie Ross and Scott Hill both scoring two tries. In a bid for more television coverage, Melbourne moved the start time of the match forward to 12:30pm after the club's previous four matches were not broadcast.
  • Round 13 – Missing key forwards Rodney Howe and Glenn Lazarus after their efforts for NSW in State of Origin, Brett Kimmorley kicks the club's first field goal, in a 25–16 win over Balmain Tigers at Leichhardt Oval. Anthony Bonus became the twenty-second player used by the club, the former Parramatta Eels player last played first grade in 1996. Bonus had been living in Brisbane and playing for Norths Devils and only met the bulk of the Storm squad the day before the match.
  • Round 14 – Melbourne take home the "Southern States Cup," defeating the Adelaide Rams 24–4. Playing into a strong breeze in the first half, Scott Hill scored two tries, with Marcus Bai adding another for an 18–0 lead at the break. Papua New Guinea rookie John Wilshere made his debut for the club after impressing for Norths Devils where he was the leading points scorer in the Queensland Cup competition.
  • Round 15 – After defeating North Queensland Cowboys, Melbourne finish the weekend on top of the NRL ladder for the first time.
  • 26 June – Rodney Howe is revealed as the third NRL player in 1998 to test positive to a banned substance.
  • Round 16 – A controversial try after the final siren to Tony Tatupu hands the Auckland Warriors a 24–21 victory at Olympic Park.
  • Round 17 – Brisbane Broncos defeat Melbourne 34–16 in front of a crowd of 35,119, the highest attendance to watch Melbourne, and the second highest crowd in the 1998 regular season.
  • 9 July – Rodney Howe is suspended for 22 matches by the ARL drugs tribunal for taking performance-enhancing drugs. Howe was accused of taking the anabolic steroid stanozolol to aid the recovery of a knee injury.
  • Round 20 – Marcus Bai scores the first hat-trick in club history in a win against 1997 ARL Premiers Newcastle Knights, to cement a top four spot on the NRL ladder.
  • Round 23 – In diabolical weather conditions, with the Belmore Sports Ground field resembling a swimming pool, Melbourne are almost held scoreless for the first time, with a late try to stand-in captain Tawera Nikau the only points for the Storm.
  • Round 24 – Melbourne secure a home final by finishing third on the NRL ladder, ending the regular season with a 16–12 win over Canberra Raiders.
  • 27 August – Chris Anderson wins the Dally M Coach of the Year award, with Marcus Bai (wing) and Tawera Nikau (lock forward) making the Team of the Year. Brett Kimmorley finished second behind Newcastle halfback Andrew Johns in the count for the Dally M Medal.
  • Preliminary qualifying final – Without captain Glenn Lazarus due to injury, a second half masterclass from Brad Fittler hands Melbourne a 12–26 loss in their NRL finals debut. Before the game, Melbourne announce their first ever jersey sponsorship deal with the Honda logo appearing on player's sleeves.
  • Elimination quarter final – Melbourne win their first finals game, defeating Canberra Raiders 24–10 to advance to the third week of the five-week finals series.
  • Elimination semi final – Eventual premiers Brisbane Broncos knock Melbourne out of the 1998 NRL finals, in a game played at the Sydney Football Stadium. Melbourne putting in their worst performance of the season
  • 19 September – Storm feeder team Norths Devils win the 1998 Queensland Cup Grand Final, featuring a number of players who played for Melbourne in 1998.

Milestone games

Jerseys

Melbourne's inaugural jerseys were navy blue jerseys with a stylised white and purple chevron design, with gold trim and collars, worn with navy blue shorts and socks. Until late in the season, there were no advertising logos, except that of manufacturer Nike. Unusually, Melbourne carried on the Super League innovation of having player names on the back of jerseys, ostensibly to assist new fans to identify players. The team wore the predominately blue jerseys in every game in 1998, except for the round 15 game against North Queensland Cowboys, when a predominately white jersey was worn with white shorts and socks. Midway through the season, the club signed a sponsorship deal with Fila worth an estimated 1.5m over three years.

Fixtures

Pre season

Regular season

Result by round

Matches

Source:

Finals

Ladder

1998 Coaching Staff

1998 squad

List current as of 21 July 2021

Inaugural Team

The first Melbourne Storm team to take to the field in Round 1 of the 1998 NRL season

Representative honours

This table lists all players who have played a representative match in 1998.

Statistics

This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 1998 NRL season.

  • Statistics sources:

Scorers

Most points in a game: 18 points

  • Round 4 – Craig Smith (9 Goals) vs Western Suburbs Magpies

Most tries in a game: 3

  • Round 20 – Marcus Bai vs Newcastle Knights

Winning games

Highest score in a winning game: 62 points

  • Round 12 vs Gold Coast Chargers

Lowest score in a winning game: 10 points

  • Round 15 vs North Queensland Cowboys

Greatest winning margin: 54 points

  • Round 12 vs Gold Coast Chargers

Greatest number of games won consecutively: 4

  • Round 1 – Round 4
  • Round 12 – Round 15

Losing games

Highest score in a losing game: 21 points

  • Round 16 vs Auckland Warriors

Lowest score in a losing game: 4 points

  • Round 23 vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

Greatest losing margin: 24 points

  • Round 19 vs North Sydney Bears
  • Elimination Preliminary Final vs Brisbane Broncos

Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 2

  • Round 16 – Round 17

NRL Judiciary

A number of Melbourne players were cited by the match review committee for incidents through the 1998 season, with the following results from the NRL Judiciary.

Feeder team

Upon entry to the NRL, Melbourne Storm signed an affiliation agreement with Queensland Cup team Norths Devils to act as a feeder club and to provide Melbourne players who were not selected to play first grade a match each weekend. Players would fly to Brisbane each week after training in Melbourne to play Queensland Cup, with a number of other junior players also moving to Brisbane to play with the club. The arrangement bore immediate results as the side coached by Mark Murray won the minor premiership. Featuring a number of players who had played for Melbourne in 1998, Norths Devils would go on to win the 1998 Queensland Cup Grand Final 35–18 against Wests Panthers, with Matt Geyer scoring three tries in the match.

Awards and honours

Melbourne Storm Awards Night

Held on Friday, 2 October:

Dally M Awards Night

Held at Fox Studios Australia on Thursday, 27 August.

Additional Awards

  • Rugby League Annual – Players of the Year: Marcus Bai
  • Rugby League Annual – Team of the Year: Marcus Bai <small>()</small>

Notes

References