2002 Melbourne Storm season

The 2002 Melbourne Storm season was the 5th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2002 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season in 10th place making it their lowest finishing position until 2010, when it was sentenced to finish that season last due to gross salary cap breaches.[1] As of 2019, it is also the most recent time that the Storm missed the finals due to not winning enough games.[2] It was Mark Murray's final season as coach of the club.[3]

2002 Melbourne Storm season
NRL Rank10th
2002 recordWins: 9; Draws: 1; Losses: 14
Points scoredFor: 556; Against: 586
Team information
CEOJohn Ribot
CoachMark Murray
Captain
StadiumOlympic Park Stadium
Top scorers
TriesAaron Moule (17)
GoalsMatt Orford (62)
PointsMatt Orford (156)
< 2001 List of seasons 2003 >

In 2002 the Storm returned to Olympic Park. The club secured no big name player signings for the season as it kept under the NRL imposed salary cap.

In an effort to reignite its floundering success the return to its smaller home ground was seen by players and supporters as a positive move. The club though continued to deliver hot and cold performances as the season progressed, leaving them on the fringe of the Top 8 (from only 14 competitors).

The club suffered internal turmoil during the season, particularly when the captaincy was removed from Robbie Kearns and given to Rodney Howe. The Storm was also troubled over the renegotiation of club stalwart Richard Swain's contract - he reluctantly signed for Brisbane for 2003 when the Storm (citing salary cap issues) failed to make him an offer.

The Storm's season again came down to needing to win its final round game to reach the semi-finals. In a repeat of 2001, Melbourne appeared to lack enthusiasm when it mattered and again lost a crucial match.[4]

Fixture

[5]

RoundOpponentResultMel.Opp.DateVenue
1Canberra RaidersWin1612Mar 16Olympic Park
2Cronulla SharksLoss2430Mar 23Toyota Park
3North Queensland CowboysWin3810Mar 30Olympic Park
4Parramatta EelsWin3230Apr 6Parramatta Stadium
5BulldogsLoss622Apr 13Olympic Park
6St. George Illawarra DragonsWin124Apr 20Olympic Park
7New Zealand WarriorsLoss1020Apr 27Mt. Smart Stadium
8Newcastle KnightsLoss2836May 4Olympic Park
9Sydney RoostersLoss634May 11Sydney Football Stadium
10Parramatta EelsLoss2022May 18Olympic Park
11New Zealand WarriorsLoss1228May 25Olympic Park
12BYE
13Newcastle KnightsLoss1637Jun 8Hunter Stadium
14St. George Illawarra DragonsDraw3030Jun 15WIN Stadium
15South Sydney RabbitohsWin446June 22Olympic Park
16Northern EaglesLoss2236Jun 29Brookvale Oval
17Wests TigersWin2620Jul 6Olympic Park
18Sydney RoostersWin4810Jul 13Olympic Park
19BYE
20Penrith PanthersLoss1636Jul 27Penrith Stadium
21Brisbane BroncosLoss2048Aug 3Olympic Park
22North Queensland CowboysWin4030Aug 10Dairy Farmers Stadium
23Penrith PanthersWin4210Aug 17Olympic Park
24Wests TigersLoss1626Aug 24Leichhardt Oval
25BulldogsLoss1624Aug 30Sydney Showground Stadium
26Canberra RaidersLoss1625Sep 7Bruce Stadium

Ladder
Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 New Zealand 2417072688454+23438
2 Newcastle 2417072724498+22638
3 Brisbane 2416172672425+24737
4 Sydney Roosters 2415182621405+21635
5 Cronulla-Sutherland 2415092653597+5634
6 Parramatta 24102122531440+9126
7 St George Illawarra 2493122632546+8625
8 Canberra 24101132471641-17025
9 Northern Eagles 24100142503740-23724
10 Melbourne 2491142556586-3023
11 North Queensland 2480162496803-30720
12 Penrith 2470172546654-10818
13 Wests Tigers 2470172498642-14418
14 South Sydney 2450192385817-43214
15 Bulldogs 2420132707435+27281

2002 Coaching Staff

2002 squad
Cap Nat. Player name Position First Storm Game Previous First Grade RL club (a)

Awards and honours
gollark: However, it does NOT cause a crash as apparently I implemented better fallbacks than I thought, good job me, all hail gollark.
gollark: Functions run on reference equality, of course, thus it may be problem.
gollark: I think it'll crash horribly?
gollark: It !!even!! supports tables.
gollark: Just index any `nil` variable under potatOS!

References
  1. Stuart Honeysett and Brent Read (23 April 2010) Shocking end to the Melbourne Storm era The Australian
  2. "How the Swans and Storm have thrived in hostile territory". The Roar. 26 September 2016.
  3. http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/melbourne/melbourne2002_sc.html
  4. "Melbourne Storm History". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  5. http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/melbourne/melbourne_by.html#2002
  6. "NRL Honour Board". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
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