2004 Melbourne Storm season

The 2004 Melbourne Storm season was the 7th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2004 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 6th out of 15 teams.

2004 Melbourne Storm season
NRL Rank	6th
Play-off result	Semi Final Loss
2004 record	Wins: 13; Draws: 0; Losses: 11
Points scored	For: 684; Against: 517
Team information
Coach	Craig Bellamy
Captain	Stephen Kearney (24 Games) Rodney Howe (1 Game) Robbie Kearns (1 Game)
Stadium	Olympic Park Stadium
Top scorers
Tries	Stephen Bell (18)
Goals	Matt Orford (56)
Points	Matt Orford (153)
< 2003 List of seasons 2005 >

Inconsistency plagued Storm in Craig Bellamy’s second season in charge but the team won four games in a row during the middle part of the year to move into the top four. They could not maintain their run though, eventually finishing sixth. Once again Storm won its first final, a 31-14 triumph over the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium before bowing out to the Bulldogs for the second straight season the following week. John Ribot departed the Club early in the 2004 season with Frank Stanton stepping in as acting CEO for the next 12 months.[1]

Fixtures

Regular Season

Round	Opponent	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Date	Venue
1	BYE
2	Newcastle Knights	Loss	26	36	Mar 21	Olympic Park
3	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Win	34	6	Mar 28	Telstra Stadium
4	Brisbane Broncos	Loss	26	34	Apr 4	Suncorp Stadium
5	Penrith Panthers	Loss	26	30	Apr 11	Penrith Football Stadium
6	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Win	50	4	Apr 17	Olympic Park
7	North Queensland Cowboys	Win	28	6	Apr 24	Olympic Park
8	New Zealand Warriors	Loss	14	20	May 2	Mt Smart
9	Cronulla Sharks	Loss	26	36	May 8	Olympic Park
10	Parramatta Eels	Win	36	16	May 16	Parramatta Stadium
11	Canberra Raiders	Win	22	18	May 22	Olympic Park
12	Newcastle Knights	Win	28	18	May 29	EnergyAustralia Stadium
13	Wests Tigers	Win	30	24	Jun 5	Olympic Park
14	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Loss	26	28	Jun 12	SFS
15	BYE
16	New Zealand Warriors	Win	42	6	Jun 26	Olympic Park
17	Penrith Panthers	Win	66	14	Jul 2	Olympic Park
18	Canterbury Bulldogs	Loss	18	25	Jul 11	Sydney Showground
19	Wests Tigers	Loss	18	32	Jul 17	Leichhardt Oval
20	Parramatta Eels	Win	22	16	Jul 24	Olympic Park
21	Sydney Roosters	Loss	10	26	Aug 1	Olympic Park
22	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Loss	14	34	Aug 6	WIN Stadium
23	Canberra Raiders	Win	36	18	Aug 15	Canberra Raiders
24	Canterbury Bulldogs	Win	22	12	Aug 22	Olympic Park
25	Cronulla Sharks	Win	36	28	Aug 28	Toyota Park
26	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Loss	28	30	Sep 5	Brookvale Oval

Finals

Round	Opponent	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Date	Venue
Qualifying Final	Brisbane Broncos	Win	31	14	Sep 11	Suncorp Stadium
Semi Final	Canterbury Bulldogs	Loss	18	43	Sep 19	SFS

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Sydney	24	19	0	5	2	710	368	+342	42
2	Bulldogs	24	19	0	5	2	760	491	+269	42
3	Brisbane	24	16	1	7	2	602	533	+69	37
4	Penrith	24	15	0	9	2	672	567	+105	34
5	St George Illawarra	24	14	0	10	2	624	415	+209	32
6	Melbourne	24	13	0	11	2	684	517	+167	30
7	North Queensland	24	12	1	11	2	526	514	+12	29
8	Canberra	24	11	0	13	2	554	613	-59	26
9	Wests Tigers	24	10	0	14	2	509	534	-25	24
10	Newcastle	24	10	0	14	2	516	617	-101	24
11	Cronulla	24	10	0	14	2	528	645	-117	24
12	Parramatta	24	9	0	15	2	517	626	-109	22
13	Manly	24	9	0	15	2	615	754	-139	22
14	New Zealand	24	6	0	18	2	427	693	-266	16
15	South Sydney	24	5	2	17	2	455	812	-357	16

2004 squad

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

Awards and honours

Melbourne Storm Awards Night

• Melbourne Storm Player of the Year: Matt Orford[2]
• Melbourne Storm Rookie of the Year: Matt King
• Melbourne Storm Clubman of the Year: Rodney Howe
• Mick Moore Chairmans Award of the Year: Stephen Kearney

Dally M Awards Night

• Peter Frilingos Memorial Award: Billy Slater

References

1. "History Melbourne Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
2. "NRL Honour Board". melbournestorm.com.au. Melbourne Storm. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.