2005 Melbourne Storm season

The 2005 Melbourne Storm season was the 8th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2005 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 6th out of 15 teams and making the finals. The season began with two big wins over the Knights and Dragons, each by more than 30 points. The form line followed a similar path to the previous season though as the team struggled to string consecutive wins together and hovered around the lower part of the eight for much of the season before ultimately finishing sixth once again. Future star Greg Inglis made his debut in Round 6. Storm finished the season with the second best defence in the competition and again went to Suncorp Stadium in Week One of the finals, producing the same result to defeat the Broncos. However for the third straight season the side was unable to progress past the semi final stage, losing to the Cowboys. At the end of the season, Storm legends Robbie Kearns and Matt Geyer were inducted as inaugural life members of the Club.[1]

2005 Melbourne Storm season
NRL Rank	6th
Play-off result	Semi Final Loss
2005 record	Wins: 13; Draws: 0; Losses: 11
Points scored	For: 640; Against: 462
Team information
CEO	Brian Waldron
Coach	Craig Bellamy
Captain	Robbie Kearns (25 Games) Matt Orford (1 Game)
Stadium	Olympic Park Stadium
Top scorers
Tries	Billy Slater (20)
Goals	Matt Orford (63)
Points	Matt Orford (172)
< 2004 List of seasons 2006 >

Fixtures

Regular Season

Round	Opponent	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Date	Venue
1	Newcastle Knights	Win	48	10	Mar 13	Olympic Park
2	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Win	46	12	Mar 19	WIN Stadium
3	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Loss	18	25	Mar 27	Brookvale Oval
4	Brisbane Broncos	Win	50	4	Apr 2	Olympic Park
5	Penrith Panthers	Loss	16	36	Apr 8	CUA Stadium
6	Parramatta Eels	Loss	14	26	Apr 16	Olympic Park
7	Canberra Raiders	Win	46	10	Apr 24	Canberra Stadium
8	Cronulla Sharks	Loss	10	30	Apr 30	Olympic Park
9	BYE
10	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Win	38	12	May 14	SFS
11	Canterbury Bulldogs	Loss	16	26	May 21	Olympic Park
12	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Win	24	16	May 29	Olympic Park
13	Wests Tigers	Win	30	14	Jun 5	Leichhardt Oval
14	New Zealand Warriors	Loss	16	24	Jun 12	Mt. Smart
15	Penrith Panthers	Loss	14	28	Jun 18	Olympic Park
16	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Win	48	6	Jun 25	Olympic Park
17	Canterbury Bulldogs	Win	33	6	Jul 2	Sydney Showground
18	Canberra Raiders	Win	20	0	Jul 9	Olympic Park
19	Brisbane Broncos	Loss	15	28	Jul 17	Suncorp Stadium
20	Sydney Roosters	Win	24	10	Jul 24	Olympic Park
21	Newcastle Knights	Loss	18	37	Jul 30	EnergyAustralia Stadium
22	Cronulla Sharks	Loss	16	40	Aug 6	Toyota Park
23	New Zealand Warriors	Win	22	10	Aug 13	Olympic Park
24	BYE
25	Wests Tigers	Win	34	22	Aug 27	Olympic Park
26	North Queensland Cowboys	Loss	24	30	Sep 3	Dairy Farmers Stadium

Finals

Round	Opponent	Result	Mel.	Opp.	Date	Venue
Qualifying Final	Brisbane Broncos	Win	24	18	Sep 10	Suncorp Stadium
Semi Final	North Queensland Cowboys	Loss	16	24	Sep 17	SFS

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Parramatta	24	16	0	8	2	704	456	+248	36
2	St George Illawarra	24	16	0	8	2	655	510	+145	36
3	Brisbane	24	15	0	9	2	597	484	+113	34
4	Wests Tigers	24	14	0	10	2	676	575	+101	32
5	North Queensland	24	14	0	10	2	639	563	+76	32
6	Melbourne	24	13	0	11	2	640	462	+178	30
7	Cronulla	24	12	0	12	2	550	564	-14	28
8	Manly	24	12	0	12	2	554	632	-78	28
9	Sydney	24	11	0	13	2	488	487	+1	26
10	Penrith	24	11	0	13	2	554	554	0	26
11	New Zealand	24	10	0	14	2	515	528	-13	24
12	Bulldogs	24	9	1	14	2	472	670	-198	23
13	South Sydney	24	9	1	14	2	482	700	-218	23
14	Canberra	24	9	0	15	2	465	606	-141	22
15	Newcastle	24	8	0	16	2	467	667	-200	20

2005 squad

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

Awards

Melbourne Storm Awards Night Melbourne Storm Player of the Year: Cameron Smith[2] Melbourne Storm Rookie of the Year: Brett White Mick Moore Club Person of the Year: Julie Cliff

Dally M Awards Night Dally M Top Try Scorer (regular season only): Billy Slater 19 (with Shaun Berrigan) Additional Awards QRL Ron McAuliffe Medal: Cameron Smith NSWRL Brad Fittler Medal: Matt King

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.