2013 Melbourne Storm season

The 2013 Melbourne Storm season was the 16th in the club's history. They competed in the 2013 NRL season. They were coached by Craig Bellamy and captained by Cameron Smith. They had previously won the 2012 NRL Grand Final therefore started the season as reigning premiers.

Seven straight wins to start the season extended the club's winning streak to 15 games dating back to the previous campaign. The Origin period proved difficult to negotiate however with team unable to come up with some crucial wins at the business end of the season, eventually finishing in third place. Two finals losses to the Rabbitohs and Knights prematurely ended the season, as Storm did not make the preliminary final stage for just the second time in eight years. The Storm attack was the shining light of the season, producing 98 tries to be ranked second in the competition. The team also had the best home record of any side in the NRL, losing just the one game at AAMI Park during the season. Cooper Cronk was rewarded for several seasons of brilliance, claiming his first Dally M Medal Player of the Year honour. Off the field Storm experienced a change at the helm with Mark Evans replacing Ron Gauci as CEO midway through the season, following divestment of the club by News Limited to new ownership.

Season summary

 * 11 February – On the day the club leaves Australia to head to England for the World Club Challenge, it's announced that coach Craig Bellamy has extended his contract that will see him remain as coach until the end of the 2016 season.
 * World Club Challenge – Melbourne start the season with a tight 18–14 win in the 2013 World Club Challenge against Leeds Rhinos to be crowned World Champions. Cooper Cronk wins the man of the match award, steering Melbourne around the field in attack.
 * Round 1 – Melbourne continue their round 1 winning streak, defeating the St George Illawarra Dragons 30–10 in hot conditions at AAMI Park. Temperatures hit 34°C during the afternoon match, with Melbourne's request for a drinks break knocked back by the visitors and the NRL. The victory was Melbourne's 10th straight round 1 victory under Craig Bellamy.
 * Round 2 – The club's win over the North Queensland Cowboys marked their 10th consecutive win, with the streak beginning in round 22 of the 2012 season and extending through the 2012 finals series.
 * Round 3 – forward Ryan Hoffman becomes the fifth player to appear in 200 NRL matches with the club, notching the milestone up in the rematch of the 2012 NRL Grand Final against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, with the Storm victorious 22–18. Billy Slater escaped sanction from the NRL Judiciary following the match after his boot collected Bulldogs forward David Klemmer while competing for a high ball.
 * Round 4 – In Melbourne Storm's 400th NRL match, the club wins their 12th consecutive game, equalling their all-time record achieved during the 2011 season. The Storm had led the Brisbane Broncos 20–6 at half time, only for the Broncos to fight back in the second half to take the lead. A hat trick of tries to Billy Slater and a late try to Matthew Duffie sealing the win.
 * Round 5 – Melbourne win their 13th consecutive game, breaking their all-time club record.
 * Round 6 – Storm defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs to remain the only undefeated side in the NRL in 2013.
 * 19 April – Gareth Widdop announces he will leave the Storm for the St George Illawarra Dragons at the end of the season.
 * Round 7 – Melbourne's winning streak continued to 15 games with a 28–18 win over the New Zealand Warriors on ANZAC Day, in the club's highest attended match at AAMI Park for the season.
 * 1 May – The Storm re-sign Will Chambers to a contract that will see him remain with the club until 2017.
 * Round 8 – Melbourne suffers their first loss of the season ending the club record winning streak at 15 games. The Storm are one of only seven teams in the history of the NSWRL/ARL/NRL to have achieved this. The upset defeat by the Canberra Raiders was their third successive win at AAMI Park.
 * 21 May – A syndicate led by Bart Campbell take over the club as News Corp Australia divest their ownership of the companies holding the NRL franchise. As part of the take over, CEO Ron Gauci is replaced by Englishman Mark Evans.
 * Round 9 – Penrith Panthers defeat Melbourne for the first time in eight years, winning 12–10.
 * Round 10 – After being behind 8–0 at half time, Melbourne come back to force extra time against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at AAMI Park, thanks to a last minute penalty goal scored by Cameron Smith, to level the scoreboard at 10–all. No golden point score came in the extra period, with the 10–all draw the first draw of the 2013 NRL season, and Melbourne's first draw since 2009.
 * Round 11 – Melbourne return to the winner's list with a 26–18 win over the Sydney Roosters. Jordan McLean made his NRL debut as the 150th player for the Storm, while Cameron Smith scored his 1400th point.
 * Round 13 – Following a bye, Melbourne wearing Superman logo jerseys thrash Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 38–6 to mark Cameron Smith's 250th NRL match and Justin O'Neill 50th match with a win.
 * Round 15 – Playing without Origin players Smith, Slater, Cronk and Hoffman; Melbourne suffer an 18–12 loss to the Gold Coast Titans. Ben Hampton scored two tries on debut and Gareth Widdop suffered a dislocated hip, with the injury set to keep him out of the team for up to three months.
 * Round 16 – In extremely wet conditions at the Leichhardt Oval, the Wests Tigers made the most of the conditions to inflict a 22–4 defeat upon Melbourne.
 * Round 17 – Melbourne hold the Broncos scoreless at AAMI Park, with Maurice Blair scoring two tries in a 32–0 win.
 * 11 July – Forward Jason Ryles announces his retirement from the NRL will be at the end of the 2013 season.
 * Round 18 – Missing players selected for Origin, Melbourne are held scoreless for the first time since the 2008 NRL Grand Final, losing to the Bulldogs 39–0 at ANZ Stadium. Referee for the match Allan Shortall coming under criticism for not using the sin bin against Josh Reynolds, or awarding a penalty try to Justin O'Neill in an incident before half time.
 * Round 21 – The Storm returned to form with a massive 68–4 win over the Canberra Raiders. The win equalled their all-time greatest winning margin record set in 2001 against the Wests Tigers., it remains Melbourne's highest score in matches played outside Victoria. During the match, Billy Slater also scored his 150th try.
 * Round 22 – Brett Finch plays his 50th match for the club in a 26–8 win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
 * 22 August – Brett Finch announces the 2013 season will be his last in the NRL, retiring 16 seasons after making his debut with Canberra.
 * Round 23 – In Bryan Norrie's 150th NRL match, Melbourne come from behind at half time to defeat the Newcastle Knights 23–10.
 * Round 24 – Melbourne score 60 points for the second time in a month, inflicting a 64–4 win over the Parramatta Eels. Billy Slater scoring a hat trick, while Kevin Proctor made his 100th NRL appearance.
 * Round 26 – The Storm win their final game of the regular season in Golden point extra time 23–22 against the Gold Coast Titans, with Cooper Cronk kicking the decisive field goal in the 88th minute from 41 metres out. Cameron Smith also scored his 1500th career points in the match. The result saw Melbourne finish third on the NRL ladder, after spending the entire season in the top four on the ladder.
 * Qualifying final – South Sydney earn their first win over Melbourne since 2010, winning 20–10. The match at ANZ Stadium saw Souths jump out to a 14–0 lead at half time, before a Slater try got Melbourne on the board early in the second half. Another effort by Slater was denied by the video referee, before Souths scored again with little over ten minutes to play.
 * Semi final – Newcastle upset Melbourne at AAMI Park 18–16 to end the Storm's season with straight sets defeats in the finals. It was the Knights first win at the venue and their first against Melbourne since 2009.

Jerseys
In 2013 the Storm jerseys were again made by Kooga. They created a new jersey design for 2013 which featured more navy blue and a more prominent and deeper chevron that integrated the sponsor's (Crown Casino) logo into the design, which featured purple lightning bolts for the first time. The secondary club colours of gold and white were removed and reduced respectively, so that the jersey was essentially half navy blue and half purple. The clash jersey was a white version of the home jersey.

Special
 * World Club Challenge – Melbourne would wear a predominately white and purple jersey for the match against Leeds Rhinos, featuring a deep chevron containing a purple gradient design, with silver and gold highlights.
 * Round 10 – Melbourne released a special jersey for the "Women of League" round match against Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. The jersey consisted of navy blue and pink horizontal hoops.
 * Round 13 – Storm wore a jersey to promote the Superman movie Man of Steel. The jerseys design is similar to that of the costume worn in the movie with the red Superman logo on the front.
 * Round 14 – Storm wore a heritage jersey design, which was a replica of the original 1998 navy blue jersey.
 * Round 17 – Dubbed the "Big Battle," for the home match against the Brisbane Broncos the Storm wore a mostly silver jersey design.

Matches
Source:
 * – Golden Point extra time
 * (pen) – Penalty try

2013 Coaching staff

 * Head coach: Craig Bellamy
 * Assistant coaches: Kevin Walters & David Kidwell
 * NRL Under 20s coach: Anthony Seibold
 * Strength and Conditioning coach: Alex Corvo
 * Head Physiotherapist: Tony Ayoub

2013 Squad
As of 16 July 2013.

Player movement
Losses
 * Richie Fa'aoso to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
 * Michael Greenfield to Retirement
 * Luke Kelly to Parramatta Eels
 * Rory Kostjasyn to North Queensland Cowboys
 * Jaiman Lowe to Retirement
 * Todd Lowrie to New Zealand Warriors
 * Sika Manu to Penrith Panthers
 * Shea Moylan to Wynnum Manly Seagulls
 * Dane Nielsen to New Zealand Warriors

Gains
 * Brett Finch from Wigan Warriors
 * Kurt Mann from Newcastle Knights
 * Junior Moors from Wests Tigers
 * Junior Sa'u from Newcastle Knights
 * Lagi Setu from Unattached

Representative honours
The following players have played a representative match in 2013.
 * (C) = Captain

Statistics
This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 2013 NRL season.
 * Statistics sources:

Scorers
Most points in a game: 20
 * Round 21 – Cameron Smith (10 goals) vs Canberra Raiders
 * Round 24 – Cameron Smith (10 goals) vs Parramatta Eels

Most tries in a game: 3
 * Round 4 – Billy Slater vs Brisbane Broncos
 * Round 21 – Mahe Fonua vs Canberra Raiders
 * Round 21 – Sisa Waqa vs Canberra Raiders
 * Round 24 – Billy Slater vs Parramatta Eels

Winning games
Highest score in a winning game: 68 points Lowest score in a winning game: 16 points Greatest winning margin: 64 points Greatest number of games won consecutively: 7
 * Round 21 vs Canberra Raiders
 * Round 14 vs Newcastle Knights
 * Round 21 vs Canberra Raiders
 * Rounds 1–7

Losing games
Highest score in a losing game: 22 points Lowest score in a losing game: 0 points Greatest losing margin: 39 points Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 2
 * Round 20 vs New Zealand Warriors
 * Round 18 vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
 * Round 18 vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
 * Rounds 8–9
 * Rounds 15–16
 * Rounds 18–20
 * Finals weeks 1–2

NRL Under-20s
In the sixth season of the NRL's NRL Under 20s now known as the Holden Cup, Anthony Seibold replaced Dean Pay as coach, with Pay moving to the Canberra Raiders as an assistant coach to Ricky Stuart.

Melbourne again finished the regular season in 9th place on the ladder, meaning the club would not qualify for the finals for the second year in a row. A six match losing streak in the second half of the season proving costly.

Kurt Mann (Queensland), Dean Britt and Matthew Lodge (NSW) would make the Under-20 State of Origin teams for the match played in April, with Lodge later featuring in the competition's team of the year chosen at prop forward.

Statistics
Source:

Scorers
Most points in a game: 20 points
 * Round 14 – Matt McGahan (2 tries, 6 goals) vs Newcastle Knights

Most tries in a game: 4 
 * Round 13 – Denny Solomona vs Cronulla Sharks

Most points (season): 148
 * Matt McGahan (8 tries, 58 goals)

Most tries (season): 20
 * Dane Chang

Winning games
Highest score in a winning game: 36 points 
 * Round 1 vs St George Illawarra Dragons
 * Round 14 vs Newcastle Knights

Lowest score in a winning game: 24 points
 * Round 5 vs Wests Tigers
 * Round 15 vs Gold Coast Titans

Greatest winning margin: 28 points 
 * Round 14 vs Newcastle Knights

Greatest number of games won consecutively: 4
 * Round 3 – Round 6

Losing games
Highest score in a losing game: 28 points
 * Round 22 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs

Lowest score in a losing game: 6 points 
 * Round 9 vs Penrith Panthers

Greatest losing margin: 34 points
 * Round 8 vs Canberra Raiders

Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 6 
 * Round 16 – Round 22

Feeder clubs
Melbourne continued their relationships with both the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Easts Tigers to send any reserve players to play in their respective state cup competitions.

In the New South Wales Cup, Cronulla were coached by Tony Herman, and finished the regular season in first position. After losing their first final against the fourth-placed Windsor Wolves, the Sharks would regroup to win an elimination semi-final against the Newtown Jets, and qualify for the Grand Final by defeating the North Sydney Bears.

Cronulla would win their first premiership in any competition for 17 years, winning the Grand Final against the Windsor Wolves. Four Melbourne contracted players: Kirisome Auva'a, Young Tonumaipea, Siosaia Vave, and Junior Moors were all members of the premiership team.

In the Queensland Cup, Easts Tigers under new coach Craig Ingebrigtsen, finished in third position to qualify for the finals. The Tigers would qualify for their third Queensland Cup Grand Final after defeating second-placed Mackay Cutters in a qualifying final, progressing through the Grand Final after defeating minor premiers Northern Pride in a major semi final at Barlow Park in Cairns.

In the Grand Final, the Tigers took on Mackay at North Ipswich Reserve. The Tigers would score first through the Storm's Junior Sa'u and would go to half time leading 14–10 thanks to Sa'u second try just before the break. The Cutters would take the lead in the second half, until Mitch Garbutt's converted try levelled the scores with ten minutes remaining. The Cutters would retake the lead with a field goal in the 74th minute, scoring a try in the 79th minute to seal victory.

Easts Tigers halfback Cody Walker won the competition's best and fairest award ahead of joining the Storm in 2014.

Trophy Cabinet

 * 2013 World Club Challenge Trophy

Melbourne Storm Awards Night
Held at Peninsula Docklands on Friday 11 October 2013.
 * Melbourne Storm Player of the Year: Cameron Smith
 * Melbourne Storm Rookie of the Year: Tohu Harris
 * Members' Player of Year: Cameron Smith
 * Melbourne Storm Most Improved: Kenny Bromwich
 * Melbourne Storm Best Back: Cooper Cronk
 * Melbourne Storm Best Forward: Jesse Bromwich
 * Darren Bell Medal U20s Player of Year: Pride Petterson-Robati
 * Greg Brentnall Young Achiever’s Award: Brandon Manase
 * U20s Best Back: Dane Chang
 * U20s Best Forward: Christian Welch
 * Mick Moore Club Person of the Year: Ross Patison
 * Life Member Inductees: Ryan Hoffman & Tony Devers
 * Best try: Will Chambers

Dally M Awards Night
The NRL Dally M Awards were held on 1 October 2013.
 * Dally M Medal: Cooper Cronk
 * Dally M Captain of the Year: Cameron Smith
 * Dally M Representative Player of the Year: Cameron Smith
 * Dally M Hooker of the Year: Cameron Smith
 * Dally M Halfback of the Year: Cooper Cronk

RLPA Awards Night

 * RLPA Australia Representative Player of the Year: Cameron Smith
 * NRL Academic Player of the Year: Bryan Norrie

Additional Awards

 * World Club Challenge Medal: Cooper Cronk
 * QRL Ron McAuliffe Medal: Cameron Smith
 * Petero Civoniceva Medal: Cody Walker