The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

The column you were never meant to read: What if Melbourne won?

1st October, 2018
Advertisement
Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
Expert
1st October, 2018
6
4302 Reads

From the editors: On Sunday night, we asked AJ Mithen to prepare two columns – one for if the Sydney Roosters won the grand final, and one for the Melbourne Storm.

History will show that it was the Roosters who got the job done, and we printed AJ’s piece ‘Five years on, the Roosters finally meet their expectations’ accordingly.

But what if things had gone the other way? We figure there’s no reason to waste AJ’s good work, and so today we’re priting the column from an alternate reality. What if the Melbourne Storm had won? This is what you would have read.

Melbourne Storm, the southern outpost that became an empire
Melbourne are premiers once more, the first back-to-back champions of the NRL era.

Tonight was the Storm’s third straight decider and but for a pass not thrown at the death in 2016, they might have won all three. In 21 seasons they’ve played in nine grand finals. Just let that sink in.

They’re a machine with an insatiable appetite for winning, and for enjoying winning. A club that accepts nothing less than excellence and more importantly, makes the people within it excellent.

The ethos built and lived by coach Craig Bellamy, CEO Dave Donaghy, Football Director Frank Ponissi and COO Danielle Smith is ingrained in the fibre of their Olympic park base and absorbed by everyone involved in the operation.

Bellamy and Ponissi in particular are key to Melbourne staying on their feet after the 2010 punishments from the NRL for rorting the salary cap.

Advertisement

The scale of those punishments was unprecedented (and very much deserved) but their ability to bring the club together and keep things on track while maintaining their high standards has to be acknowledged.

Under Craig Bellamy the Storm are methodical, precise, prepared, and never rattled. It’s incredibly frustrating watching your team succumb to Melbourne.

Whatever happens on the field, Melbourne have trained for it and are ready. They control games with the ball in hand and their defensive setup makes opponents run the ball exactly where the Storm want them to run it.

It’s the attention to detail and ability to execute that makes them the best team we’ve seen in decades.

When an opportunity presents itself, however small, the Storm unleash some of the best attacking football you’ll see, capable of scoring from any part of the field at any moment.

Their premiership season of 2017 had some of the most breathtaking tries you’ll see scored in rugby league.

This year has been different, with halves combinations learning how to work together and a forward pack which has had more injury niggles than usual. More than before, people thought Melbourne were gettable.

Advertisement

But they kept winning. And winning. And winning.

Cameron Smith’s decision to step away from representative football is probably the best thing to happen to Melbourne this year.

Cameron Smith

(Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

He’s been teaching on the job, leading by example and showing his younger teammates what life in a purple jersey is all about.

This premiership has his fingerprints all over it. Whatever he decides to do now, his legacy and impact for Melbourne is enshrined for generations to come.

Perhaps the most notable thing about Melbourne’s incredible record is that it’s all on the back of their own player development. They don’t waste a roster spot and their squad management is second to none.

Cooper Cronk leaves? Brodie Croft and Jahrome Hughes know what’s expected of them. Billy Slater is done? Keep an eye out for a kid named Scott Drinkwater. There’s plenty more coming down the Bellamy assembly line.

Advertisement

It’s not just on the field where the Storm leave nothing to chance. Look at how Melbourne handled Billy Slater’s judiciary case this week. A private jet, the best lawyer available, a well drilled and argued case which carried the decision in the end.

Bellamy’s ability to turn middle of the road journeymen and castoffs from other teams into the best team we’ve seen is legendary.

One of the worst things opposition fans want is to see that a player cut by their team has been signed with the Storm because you just know they’re going to unlock things in that player that your mob couldn’t (see Marika Koroibete, Josh Addo-Carr, and others).

When you leave the Storm, you’re many times a better player than you were when you signed with them. That’s possibly even a better indicator of a club’s success than premierships – but premierships are nice too.

The club’s a winning attitude now also stretches beyond rugby league. Their sister club the Sunshine Coast Lightning are currently back-to-back champions of the Super Netball championship, the best competition in the world.

The Storm’s 25,105 members is the fourth highest number in the NRL. They average around 18,000 people per home game at AAMI Park, one of the best stadiums for rugby league.

Their corporate networks and partnerships are huge and deeply rooted in Melbourne and Victoria and these are only going to get stronger.

Advertisement

If you thought the Storm were going away soon, they’re already working to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Not bad for a club that was supposed to be a charity case post Super-League wars.

close