Market2006 Melbourne Storm season
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2006 Melbourne Storm season

The 2006 Melbourne Storm season was the 9th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership, winning a record 20 out of 24 regular season games to finish in first place and win the minor premiership, eight points clear of the second-placed Bulldogs. The team backed up their stellar defensive effort the previous year to concede just 404 points in 2006. The retirement of Robbie Kearns saw a rotating captaincy introduced between David Kidwell, Scott Hill, Cameron Smith, Matt Geyer and Michael Crocker. Cooper Cronk also assumed the halfback duties following the departure of Matt Orford. Storm won 13 of their last 14 games of the season to take a great run of form into the finals where they progressed to reach their first Grand Final since 1999 after wins over the Eels and Dragons. This broke a run of three straight semi-final exits for Craig Bellamy’s team.

Season summary
• 7 February – Following the retirement of previous captain Robbie Kearns, the club elected six players to rotate the on-field captaincy. Michael Crocker, Matt Geyer, Scott Hill, David Kidwell, Dennis Scott, and Cameron Smith, were chosen for the honour after coach Craig Bellamy consulted with Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos who used a similar set up. • Round 1 – Melbourne retain the Michael Moore Trophy win a 22-16 win over New Zealand Warriors. Greg Inglis provides the spark for the Storm with an early try. • Round 2 – Up 22-0 soon after half time, Melbourne deny a second half comeback from Sydney Roosters to hold on to a 22-18 victory. • Round 9 – A dangerous tackle by Michael Crocker on Shane Rigon sees the Melbourne forward suspended for nine matches, including the 2006 State of Origin series. Melbourne are later hit with a $15,000 fine by the NRL for comments made by CEO Brian Waldron, coach Craig Bellamy and Crocker after the judiciary decision. • Round 22 – Jake Webster equals the individual club record for tries in a game, scoring four tries in Melbourne's 46-4 thumping of Wests Tigers. • Round 23 – A crowd of over 40,000 (the biggest attendance at a Melbourne fixture since the 1999 NRL Grand Final) witness a high-quality contest between the Storm and Broncos, with Melbourne fighting back from a 10-0 halftime deficit to win 18-12 at Suncorp Stadium. The victory is Melbourne's 11th in-a-row, a new club record. Michael Crocker is again sent to the NRL Judiciary for a dangerous tackle, and is suspended for two matches. • 15 August – Despite agreeing to a three-year contract for an impending move to the Gold Coast, Steve Turner claims he had changed his mind and re-signs with Melbourne on a similar deal. Gold Coast management threaten to enforce the contract with Turner and force him to sit out of the game if he does not comply with his original deal. • Round 24 – Melbourne's winning streak is ended at 11 by the New Zealand Warriors in a shock 24-20 defeat at Olympic Park. Two tries to Brent Webb, including a controversial late try, was the difference as the Warriors took home the Michael Moore Trophy, their first win at Olympic Park since 2002. • 20 August – Foundation Storm player Scott Hill announces he will be leaving the club at the end of the 2006 season, taking up an offer to play in the Super League with Harlequins. • 5 September – Cameron Smith is awarded the Dally M Medal, winning the medal by four points. Smith is the first Melbourne player to win the game's official best and fairest award. Craig Bellamy is named coach of the year. • 14 September – The Australian reports that the Australian Rugby Union have targeted Greg Inglis as their next high-profile rugby league recruit. • 17 September – Steve Turner reveals he is prepared to take legal action against Gold Coast Titans in order to remain with Melbourne Storm in 2007. • Round 26 – Melbourne is presented with the J. J. Giltinan Shield as NRL minor premiers for the first time. Melbourne's 20 wins see them eight points clear on top of the NRL ladder. • Qualifying Final – Melbourne ride their luck in the second half of their qualifying final against Parramatta Eels, taking a tight 12-6 victory. After leading 12-0 at half time, a 'no try' ruling against Glenn Morrison 11 minutes into the second half sparked a Parramatta comeback, with Melbourne having to hold off the eighth-placed Eels in a tense finish. • Preliminary Final – Melbourne advance to the 2006 NRL Grand Final with a 24-10 win over St George Illawarra Dragons at Telstra Stadium. The win comes at a cost with Michael Crocker sustaining a serious knee injury. • Grand Final – In the first Grand Final to feature two teams from outside New South Wales, Brisbane thwart Melbourne's bid for a second NRL premiership in a grinding 15-8 win, featuring a number of controversial calls by referee Paul Simpkins and video referee Bill Harrigan. A brilliant run and pass from Scott Hill set up Steve Turner for the first try of the game, with Hill also providing the last pass for Melbourne's second try through Matt King to level the scores at 8-8. • 2 October – Television ratings figures for the Grand Final indicate that more people watched the game in Melbourne than they did in Sydney. Official figures indicate that the average audience in Melbourne was 903,000. • 4 October – Matt King is slapped with a $5,000 fine by the NRL for calling Paul Simpkins a "dickhead" at a club fan day after the Grand Final. • 20 November – The contractual saga involving Steve Turner reaches a climax as Gold Coast Titans CEO Michael Searle saying that they are willing to offer Turner a release after one season if he is unhappy with the new club. Milestone games Jerseys Continuing with apparel manufacturer Reebok, the designs of Melbourne's home and clash jerseys were unchanged from 2005. Corporate partner Medibank Private upgraded their sponsorship to be the chest advertiser, while Mortgage House replaced them as jersey sleeve advertiser. Hostplus was a new advertiser on the rear of the jerseys, with their logo appearing above and below the player's numbers for the first time. ==Fixtures==
Fixtures
Pre Season Regular season Result by round Matches Source: • - Golden Point extra time • (pen) - Penalty try Finals ---- ---- ==Ladder==
2006 Coaching Staff
• Head Coach: Craig Bellamy • Assistant Coaches: Michael Maguire & Stephen Kearney • Development Coach: Marc Brentnall • Strength and Conditioning Coach: Alex Corvo • Football Manager: Dean Lance ==2006 Squad==
2006 Squad
List current as of 28 September 2021 ==Player movements==
Player movements
Representative honours
This table lists all players who have played a representative match in 2006. ==Statistics==
Statistics
This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 2006 NRL season. • Statistics sources: Scorers Most points in a game: 18 points • Round 9 – Cameron Smith (1 try, 7 goals) vs South Sydney Most tries in a game: 4 • Round 22 – Jake Webster vs Wests Tigers Winning games Highest score in a winning game: 52 points • Round 7 vs Newcastle Knights Lowest score in a winning game: 10 points • Round 18 vs Brisbane Broncos Greatest winning margin: 46 points • Round 7 vs Newcastle Knights Greatest number of games won consecutively: 11 • Round 12 – Round 23 Losing games Highest score in a losing game: 28 points • Round 4 vs Wests Tigers Lowest score in a losing game: 8 points • Round 3 vs North Queensland Cowboys • Grand Final vs Brisbane Broncos Greatest losing margin: 32 points • Round 3 vs North Queensland Cowboys Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 2 • Round 3 – Round 4 ==Feeder Teams==
Feeder Teams
For a second season, Melbourne split their reserve players between two feeder clubs. The agreement with Norths Devils continued for a ninth season, with players who were dual-registered in Queensland travelling to Brisbane each week to play with the Devils in the Queensland Cup. Some players travelled to Sydney to play with foundation New South Wales Rugby League club North Sydney Bears in the NSWRL Premier League. The 2006 season would be the final season of this arrangement, with Melbourne ending the affiliation with North Sydney after the season. The Devils missed the Queensland Cup finals for the first time since 2003, while the Bears coached by Josh White, finished 12th and missed the finals. Both teams featured a rare appearance by Billy Slater following his return from a second suspension during the NRL season. ==Awards and honours==
Awards and honours
Trophy Cabinet2006 J. J. Giltinan Shield Melbourne Storm Awards Night • Melbourne Storm Player of the Year: Cameron Smith • Best Forward: Ryan Hoffman • Best Back: Greg Inglis • Most Improved: Cooper Cronk • Rookie of the Year: Adam BlairGreg Brentnall Young Achievers Award: Russell Weber • Mick Moore Club Person of the Year: Jonce Dimovski • Best Try: Jake Webster – Round 16 vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs • Life Member Inductees: Chris Anderson, John Ribot & Scott Hill ===Dally M Awards Night=== • Dally M Medal: Cameron Smith • Dally M Hooker of the Year: Cameron Smith • Dally M Halfback of the Year: Cooper Cronk • Dally M Coach of the Year: Craig Bellamy RLPA Awards Night • RLPA New Zealand Representative Player of the Year: David Kidwell • RLPA Best Back Player of the Year: Greg Inglis • NRL Academic Player of the Year: Matt Geyer • RLPA Wellbeing and Education Club of the Year ===RLIF Awards=== • RLIF International Newcomer of the Year: Greg Inglis Additional AwardsRugby League World World XIII: Matt King (wing); Greg Inglis (wing); Cameron Smith (hooker) ==Notes==
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