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.
Melbourne fell just short in the decider against Brisbane however the platform had now been built for a sustained run of success. The Storm's Queensland trio of Greg Inglis, Cameron Smith and Antonio Kaufusi were selected to make their international debuts for Australia in 2006. Post-season the Storm farewelled Nathan Friend and Jake Webster, David Kidwell and Scott Hill.

Fixtures

Regular Season

Finals

Ladder

TeamPldWDLBFAPDPts
1 Melbourne2420042605404+20144
2 Bulldogs2416082608468+14036
3 Brisbane24140102497392+10532
4 Newcastle24140102608538+7032
5 Manly24140102534493+4132
6 St George Illawarra24140102519481+3832
7 Canberra24130112525573-4830
8 Parramatta24120122506483+2328
9 North Queensland24110132450463-1326
10 New Zealand24120122552463+8924
11 Wests Tigers24100142490565-7524
12 Penrith24100142510587-7724
13 Cronulla2490152515544-2922
14 Sydney2480162528650-12220
15 South Sydney2430212429772-34310

Awards

Troohy Cabinet