Following their most significant player turnover in recent seasons, many have predicted Melbourne’s remarkable run near the top of the ladder may finally be coming to an end.
However, the Storm have made a habit of defying expectations and after intensifying their pre-season preparations with their annual camp to Geelong Grammar School, Storm General Manager Football Frank Ponissi said the club were focused on garnering further success.
While acknowledging the heartbreak of losing back-to-back grand finals and the loss of Ryan Papenhuyzen, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Grant Anderson and Eliesa Katoa, Ponissi said the injection of new blood had brought renewed fire.
“You can't just wash away losing two grand finals, especially losing the one as we did last year,” Ponissi said.
“But the thing that really changes it are the new players that come in from other clubs, and the young players that have come up from our pathways into our full-time program.
“They've just brought a level of energy and enthusiasm that's just been infectious to the rest of the group … Craig [Bellamy] and the coaches are really happy with the way training has been going, especially the efforts.
“We've still got a bit of work execution-wise, but the effort levels have been outstanding.
“It's been a really good pre-season. There's a good buzz in the group.
“There's an understanding we've lost a number of players, it's been well documented. But we're realists to know that over the last three years, since our last big turnover when we lost those players to the Dolphins and elsewhere at the end of ‘22, we've been stable the last three pre-seasons. In modern-day NRL, that's unusual to have that stability.
“So, the squad's going to evolve and this is the year. But that's no excuse to drop our standards or drop our expectations. They still remain high.
“Like all the other 16 clubs, we want to be there that first Sunday in October, but we know there's an enormous amount of work to do that.
“If you start looking too far ahead, that first Sunday in October is a long, long way away.
“Our only focus is Thursday, March 5, and being at our best, giving that a real shake, and then we'll take it from there.
Match: Storm v Eels
Round 1 -
home Team
Storm
away Team
Eels
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
“But the players have come back in a great mindset.”
Beyond the rebuilding of their NRL squad, Ponissi said the club had celebrated their broader success, with strong growth in their grassroots and development seeing a new pathway system in place from 2026.
This year, the Storm will field their own team in the NSW Cup after announcing last season they were ending their affiliation agreements with Brisbane Tigers and Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Queensland Cup and NSW’s North Sydney Bears.
The Storm Cup team will help launch the NRL season for the club, playing in their Round 1 curtain-raiser against the Eels at AAMI Park on March 5.
“It was a really difficult decision to break away … (but) we certainly left on great terms, and whilst disappointed, (the clubs) understood why we needed to make the changes we did," Ponissi said.
“The reason purely is because we've grown the pathways from 17s, 19s, 21s ... so we decided to have our own New South Wales Cup side. It's a complete pathway all the way from 17 up to NRL in purple jersey.”
Your club's top try-scorer: Storm
As part of the pre-season, all pathways players joined the camp in Geelong, including their female junior rep players and their Under 21 Jersey Flegg squad, who took out the title last year.
“We had 162 players all up wear the purple shirt during the week,” Ponissi said.
“Away from team environments, there’s an opportunity for the players to spend a lot of time connecting as a group and this year was our second year bringing all our pathway teams in during the week.”
With the Witzer Pre-Season Challenge matches only a few weeks away, there is plenty of interest in who will step up to make the most of their opportunities in the NRL this season.
“Everyone talks about the players we've lost, but we've still got some tremendous players here, and we've got some exciting young players coming through," Ponissi said.
“Whilst probably our depth is not going to be as strong as it has been the last two years … when we're all fit, in terms of our best 17, is going to be still pretty strong.
"There's no doubt Sua Faalogo has had a terrific pre-season, training in the number one shirt, he's been really strong in that position.
“Valu (Ativalu) Lisati, who's a player that – obviously with the injury to Eli – he's been training on an edge and he's been very impressive. He's had a terrific pre-season.
“Probably the other one to mention is Joe Chan, who had a really good pre-season again.
“With Valu, those two have been running on the edge. Along with Sua, they are players that had a bit of enthusiasm and energy.
“Given that they were here last year and they've been here for a couple of years, they see a genuine opportunity being in the run on side from Round 1.
“Like all clubs, we're going to have to manage our players during the season, knowing that the length of the season and the demands of the season.
“The second one is we'll need a bit of luck with injuries, we're no different than the other 16 NRL clubs.
“If we can manage our players well and if we get some good luck with injuries ... we still think we're going to have quite a strong team that's going to be more than competitive this year.”
