The 2009 Melbourne Storm season was the 12th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 4th out of 16 teams. They then progressed to their fourth consecutive grand final, this time to be played against the Parramatta Eels and won, claiming their second premiership in three seasons, a title later stripped in 2010 after being found guilty of salary cap breaches. A slow start to the season saw Melbourne win just three of their first seven games. However the team rallied, losing just one of their next seven to move into fourth position by Round 14, where they would remain for the rest of the season. The finals series was when Melbourne really hit their straps, winning their first two finals by 28 and 30 points respectively. In the Grand Final, Storm defeated Parramatta 23–16 with Billy Slater named the Clive Churchill Medalist. Melbourne played all their regular season home games at Olympic Park, the final season playing at the venue before moving to the new Melbourne Rectangular Stadium the following season.

Season summary

Milestone games

Jerseys

New apparel supplier KooGa kept the same home and clash jersey design as worn in 2008. ME Bank replaced Medibank as the main jersey advertiser, with all other advertisers continuing their sponsorships from 2008. In Round 10 against Canberra, Melbourne wore a heritage jersey based on the design of the 2001-02 clash jersey, featuring purple with silver thunderbolts. This would be the first time the club had worn an away or clash jersey at Olympic Park.

Fixtures

Pre season

Regular season

Result by round

Matches

Source:

Finals

Ladder

2009 Coaching Staff

2009 squad

List current as of 3 May 2022

2009 NRL Grand Final Winning Team

Player movements

Losses Gains

Representative honours

This table lists all players who have played a representative match in 2009.

Statistics

This table contains playing statistics for all Melbourne Storm players to have played in the 2009 NRL season.

Scorers

Most points in a game: 24 points Most tries in a game: 4

Winning games

Highest score in a winning game: 48 points Lowest score in a winning game: 14 points Greatest winning margin: 42 points Greatest number of games won consecutively: 5

Losing games

Highest score in a losing game: 16 points Lowest score in a losing game: 6 points Greatest losing margin: 16 points Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 2

NRL Under 20s

In the second season of the NRL's National Youth Championship, Melbourne were again coached by Brad Arthur finishing the regular season in third place on the ladder to qualify for the finals.

Ladder

Finals

2009 NRL Under 20s Premiership Team

Statistics

Source:

Scorers

Most points in a game: 20 points Most tries in a game: 5 Most points (season): 294 Most tries (season): 25

Winning games

Highest score in a winning game: 54 points Lowest score in a winning game: 16 points Greatest winning margin: 36 points Greatest number of games won consecutively: 8

Losing games

Highest score in a losing game: 34 points Lowest score in a losing game: 16 points Greatest losing margin: 12 points Greatest number of games lost consecutively: 2

S. G. Ball Cup

For the first time in club history, Melbourne entered a junior representative team in the New South Wales Rugby League under-18s competition S. G. Ball Cup. Coached by club high performance manager Kim Williams, the team finished the regular season in fourth place, winning six of their nine matches. During the finals, the team stunned more fancied rivals, defeating Illawarra 50–10, Newcastle 22–16, and Manly 28–14 to progress to the competition's Grand Final against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Feeder Team

For a second successive season, Melbourne sent their back-up players to play with Central Coast Storm, coached by former Storm player Jamie Feeney. Central Coast made the finals, finishing in 2nd position (out of 11 teams), behind eventual premiers Bankstown City Bulls. Central Coast were eliminated from the NSW Cup finals after successive defeats against Western Suburbs and Balmain Ryde-Eastwood.

Awards

Trophy Cabinet

Melbourne Storm Awards Night

Dally M Awards Night

Rugby League World Golden Boot Awarda Night

RLPA Awards Night

RLIF Awards

Additional Awards