This week in Storm history | July 29 - August 3

Author: melbournestorm.com.au
Timestamp: Tue 28 Jul 2020, 12:27 PM

July 29

1997: Rugby League Week reports that the Perth Reds have sacked 20 senior players, fuelling speculation that the club is to be swallowed up by the new Melbourne franchise

2008: Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk provides the Storm and the NRL with a major vote of confidence by re-signing with the premiers for a further five seasons. Storm officials reveal they will open contract talks with five-eighth Greg Inglis despite already having him under contract until 2010.

2009: Melbourne five-eighth Brett Finch signs a modest one-year deal to stay with the club in 2010.

July 30

2014: Rookie Melbourne five-eighth Ben Hampton re-signs with the Storm for a further two seasons.

2016: North Queensland suffer their first loss for the season at 1300SMILES Stadium when they go down 16-8 to Melbourne.

2017: Melbourne captain Cameron Smith celebrates his 350-game milestone with a starring role in the Storm’s 40-6 defeat of Manly at AAMI Park. Smith becomes only the third player to play 350 games after Darren Lockyer (355) and Terry Lamb (350).

July 31

2009: St George Illawarra confirm their premiership favouritism with a 26-12 defeat of Melbourne at WIN Jubilee Stadium in one of the season’s highest quality matches.

2015: Last-placed Wests Tigers cause one of the boilover results of the season when they down the Melbourne Storm 34-16 at Leichhardt Oval.

August 1

1995: Brisbane Broncos chairman Paul Morgan confirms he is considering a 1997 Super League franchise in Melbourne in a joint venture with the Canberra Raiders and the Essendon AFL club

2002: Brisbane sign Melbourne hooker Richard Swain for one year.

2004: The former chief executive of the Brisbane Lions, Andrew Ireland, tells the Sunday Telegraph he is baffled by the NRL’s reluctance to grant concessions to the Melbourne Storm. He says the Lions would never have won the AFL premiership without the assistance of the game’s head body.

2006: Queensland State of Origin winger Chris Walker is released by the Melbourne Storm for “personal reasons”.

August 2

2019: The Storm continue their dominant record over the Broncos with a 40-4 lashing at Suncorp Stadium. It is Melbourne’s 17th win from their past 19 encounters with the Broncos. Storm prop Cameron Welch suffers a season-ending ACL injury.