This week in Storm History

This week in Storm history.

September 22

2009: Storm captain Cameron Smith writes an open letter to Melbourne’s sporting public, urging them to turn up and support them in their preliminary final against Brisbane, to be played a few hours after the AFL grand final.

2017: The Melbourne Storm surge into the grand final after blitzing the Broncos 30-0 at AAMI Park. After defending grimly until halftime, the Storm cut loose in the second term, turning an 8-0 lead into a 30-point whitewash.

September 23

1999: The Sydney Morning Herald reports that around 5,500 Melbourne supporters will fly to Sydney for the grand final.

2004: Melbourne fullback Billy Slater rules himself out of contention for the Tri-Nations series by reluctantly opting to have surgery on a chronic groin injury .

2006: Melbourne set the scene for the first out-of-Sydney grand final in premiership history when they overpower St George Illawarra 24-10 in the second preliminary final. The Storm’s celebrations are muted after a serious knee injury to forward Michael Crocker.

2007: The biggest crowd to watch a premiership clash in Melbourne – 33,427 – watch the Storm dispose of Parramatta 26-10 to qualify for their second successive grand final

2013: Heavyweight Manly front-rower George Rose signs a one-year deal with the Melbourne Storm.

September 24

2000: Storm second-rower Paul Marquet signs a one-year deal with Newcastle.

2008: Melbourne’s chances of defending their premiership deteriorate when Test second-rower Ryan Hoffman is ruled out for the rest of 2008 with an ankle injury.

2011: The Warriors’ giant-killing run takes them all the way to a grand final showdown with Manly when they upset minor premiers Melbourne 20-12 at AAMI Park in one of the great boilovers of finals football.

2016: Test halfback Cooper Cronk celebrates his 300th NRL game in style as Melbourne advance to the decider after downing Canberra 14-12 in a tense preliminary final at AAMI Park.

September 25

2007: Melbourne forward Michael Crocker says he is prepared to retire if it means that the Storm can retain second-rower Clint Newton.

September 26

1999: A world record crowd of 107,558 (later amended to 107,999) watch Melbourne create history with a premiership victory in only their second season of existence. The Storm come from 14-0 down at halftime to upset hot favourites St George Illawarra 20-18. A penalty try to winger Craig Smith decides the outcome. Melbourne halfback Brett Kimmorley is awarded the Clive Churchill Medal .

2008: Melbourne defy the loss of suspended captain Cameron Smith to sink Cronulla 28-0 at the Sydney Football Stadium and advance to their third successive grand final.

2009: Melbourne set up a grand final showdown with Parramatta by thumping an injury-disrupted Brisbane 40-10 at Etihad Stadium.

2015: Halfback maestro Johnathan Thurston steers North Queensland into their second grand final following a 32-12 defeat of Melbourne at AAMI Park. Thurston plays a prominent role in five of his team’s six tries.

2017: Melbourne captain Cameron Smith claims his second Dally M Medal in a landslide victory. Smith wins the title by eight votes from North Queensland halfback Michael Morgan with St George Illawarra’s English captain Gareth Widdop a point further back. Melbourne mentor Craig Bellamy is named coach of the year.

September 27

2006: Newcastle captain Andrew Johns says Melbourne prodigy Greg Inglis could become the best player ever to play the game. “He’s only 19 but already in the top two or three players in the game – that’s how highly I rate him,” Johns told the Daily Telegraph.

2016: For the second time in three years the Dally M Medal is shared by two players. Melbourne Storm halfback Cooper Cronk and North Queensland powerhouse Jason Taumalolo finish level in voting after 26 rounds of the regular season. It is Cronk’s second title and Taumalolo’s first. Gold Coast halfback Ash Taylor is named Dally M rookie of the year.

2019: The Sydney Roosters give themselves the chance to become the first team since the 1990s to win back-to-back premierships when they outlast the Melbourne Storm 14-6 in the second preliminary final at the Sydney Cricket Ground.