Melbourne entered 2015 with a new coach and on a three year finals drought. 2011 was the last year the Storm made the top eight and halfway through 2015 they had themselves in a nice position to play finals football once again. Under new boss Marc Brentnall, Melbourne started their first ten rounds with six victories. The four game stretch between their two byes dented their finals hopes, as they lost five games on the trot. Defensively poor throughout the season, Melbourne gave away score lines of 46, 48, 50, 54 and a whopping 74 in 68-point loss to Brisbane in Round 15. Star players in 2014, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Suliasi Vunivalu spent the season in the higher grades, while the side’s captain Joe Stimson also spent time in the Intrust Super Cup
The Victorian outfit would go onto win four of their final nine games. They picked up an impressive win over the Warriors in Auckland (their second win over the club in 2015) and ended their year positively with a big win over Brisbane in Round 26. A 9th place finish and plenty of talent to work with, Brentnall and the Storm under-20s will be based out of the Sunshine Coast in 2016.
Standout Players
Latrell Robinson had bright season for the Storm in 2015. The fullback/winger had 114 tackle breaks and averaged 130 metres per game. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad made the record books when he scored five tries against Brisbane in Round 26 and had 14 turnover tackles in 2015. Junior Kiwi representative Tony Tumusa finished second in the competition for linebreaks with 28.
Top Pointscorer
A half or hooker, Mack Mason finished his first NYC campaign with 48 goals and a field goal for 97 points. A junior of the Mitchell Magpies in Queensland, he kicked six goals in a game on two occasions in 2015.
Top Tryscorer
Noted as one of the Storm’s standout players, Tony Tumusa topped the clubs tryscoring charts in 2015 with 20 from 19 games. The hard running winger re-signed with Melbourne this season.
Best Win
Round 26 – defeated Brisbane 48-12.
Melbourne saved their best for last ended the season with a massive win over the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, running in 10 tries to two. Five of those came from five-eighth Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who ran for 190 metres and broke 19 tackles in an outstanding performance.
Graduates
Nelson Asofa-Solomona (2014-2015 – 21 games, 13 tries, 52 points)
One of the biggest players in the league, Asofa-Solomona transitioned seamlessly into the NRL. The Junior Kiwi made his debut in Round 8 and has played 11 games and counting in 2015.
Richard Kennar (2012-2014 – 40 games, 18 tries, 72 points)
Samoan-born but a local Victorian junior, in 2011 Kennar became the first Victorian to represent the Australian Schoolboys. Made his NRL debut for Melbourne in Round 15.
Player to Watch in 2016
Standing at 192cm, second rower Brendan Frei isn’t exactly hard to miss. The Albany Creek Crushers junior enjoyed a solid debut NYC season, in which he played 22 games, averaging 100 metres and 29 tackles per match. Brendan is the younger brother of former Brisbane NYC player and Roosters-bound Mitchell Frei.
Representative Honours
Nelson Asofa-Solomona – Junior Kiwis
Joe Stimson – New South Wales under-20s
Tony Tumusa – Junior Kiwis (1 try, 4 points)
18TH MAN 