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Five big questions for 2024: Melbourne Storm

Can the Storm get back to their best in 2024?

Published by
Scott Pryde

The Melbourne Storm have been a picture of consistency in the NRL for as long as Craig Bellamy has been at the helm.

Through various periods of transformation, plenty of calls that they were about to sink and a host of other issues, the last time Melbourne missed the finals for non salary cap related reasons was 2002 - also the last time Bellamy wasn't the coach of the men in purple.

So much have we come to expect of the Storm that 2024 saw the club widely regarded to be well short of their best, despite the fact they made a preliminary final.

There were certainly some big question marks throughout the course of last season, mostly around their forwards and leadership, but certainly issues in the spine weren't completely non-existent.

Some of those same questions lay in front of the Melbourne-based club heading into 2024.

Here are the five big ones.

Who plays fullback?

It goes without saying that this is the biggest question in the way of the Storm heading into the 2024 campaign.

Ryan Papenhuyzen was set to be the number one again in 2023, but a knee injury he sustained at the back-end of 2022 continually saw his return date pushed further and further into the season.

From initial reports suggesting Melbourne were confident of a Round 1 return, it quickly became a couple of months into the season, then the second half of the year.

In the end, he returned just a few weeks from the end of the year, set to play a bench role for the Storm before suffering a horrid-looking ankle injury in Round 27 that ended any chance of him featuring during the knockout stages of the competition.

In Papenhuyzen's place, Nick Meaney did a stellar job in the number one jumper for much of the year.

And yet, Meaney may well be the number three option to play at fullback heading into 2024 thanks to the likely breakout of Sua Fa'alogo.

The young gun may be limited to a bench role to start with - it's exceedingly difficult to see a fully fit Papenhuyzen not taking the number one jumper.

But don't be shocked if things show signs of changing at some point this season.

Where does Meaney fit in?

Prior to becoming Papenhuyzen's replacement throughout the 2023 campaign, Meaney had become Craig Bellamy's mr. Fix It during the start of his time in Melbourne.

Long gone are the days of Meaney being a specialist winger, which was of course the position he had held during his time at the Canterbury Bulldogs.

Instead, he turned into a genuine backline utility, able to play at the back, in the halves, or on the edges.

The bottom line is that Meaney will have a spot in this side somewhere. He has barely played a bad game since he arrived in the Victorian capital.

Given Will Warbrick and Xavier Coates had exceptional 2023 seasons though, it seems unlikely Meaney will be able to find a home on the wing.

That means it's time for another new position, with Meaney likely lining up in the centres. Melbourne have lost Justin Olam from their roster, but Reimis Smith was out of favour at the back-end of 2023, while Young Tonumaipea, Grant Anderson and Marion Seve are the other options.

It would be of great surprise to see two of those players ahead of Meaney for a spot in the 17, with Smith and Tonumaipea the likely duo fighting to join him in Bellamy's side.

Have the Storm got enough depth in the forwards?

This is a question that lingered over the Storm throughout most of the 2023 season, and was ultimately why they ended up struggling in the finals series.

Their forward pack simply didn't match the quality of other top teams, although is still leaps and bounds ahead of teams at the wrong end of the table.

That hardly came as a surprise after the Storm lost Jesse Bromwich, Kenneath Bromwich, Felise Kaufusi and Brandon Smith at the same time ahead of the 2023 season.

That is an enormous amount of experience to head out the exit gate at the same time, although the club wouldn't change their decision for a moment. Melbourne have staunchly refused to overpay for forwards throughout their existence, and it's something that has made them a success.

What they didn't have in 2023 though was the experience and depth to run with other sides, despite the quality of Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Tui Kamikamica and Christian Welch, who didn't have his best season.

There was also the small issue of rocks and diamonds on the edges from Trent Loiero and Eliesa Katoa.

Shawn Blore is an excellent pick up in that department, while Jack Howarth and Joe Chan will also be snapping for first-grade minutes this year.

The middle third has the same issue as last year, but as younger players in the squad continue to develop, it should become less of a problem for the Victorian-based outfit.

Can Munster and Hughes get back to their best?

Related, although indirectly, to the last point, is the fact the Melbourne halves - both on enormous money - didn't have their best seasons, particularly when the whips were cracking in September.

Hughes in particular struggled for control in the number seven jumper, with his kicking game appearing rushed at times.

Munster, on the other hand, still had plenty of flashes of brilliance, but the longer the season went on, the less consistent they became, until he and Hughes were all but reduced to passenger roles during their two heavy finals defeats, first at the hands of the Broncos, and then the Panthers on preliminary final weekend.

Their performances are very much linked to that of the forwards though. As the old saying goes, if the forwards aren't competitive, the halves may as well stay in the dressing room.

It wasn't that bad for the Storm, but it certainly wasn't ideal. However, Hughes and Munster have had the ability to drag their teams onto the front foot over the years even if the forwards weren't dominating.

That smooth and silky touch simply wasn't evident at the back-end of 2023, and they will need to quickly rediscover it if the club are going to be competitive at the pointy end of 2024.

Is Harry Grant the right captaincy option?

The Storm made the surprise announcement recently that Harry Grant would take over sole captaincy of the team.

That comes with Christian Welch removed from a six-man leadership group entirely after he was a stand-alone captain in 2023, supported by three vice-captains, a group which Grant was involved in.

For 2024, Grant will be backed up by Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster as vice-captains, while Ryan Papenhuyzen, Tui Kamikamica and Josh King are also in the leadership group.

On the surface, Grant, who is 25 years of age and less experienced than all of his fellow leadership group members, is an intriguing decision to captain the side.

I'm not going to suggest I know more about rugby league than Craig Bellamy, but it's still a decision which comes across as a play in setting the Storm up for the future, likely without Bellamy in charge from the start of 2025 as retires from clipboard duties.

Grant has just 78 games under his belt, but is Queensland's walk-up starting hooker, and played 25 games last year. He was arguably the Storm's best, and needs to be again in 2024 if Melbourne are to improve. Whether he can do that with the added responsibility of sole captaincy remains to be seen.

Published by
Scott Pryde