Former NRL star Brett Kimmorley believes the current crisis facing Melbourne will prove greater than the infamous salary cap scandal that rocked the Storm more than a decade ago.
The Victorian club has been the powerhouse of the competition for a long time, winning three premierships since 2011 and finishing in the top two teams after the regular season for the last six consecutive years, including four minor premierships.
There’s been many times when experts and punters have been prepared to write them off.
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First the Storm lost Greg Inglis and people said they wouldn’t be as successful. Then went Cooper Cronk, then Billy Slater, then Cameron Smith. But the team kept on winning under coach Craig Bellamy. This year – the first since Smith’s retirement – they won a record 19 consecutive games.
Melbourne have missed the finals only once in the last 19 seasons. That was in 2010, when the club was stripped of all competition points as punishment for cheating the NRL salary cap. Two years later they bounced back to win another grand final.
Now, though, Kimmorley believes their reign could be coming to an end.
Since being bundled out of the finals by Penrith in September, Melbourne have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The day after that semi final, three Storm players were filmed in a room where there was a white substance on a table. Brandon Smith, Cameron Munster, and Chris Lewis were all forced to address the public through a club video, but were adamant they didn’t know what the white substance was.
Last week Tui Kamikamica was stood down by the Storm after being charged with assault following an alleged incident with a woman outside a Queensland bar.
Then, earlier this week, Smith went on a podcast and revealed he wants to win a premiership with the Roosters, and also spilled the beans on a heavy drinking culture at Melbourne.
The club later issued a statement condemning Smith for those comments. They also announced Smith will leave the club once his contract finishes next year.
Kimmorley – who played 79 games for the Storm – can see the wheels falling off.
“There’s going to be a distraction somewhere,” Kimmorley told SEN radio.
“If they go through a bit of a form slump or if they aren’t as good in the past… I think this is the biggest challenge in the history of the club.
“Nicho Hynes, Josh Addo-Carr and Dale Finucane have all left the Melbourne Storm and that depth or array of talent has sort of been taken away from Craig Bellamy.
“He does a great job to replace it, but I think next year is the biggest challenge for the Melbourne Storm under Craig Bellamy.
“I think if they don’t play well or if there’s a bit of a form slump, it’ll cause issues.
“The questions will be, ‘is it because of Brandon Smith? Is it because of the culture? Is it because they’re going to have players leave next year? Is it because their heart and souls aren’t in the Melbourne Storm anymore?’
“I think it will cause, or it will have the potential to cause, distractions that you can’t have in football clubs.”