Season Summary
- Pre season – Melbourne officials request to play most of their games at 3pm on Saturday afternoons, with matches broadcast by Nine Melbourne.
- 16 February – Melbourne win a scrappy preseason trial match against Wests Tigers 30–18 at Gladstone, with triallist Alf Duncan scoring two tries.[5]
- 13 March – Melbourne is fined $90,000 for a breach of the 2001 NRL salary cap, with club officials vowing to fight the penalty.[6]
- Round 1 – Storm defeat Canberra Raiders 16-12 in their return to Olympic Park, a disallowed try for obstruction causing consternation for Raiders' coach Matt Elliott.
- Round 3 – Without regular halfback Matt Orford, Melbourne thrash North Queensland Cowboys 38-10 with Scott Hill dangerous in attack to ease the pressure on debutant Marty Turner.
- Round 4 – Melbourne stage a dramatic comeback to end Parramatta Eels 14-game undefeated run at Parramatta Stadium. Storm fight back from a 30-10 half time deficit to win 32-30. The winning try was scored almost on full time as Danny Williams offloaded to Marcus Bai for the winger to score in the corner.
- 9 April – Michael Russo and Marty Turner are involved in a serious car accident near Geelong, returning from a surfing trip. Turner suffers fractured ribs, a ruptured spleen, severe concussion, and cuts and bruises. Russo escapes with an injured elbow and is able to return to play in Round 6.[7][8]
- Round 6 – Michael Russo scores a late try to seal a 12-4 win over St George Illawarra Dragons only days after the car accident involving him and Marty Turner. Melbourne were forced to overcome more injuries with third-string halfback Cameron Smith injured during the game.[6]
- Round 7 – New Zealand Warriors claim the Michael Moore Trophy for the first time, beating Melbourne 20-10.
- 9 May – The NRL board confirms Melbourne's salary cap fine of $90,000 will stand.[6]
- Round 10 – Trailing 20-22 with seconds remaining, referee Paul Simpkins awards a penalty against Parramatta Eels for stripping the ball from Willie Leyshon, but Matt Orford missed a late penalty goal, costing Melbourne a point.
- 24 May – Storm CEO Chris Johns admits spreading rumours that the club will relocate to Brisbane in order to extract further funding from the Victorian Government.[6]
- Round 11 – Melbourne slump to a fifth straight defeat, the worst consecutive streak in club history.
- 31 May – Head coach Mark Murray makes the decision to dump captain Robbie Kearns, replacing him with Rodney Howe. Senior Melbourne players condemn the decision with Scott Hill suggesting that "senior players should have been consulted." Kearns later calls out the club for disloyalty at the decision to strip him of the captaincy.[6]
- Round 13 – With new captain Rodney Howe carried off with severe concussion in the first 10 minutes, Melbourne fall to their sixth straight defeat. Coach Mark Murray at odds with referee Mark Oaten's 15-6 penalty count and a number of crucial decisions during the game.[6]
- Round 14 – Prop forward Shane Walker is sent off for a high swinging arm tackle that knocks out St George Illawarra prop forward Jason Ryles. Melbourne gain their first competition point since April, holding out for a 30-all draw.
- 16 June – Reports emerge that Melbourne are having difficulty in retaining hooker Richard Swain.[6]
- Round 15 – Melbourne win their first game in two months, thrashing South Sydney Rabbitohs 44-6 in the first match between the teams since 1999.
- 30 June – Negotiations break down between Melbourne and Richard Swain, with the hooker now free to entertain offers from rival clubs.
- 23 July – Melbourne announce that Richard Swain will not be at the club in 2003 after withdrawing any contract offer. Storm announce the signing of Brisbane Broncos rookie Robert Tanielu for 2003, and re-signings of Junior Langi, Kirk Reynoldson, and Cameron Smith.
- 24 July – St Gregory's College schoolboys football star Ryan Hoffman signs with the Storm for two years.
- 25 July – Canberra Raiders confirm they have signed Storm forward Matt Rua for 2003.
- Round 20 – Due to a jersey clash, Melbourne wear their 1999-2000 gold clash jersey against Penrith Panthers, but are issued with a $3,000 breach notice as the jerseys were missing the Telstra Premiership logos.
- 1 August – Brisbane Broncos sign Richard Swain to a one-year contract for 2003.
- Round 26 – Needing a win to sneak into the NRL finals, Melbourne fall short against Canberra Raiders for the second consecutive year in the final round of the season.
- 11 September – Mark Murray is sacked as Melbourne coach after missing the finals for the second consecutive season.
- 12 September – Five-eighth Scott Hill claims former coach Mark Murray treated players like school children.[6]
- 18 September – Brisbane Broncos performance director Craig Bellamy is appointed new head coach of Melbourne, signing a two-year contract.
- 4 October – Chris Johns resigns as Melbourne Storm CEO to return to Queensland, leaving the club after more than five years in Melbourne.
Milestone games
| Round | Player | Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Ian Sibbit | Storm debut |
| Round 1 | Shane Walker | Storm debut |
| Round 1 | Mitchell Sargent | NRL debut |
| Round 1 | William Leyshon | Storm debut |
| Round 2 | Robbie Kearns | 200th game |
| Round 2 | Michael Russo | NRL debut |
| Round 3 | Danny Williams | 150th game |
| Round 3 | Marty Turner | NRL debut |
| Round 4 | Matt Geyer | 100th game |
| Round 5 | Cameron Smith | NRL debut |
| Round 7 | Kirk Reynoldson | NRL debut |
| Round 8 | Stephen Kearney | 200th game |
| Round 11 | Keith Mason | Storm debut |
| Round 13 | Aaron Moule | 100th game |
| Round 25 | Matt Rua | 100th game |
Jerseys
Melbourne's jerseys were again manufactured by Fila and unchanged from the designs worn in 2001. The player names on the backs of jerseys were dropped in favour of front of jersey advertiser Adecco. The quirk of the season came in both round 7 against the New Zealand Warriors and round 20 against Penrith Panthers as due to a jersey clashes, Melbourne wore the 1999-2000 gold jersey. However, the club was subsequently issued with a $3,000 breach notice after the match against Penrith, as the jerseys were missing the Telstra Premiership logos.
