Season Summary
- 22 February – The Supreme Court of New South Wales finds Melbourne and former players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai responsible for the spear tackle that ended the career of Jarrod McCracken in the 2000 NRL season.[2][3]
- Round 1 – Melbourne open their 2005 season at home with a resounding 48-10 win over Newcastle Knights. Leading 22-0 at half time, the Storm extend their lead on the back of a Billy Slater hat-trick. Former Melbourne winger Dustin Cooper scores a double for the visitors. Brett White makes his NRL debut.
- Round 4 – Storm thrash Brisbane Broncos 50-4 to inflict the heaviest defeat in the Broncos' 18-year history. The 50 point score against Brisbane also bested the 48 points scored by Melbourne in 1999. Before the game, the club honours 1999 premiership players Glenn Lazarus and Tawera Nikau; by renaming the eastern (Nikau) and western (Lazarus) grandstands.[4]
- 13 April – Melbourne is found to have breached the competition's salary cap in 2004 and are fined $120,000.[5]
- Round 6 – Greg Inglis makes his NRL debut at just 18 years and 91 days, scoring a try.
- 30 April – The Victoria State Government confirms that the Olympic Park precinct will undergo a $100m redevelopment, with a new stadium scheduled for completion in 2008.[5][6]
- 2 May – Controversy over "grapple tackles" erupts with Cronulla prop claiming he was choked in a two-man Storm tackle.[5]
- Round 12 – Melbourne breaks a three-game losing streak at home by beating St George Illawarra by 24–16.[7]
- Round 13 – Melbourne win their first game at Leichhardt Oval since 1998, coming from 8-0 down at half time to win 30-14.[5]
- Round 14 – Missing Origin players, Melbourne are awarded a controversial penalty try to Cooper Cronk early in the second half. It wasn't enough for the victory, as the New Zealand Warriors regained the Michael Moore Trophy win a 24-16 victory.
- Round 16 – Melbourne return to form thrashing South Sydney Rabbitohs 48-6, with Billy Slater scoring another hat-trick.[5]
- Round 17 – Melbourne win just their second game in 13 attempts against 2004 premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, with Slater and Inglis both scoring two tries in a 33-6 win.
- Round 18 – In front of the lowest attended Olympic Park home game in club history (6,063), Melbourne hold Canberra Raiders scoreless for the first time.
- 20 July – After weeks of speculation, it's announced halfback Matt Orford has signed a four-year contract with Manly worth nearly $2m.[5]
- Round 23 – Melbourne celebrate the 100th game at Olympic Park by regaining the Michael Moore Trophy, winning 22-10 over the Warriors.[5]
- Round 25 – In his last home game for the club, Robbie Kearns is chaired from the field following a 34-22 win over Wests Tigers. Coach Craig Bellamy saying that Kearns "without a doubt is the heart and soul of this club."[5]
- Round 26 – A penalty try awarded against Billy Slater in a 30-24 loss to the North Queensland Cowboys was part of a controversial night in Townsville with Cowboys forward Carl Webb suspended for punching Ryan Hoffman allegedly in retaliation for a "grapple tackle." The loss drops Melbourne to sixth on the ladder at the end of the regular season, behind the Cowboys in fourth.
- Qualifying Final – Travelling to Brisbane for the second year in a row, Melbourne hang on for a 24-18 win over the Broncos. Injuries to Robbie Kearns (shoulder) and Billy Slater (ankle) complicating things for the club for the remainder of the finals.
- 12 September – Melbourne and North Queensland spark a war of words over the "grapple tackle", with both clubs accusing the other of using the technique ahead of the semi-final between the teams. Melbourne later release video of 20 incidents in which they claim Cowboys players were putting opponents in headlocks.[5]
- Semi-final – For the third year in a row, Melbourne are eliminated in the second week of the NRL finals, this time going down 24-16 to the Cowboys at Aussie Stadium. Down 16-0 at half time, Melbourne were gifted a try by referee Paul Simpkins who failed to consult the video referee when centre Steven Bell lost control of the ball while attempting to score. A frantic final flurry almost saw Melbourne level the scores led by fill-in captain Matt Orford.
Milestone games
| Round | Player | Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Dennis Scott | Storm debut |
| Round 1 | Brett White | NRL debut |
| Round 1 | Cameron Smith | 50th game |
| Round 2 | Billy Slater | 50th game |
| Round 3 | Ian Donnelly | Storm debut |
| Round 4 | Jamie McDonald | Storm debut |
| Round 4 | Matt Geyer | 500 points |
| Round 5 | Alex Chan | 50th game |
| Round 6 | Greg Inglis | NRL debut |
| Round 7 | Jamie Feeney | Storm debut |
| Round 11 | Josh Graham | NRL debut |
| Round 12 | Dallas Johnson | 50th game |
| Round 14 | Tevita Metuisela | Storm debut |
| Round 18 | Glen Turner | 50th game |
| Round 20 | Steven Bell | 100th game |
| Round 21 | Ryan Hoffman | 50th game |
Jerseys
For the 2005 season, Melbourne signed a new apparel contract with Reebok. The home jersey remained largely unchanged from the 2001-02 design, but now with a simple navy blue T-shirt style collar. This meant the home jersey did not feature gold for the first time in team history.
A new white clash jersey was designed, featuring a large gold thunderbolt with purple block shadowing, which was partially obscured by the jersey advertiser Adecco. The clash jersey was worn with different navy blue shorts featuring the thunderbolt design on the right.
The clash jersey was worn on seven occasions during the regular season (rounds 5, 13, 14, 19, 21, 22, 26); with Melbourne only winning on one occasion against Wests Tigers. Both finals games were also played with Melbourne wearing the clash jersey.
