The 2026 Melbourne Storm season was the 29th in the club's history, competing in the 2026 NRL season. The team was coached by Craig Bellamy, coaching the club for a 24th consecutive season. Harry Grant continued as club captain for a third season.
Melbourne missed the NRL finals for the first time since the 2010 NRL season, ending a 15 year streak of qualifying for the finals. It was the first time the club had ended the season with a losing record since Bellamy took over as coach ahead of the 2003 season.
The club also fielded teams in the New South Wales Rugby League competitions, including women's teams for the first time.
Season summary Preseason – Joining the NRL squad during the preseason were uncapped development players Suli Pole, Angus Hinchey, Preston Conn and Mitchell Jennings. 5 January – It was reported that Melbourne were interested in signing former Parramatta Eels player Zac Lomax who had been conditionally released from his contract following the end of the 2025 season. As part of his conditional release, Lomax could not join another NRL club until the end of the 2028 NRL season. 6 January – Video is published of Eliesa Katoa undertaking a club preseason training session following surgery to relieve pressure on his brain in November 2025. Katoa had been ruled out of returning to the field for the entire 2026 season after suffering three head knocks while on international duty with Tonga. 9 January – Melbourne confirm the impending departures of both Nick Meaney and Tyran Wishart at the end of the 2026 season. Both players had signed with expansion team Perth Bears for their inaugural season in 2027. 13 January – It was reported that club CEO Justin Rodski turned down an approach to become the next CEO of the Essendon Football Club. Rodski had previously been an executive at the AFL club before joining the Storm. 6 February – The club announces that coach Craig Bellamy had signed a contract extension that will see him remain at the club until the end of the 2028 NRL season. Bellamy had previously had a rolling contract with the club as he entered his 24th season as head coach of the Storm, having coached the club in over 600 NRL matches. 13 February – In their first match of the 2026 NRL Pre-season Challenge, a youthful Storm team captained by Trent Loiero, but missing a host of first grade regulars, struggled against the Canberra Raiders at Queanbeyan's Seiffert Oval, going down 32–6. Melbourne's only try was scored by Liam Williams late in the second half. 20 February – Melbourne confirm that winger Xavier Coates will miss at least the first three months of the season after requiring Achilles tendon surgery. It was the same injury that forced Coates to miss the 2025 Kangaroo tour of England. 21 February – Melbourne fail to score in the second half of their final Pre-season Challenge match against the Gold Coast Titans, going down 42–12 at Sunshine Coast Stadium. 26 February – The club announced that it had entered into a pathways partnership with Mounties, for players from that club to play in the NSW Cup competition with Melbourne, and Victorian players to play in the Ron Massey Cup competition with Mounties. 27 February – Melbourne confirm that Harry Grant will continue as captain for a third season, heading an unchanged leadership group from the previous season. The club expanded its emerging leadership development program with Stefano Utoikamanu, Alec MacDonald and Ativalu Lisati joining Trent Loiero and Tyran Wishart in that group. 3 March – An out of court settlement was reached between Parramatta, Zac Lomax and Melbourne Storm following litigation commenced by Parramatta in the New South Wales Supreme Court to enforce their conditional release entered into with Lomax. It was reported that Melbourne paid 250,000 to Parramatta to avoid further litigation and for Lomax to be available to join another NRL club without Parramatta's consent from November 2027. Melbourne were not able to come to an agreement with Parramatta to sign Lomax for the 2026 season, with Eels forward Ryan Matterson not entertaining a move to Melbourne to enable his contract payments to be removed from the Eels salary cap. There were also reports that Melbourne had offered Josiah Pahulu or Lazarus Vaalepu to Parramatta in order to facilitate the signing of Lomax. Round 1 – Melbourne score a dominant 52–4 win against the Parramatta Eels to extend the club's round 1 winning streak to 24 matches. Captain Harry Grant scored two tries, as did Sualauvi Fa'alogo. Rookies Cooper Clarke and Preston Conn made their NRL debuts after being members of the club's 2025 Jersey Flegg Cup premiership winning squad. Forward Davvy Moale made his club debut after joining the Storm for the 2026 season. Round 2 – Sua Fa'alogo scored his first NRL hat trick, scoring three tries in the second half of Melbourne's 46–20 win against the St. George Illawarra Dragons. In the same match, forward Angus Hinchey made his NRL debut, coming off the bench to score a late conversion attempt, while Jack Hetherington made his club debut, appearing for the Storm as his fifth NRL club. Round 3 – Previously winless Brisbane handed Melbourne their first defeat of the season, coming from a 14–0 deficit at half time to take a 18–14 win, holding the Storm scoreless in the second half. Referee Todd Smith awarded a dozen set restarts in the first 51 minutes of the match, with none in a frantic finish. It was the Broncos first victory at AAMI Park since 2016. The official attendance of 28,245 marked the second highest attended regular season fixture at AAMI Park. Round 4 – Three late tries to the North Queensland Cowboys hand them a 28–24 win over Melbourne. The Storm had lead 24–12 midway through the second half, meaning it was the sixth time since the start of the 2025 season that the club had failed to defend a lead of more than 10 points. 30 March – Fijian international forward Tui Kamikamica was rushed to hospital after suffering a suspected stroke while at home. Kamikamica was discharged from Royal Melbourne Hospital a few days later to begin rehabilitation. 30 March – It was confirmed that the 2026 season will be the last for Will Warbrick in Melbourne. The New Zealand international signing a three-year deal to move back to New Zealand from the 2027 season. 1 April – Weeks after making his NRL debut, rookie Cooper Clarke signed a new contract with the club until the end of the 2029 season. Round 5 – Penrith Panthers became the first team since the 2003 season to put 50 points on the Melbourne Storm, scoring a 50–10 win at CommBank Stadium. It was the Panthers biggest win against Melbourne and the Storm's heaviest defeat since the 2008 NRL Grand Final. Round 6 – Melbourne hand over the Michael Moore Trophy for the first time since 2016, losing 38–14 to the New Zealand Warriors at AAMI Park. It was the first time in 3,927 days that the Warriors had beaten Melbourne, ending a run of 17 straight defeats. Melbourne conceded six tries in the loss, their heaviest against the Warriors, with their losing streak stretching to four matches, the longest since the 2022 season. Round 8 – South Sydney defeat Melbourne for the first time in Victoria, ending a 20-match losing streak. The 48–6 loss was Melbourne's worst at AAMI Park and the club's heaviest defeat since 2003. Melbourne's only try coming from a piece of individual brilliance from Sua Fa'alogo in the second half. 30 April – It was revealed that Storm head coach Craig Bellamy had been diagnosed with a form of neurodegenerative disorder after recent testing. Storm chairman Matt Tripp said "despite our recent results, I firmly believe Craig is still coaching at an elite level and I have no doubt he is the right person to drive the club forward. Craig has the full support of the board, players, coaches, and staff to continue leading the club as he has done for the last 24 seasons." Round 9 – Despite leading 10–4 at half time, Melbourne slump to a seventh straight defeat, losing 28–10 to the Dolphins. The loss setting a new club record losing streak, eclipsing the previous longest losing streak set in 2002. Round 10 – Melbourne finally snap their losing streak in a 44–16 win over the Wests Tigers at AAMI Park. Cameron Munster scored two tries, his first in 364 days after last scoring on the same weekend against the Tigers in 2025. 5 June – On the verge of returning from injury, it was announced that winger Xavier Coates had again ruptured his Achilles tendon at training and would require surgery that would see him miss the entire 2026 season. 29 June – With a number of injuries impacting the squad, the club signs Oryn Keeley from the Dolphins before the transfer deadline. Keeley had previously signed a two-year contract with Melbourne to start ahead of the 2027 season. 30 June – Melbourne released forward Lazarus Vaalepu from the remainder of his contract effective immediately, allowing Vaalepu to take up an opportunity with Super League's Leigh Leopards. Vaalepu had played 11 NRL matches for the club, but had not featured in the NRL team during the 2026 season. 14 July – After missing the round 19 match against the Titans, it was revealed that Cameron Munster would miss up to six weeks after sustaining a knee injury. The five-eighth had surgery to repair a cartilage injury. 4 August – In the week after they both made their NRL debuts against the Bulldogs, Melbourne announce the contract extensions for both Hayden Watson and Jai Bowden until the end of the 2030 NRL season. The 19-year-olds had both played in the club's junior representative and NSW Cup teams during the 2026 season. 19 August – Following speculation throughout August, Melbourne Storm announced that EQT would become the new majority shareholder of the organisation, subject to NRL approval. The Swedish founded, global investment firm would keep existing Chairman Matt Tripp and CEO Justin Rodski in their roles following the purchase. The Storm ownership group had expressed the need for a capital injection to upgrade the team's headquarters and training facilities. The deal valued the organisation between 150–200m. 20 August – Following his stroke in March, Tui Kamikamica announced his retirement from rugby league. Kamikamica had played 142 matches with the club after making his debut in 2017. Round 27 – Melbourne score a last second try to win their final match of the season, winning 24–20 against Cronulla. Trent Loiero scored the try following a stunning flick pass from Harry Grant in the lead-up. Earlier, the Sharks had two players put in the sin bin including rookie Michael Gabrael who knocked out Siulagi Tuimalata-Brown with an illegal tackle in the first half. Hugo Peel scored his first try for the Storm while Jahrome Hughes was forced from the field with a reoccurrance of his hamstring injury. Departing utility player Tyran Wishart played his 100th NRL match for Melbourne, while in his last match for the Storm, Nick Meaney took his career points total to 886 points to sit second behind Cameron Smith. 7 September – Marion Seve announced his retirement from rugby league, the Samoan international had played 52 NRL matches with the club since moving to Melbourne in 2018. 14 September – Cooper Clarke caps of his first season in the NRL by being voted the winner of the RLPA Rookie of the Year Award. 17 September – Melbourne announce the re-signings of five players with Moses Leo (2029), Hugo Peel (2029), Stanley Huen (2028), Trent Toelau (2027), and Jack Hetherington (2027) all extending their contracts with the club. Milestone games