Melbourne Strom - Dark clouds show no signs of parting

Football Leagues

Melbourne Storm

Dark clouds show no signs of parting

"REALLY, it is the oddest of names. For the one thing rugby league's Victorian team has not done is take Melbourne by storm. There's been some slight drizzle recorded but mostly the side is surrounded by fog. " Patrick Smith

Following the flop of Super League, the Melbourne Storm was established in 1998 as part of the peace deal between News Ltd and the ARL.

The new franchise was able to recruit the best players from the two collapsed Super League clubs, the Hunter Mariners and the Western Reds and in only its second year, it won the premiership.

On the whole, most Melbournian AFL fans lack the hostility towards the Storm that Sydney NRL fans have towards the Sydney Swans. In fact, a Roy Morgan poll taken in July 2000, found that the Storm were the 2nd most popular rugby team in Australia with an estimated 1,015,000 fans.

Perhaps this can be explained as Melbourne lacking the class divide of Sydney. Alternatively, perhaps it is because unlike the Swans, the Storm are not a relocated team from a foreign city. Furthermore, even though Storm is not an ideal name, at least it is superior to Swan ballet.

But even though the Storm has tasted the ultimate success and has been received positively, its crowd numbers are tiny and there is no television interest. Nor do the dark clouds seem on the verge of parting as each year crowd numbers have got progressively worse.

The Storm's problems can be partly attributed to wining the premiership so quickly. Although it helped it gain a profile, because it had been achieved without the hard yards being done first, it was difficult for AFL fans to appreciate what an achievement a NRL premiership should be. By scaling the heights of success so quickly, the only way the Storm could go was down.

The other problem is that Australian rules is so strong in Melbourne. It has 150 years of tradition, is followed by all classes, all geographic areas, all ethnic groups and both sexes. There is no niche that has yet to be filled. Global powersports like basketball and soccer have spent decades trying to gain a following for a club team, but ultimately failed. For fans of rugby league in Melbourne, the rainy days seem set to continue.

Roy Morgan research

2004 - when compared to other NRL supporters

66% more likely than the average person to be aged 14-24;
61% more likely than the average person to say they love to do as many sports as possible;
45% more likely than the average person to have visited KFC in the last four weeks;
32% more likely than the average person to say they believe in taking risks.

2006 - when compared to other NRL supporters

Made up of 77% Victorians
23% more likely to be paying off their home
28% more likely to occasionally buy groceries
28% more likely to be more of an extrovert than an introvert
28% more likely to like tough physical activity
24% more likely to often buy take away food to eat at home
31% more likely to view a mobile phone as a tool to help them manage their time better
39% more likely to believe that pre-mixed spirits are good value for money (drinkers 18+)
69% more likely to have been to a casino in the last three months
52% more likely to have been to a professional sports event in the last three months

Icon
Too many transients at Melbourne to have an icon.

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