I Hate those Melbourne Players

[LittleDavey]

My bias aside and with all due respect, I believe that’s a somewhat inane opinion to hold.

Like many of the champion teams in world sport, such as the All Blacks or the Yankees, the Storm are a highly insular organization. They care about one thing, and one thing only: winning. They are often perceived as arrogant, but this ‘arrogance’ is more often a projection of their own obsession. I know a few Storm officials and whenever the cap scandal comes up, they always say the same thing; internally, the club still celebrates those stripped titles because they realize that the situation brought the club to its knees. They realize that they’d made a terrible mistake (as we all do at some point in life), but they managed to come out the other side stronger and better than ever.

The club knows that scandal best exemplifies how ruthless their organization truly is; for nearly every club, that scandal would have spelled destruction, especially in the short term. But, the fact they still kept winning in 2010 despite playing for no points and then came back and won the comp a mere two years later is absolutely absurd and to deny what an admirable effort that was would be to talk out of spite.

Could Melbourne have had more tact at times when addressing their past indiscretions? Absolutely. However, to say they cannot ever be respected, even with fair success, is a fairly petty thing to say and in and of itself speaks of envy. For the vast majority of people, they may not be consciously envious (and are unlikely to admit it regardless), but in the subconscious, the envy is undoubtedly present.

The proof lies in the phycological pudding; If Melbourne had cheated the cap, mastered wrestling techniques and produced countless champion players all the while being another middle-of-the-road, also-ran team which never won competitions and only occasionally scraped into the eight, people would rarely give them a second thought. They may be disliked and viewed with a vague air of contempt, but they wouldn’t be hated.

Disagree. Storm took a lot of people and processes that made the Broncos strong, and that made our club weaker. That our club also forgot those things over time and went away from what had made us successful, is part of it too, but Storm still took that from us.

They also took the best and brightest of Qld talent out from under the Broncos noses - now rightly or wrongly, many Broncos fans will feel like those players should have been playing for the strongest Qld team in the comp, which should always be the Broncos - naturally.

So those things - combined with the cheating and the way the Storm have traditionally played - plays a huge part in how Bronco fans feel about your club. Speaking for myself here but I know I'm not alone.



That and the fact we have beaten them six fucking times since 2004. It's simply absurd. You can't tell me the Storm don't burn with a brighter fire against the Broncos than any other club, because I know for a fact they do. And the sooner we turn that shit around the better!

EDIT - I also want to add that your club can 'celebrate' that dark time in your history without celebrating 'winning'. Your defence that 'oh they made a mistake' doesn't float here. It is arrogant and you'd be hard pressed to find a fan of any other club willing to accept it.

 

[Broncapz]

My bias aside and with all due respect, I believe that’s a somewhat inane opinion to hold.

Like many of the champion teams in world sport, such as the All Blacks or the Yankees, the Storm are a highly insular organization. They care about one thing, and one thing only: winning. They are often perceived as arrogant, but this ‘arrogance’ is more often a projection of their own obsession. I know a few Storm officials and whenever the cap scandal comes up, they always say the same thing; internally, the club still celebrates those stripped titles because they realize that the situation brought the club to its knees. They realize that they’d made a terrible mistake (as we all do at some point in life), but they managed to come out the other side stronger and better than ever.

The club knows that scandal best exemplifies how ruthless their organization truly is; for nearly every club, that scandal would have spelled destruction, especially in the short term. But, the fact they still kept winning in 2010 despite playing for no points and then came back and won the comp a mere two years later is absolutely absurd and to deny what an admirable effort that was would be to talk out of spite.

Could Melbourne have had more tact at times when addressing their past indiscretions? Absolutely. However, to say they cannot ever be respected, even with fair success, is a fairly petty thing to say and in and of itself speaks of envy. For the vast majority of people, they may not be consciously envious (and are unlikely to admit it regardless), but in the subconscious, the envy is undoubtedly present.

The proof lies in the phycological pudding; If Melbourne had cheated the cap, mastered wrestling techniques and produced countless champion players all the while being another middle-of-the-road, also-ran team which never won competitions and only occasionally scraped into the eight, people would rarely give them a second thought. They may be disliked and viewed with a vague air of contempt, but they wouldn’t be hated.

I have loved a lot of Melbourne Storm players, and have tried to embrace them as a second team at some point.... but the organization themselves have been the black uniform wearing team of any under dog sports movie.

From celebrating stolen premierships, to completely changing the meta of the game to be dull for a neutral to watch. Now we've got Matt Trip giving players shares in sports betting agencies to pad their buying potential. They have a win at any cost mentality, even if that cost is sportsmanship and the spirt of the game.

 

[PurplePride]

Disagree. Storm took a lot of people and processes that made the Broncos strong, and that made our club weaker. That our club also forgot those things over time and went away from what had made us successful, is part of it too, but Storm still took that from us.

They also took the best and brightest of Qld talent out from under the Broncos noses - now rightly or wrongly, many Broncos fans will feel like those players should have been playing for the strongest Qld team in the comp, which should always be the Broncos - naturally.

So those things - combined with the cheating and the way the Storm have traditionally played - plays a huge part in how Bronco fans feel about your club. Speaking for myself here but I know I'm not alone.



That and the fact we have beaten them six fucking times since 2004. It's simply absurd. You can't tell me the Storm don't burn with a brighter fire against the Broncos than any other club, because I know for a fact they do. And the sooner we turn that shit around the better!

EDIT - I also want to add that your club can 'celebrate' that dark time in your history without celebrating 'winning'. Your defence that 'oh they made a mistake' doesn't float here. It is arrogant and you'd be hard pressed to find a fan of any other club willing to accept it.

Many of your points I wholeheartedly agree with, but the argument I was making still stands; you can really dislike someone/something, but still have a begrudging respect for what they've achieved. For me personally, Novak Djokovic is a prime example; don't like him at all (and that's before you factor in his many on-court and off-court controversies), but I still admire what he's managed to accomplish.

Also, yes, the club undoubtedly does fight harder against Brisbane, but I think that's mainly driven by Bellamy and his personal history with them.

 

[LittleDavey]

Many of your points I wholeheartedly agree with, but the argument I was making still stands; you can really dislike someone/something, but still have a begrudging respect for what they've achieved. For me personally, Novak Djokovic is a prime example; don't like him at all (and that's before you factor in his many on-court and off-court controversies), but I still admire what he's managed to accomplish.

Also, yes, the club undoubtedly does fight harder against Brisbane, but I think that's mainly driven by Bellamy and his personal history with them.

I respect that they have been successful for a long time, and to get there obviously requires a level of ruthlessness. I don't know if many would disagree.

However since the cheating, there will always be a cloud over that success. I compared it to Andrew Johns' drug use in a recent post here - he was one of the greatest players, but we will never know how much of that was him and how much (if any) was drug-induced. There's always the asterisk.

In a similar vein, would Storm have been so successful had they not systematically cheated the cap for years, winning multiple premierships along the way? Players want to be part of a successful system, cheating the cap brought them success in that period and no doubt attracted players. It's the snowball effect. Without cheating, could you have kept all the players you did? The big 3? If you had to lose one, would you still have been so successful? We will never know, and that's why that respect is tempered with a huge asterisk in many fans' minds.

And that's without even touching on the influence all of that had on other clubs - who could potentially have tasted that success themselves, and/or who could have signed players that the Storm signed had they actually been on a level playing field with the rest of the comp. The fact that the success was ill-gotten - and let's be honest, the punishment didn't and can't possibly undo all of that - really sticks in the craw of many of us and brings into question EVERYTHING since.

To see the club publicly thumbing their nose at the rest of the competition by celebrating the premierships won by cheating, is tone deaf at absolute best.

Mods we should probably have a "Storm suck balls" thread that this and the other recent related posts could be moved to?

 

[Culhwch]

For the record, I neither respect nor envy Melbourne, and having one of their fans coming here to tell us how we secretly do has far from improved that situation...

 

[Kimlo]

My bias aside and with all due respect, I believe that’s a somewhat inane opinion to hold.

Like many of the champion teams in world sport, such as the All Blacks or the Yankees, the Storm are a highly insular organization. They care about one thing, and one thing only: winning. They are often perceived as arrogant, but this ‘arrogance’ is more often a projection of their own obsession. I know a few Storm officials and whenever the cap scandal comes up, they always say the same thing; internally, the club still celebrates those stripped titles because they realize that the situation brought the club to its knees. They realize that they’d made a terrible mistake (as we all do at some point in life), but they managed to come out the other side stronger and better than ever.

The club knows that scandal best exemplifies how ruthless their organization truly is; for nearly every club, that scandal would have spelled destruction, especially in the short term. But, the fact they still kept winning in 2010 despite playing for no points and then came back and won the comp a mere two years later is absolutely absurd and to deny what an admirable effort that was would be to talk out of spite.

Could Melbourne have had more tact at times when addressing their past indiscretions? Absolutely. However, to say they cannot ever be respected, even with fair success, is a fairly petty thing to say and in and of itself speaks of envy. For the vast majority of people, they may not be consciously envious (and are unlikely to admit it regardless), but in the subconscious, the envy is undoubtedly present.

The proof lies in the phycological pudding; If Melbourne had cheated the cap, mastered wrestling techniques and produced countless champion players all the while being another middle-of-the-road, also-ran team which never won competitions and only occasionally scraped into the eight, people would rarely give them a second thought. They may be disliked and viewed with a vague air of contempt, but they wouldn’t be hated.

I have read this and my conclusion is still **** the Melbourne Storm. The club is a blight on rugby league.

 

[Mick_Hancock]

Yep... storm are clearly fucking loved around these parts

VOTE - In Your opinion who are our most hated Rivals?

I'll allow 2 votes for those that can't decide but if you have a clear team choose one. For me it's Storm but Cowboys are getting close, almost to the level of having them equal but Storm still are number 1. Could see in the future with some more significant games Dolphins coming into the mix...

broncoshq.com

Agree @BroncsFan.
Aside from this “list of teams I also follow/like” who the **** likes the Storm?! Absolute grubby, cheating, thieving c*nts.
I think you’ll find that Petey Boy (McHunt) is the only closet StormBoi here.

PS: how old are you, having a “second” team?! That’s what kids do when they split the difference and like the bulls, lakers, warriors and anyone that is winning cover all bases and be on the winning team.

 

[Mick_Hancock]

I have read this and my conclusion is still **** the Melbourne Storm. The club is a blight on rugby league.

I haven’t read it. But I still agree - **** THE STORM.

 

[GCBRONCO]

I think you’ll find that Petey Boy (McHunt) is the only closet StormBoi here.

 

[HarryAllan7]

the argument I was making still stands; you can really dislike someone/something, but still have a begrudging respect for what they've achieved.

You’re 100% right about the bolded part.

Unfortunately nobody here likes OR respects the cheating Storm scum.

Bellamy and the Storm are the worst thing to ever happen to the game with V’Landys a close second.

 

[FACTHUNT]

Many of your points I wholeheartedly agree with, but the argument I was making still stands; you can really dislike someone/something, but still have a begrudging respect for what they've achieved. For me personally, Novak Djokovic is a prime example; don't like him at all (and that's before you factor in his many on-court and off-court controversies), but I still admire what he's managed to accomplish.

Also, yes, the club undoubtedly does fight harder against Brisbane, but I think that's mainly driven by Bellamy and his personal history with them.

Novak Djokovic didn't cheat for his success though and if he did, it wouldn't be celebrated.

Just like USA Athletics don't have Marion Jones gold medals from Sydney hanging in their headquarters.

 

[Galah]

You’re 100% right about the bolded part.

Unfortunately nobody here likes OR respects the cheating Storm scum.

Bellamy and the Storm are the worst thing to ever happen to the game with V’Landys a close second.

 

[pennywisealfie]

But, the fact they still kept winning in 2010 despite playing for no points and then came back and won the comp a mere two years later is absolutely absurd and to deny what an admirable effort that was would be to talk out of spite.

That may be celebrated as some kind of underdog hero story in Melbourne but for everyone else, this was a dark day where Melbourne won another premiership with players that they shouldn't have been able to hold on to.

Can I ask, why support Melbourne? You're obviously a pleasant enough person. If you live in Melbourne, I get it. But what would attract someone that's not a complete asshole to support a team like Melbourne?

 

[Organix]

That may be celebrated as some kind of underdog hero story in Melbourne but for everyone else, this was a dark day where Melbourne won another premiership with players that they shouldn't have been able to hold on to.

Can I ask, why support Melbourne? You're obviously a pleasant enough person. If you live in Melbourne, I get it. But what would attract someone that's not a complete asshole to support a team like Melbourne?

Tribalism or Parochialism. It's the local team, I would guess.

Now onto the rant:

First of all, @PurplePride, the Storm mentality, that their ends justified the means is incredibly infuriating, as it undermines the entire sport long-term and short-term for the sake of the individual club. It caused and continues to cause issues that came about simply because some greedy people at the club wanted immediate glory. It shows both a laziness and a moral lacking that should never be admired.
Secondly, if it were any club that performed those tactics but then were subsequently poor performing, I would loathe them equally and also remember their indiscretions unless they showed a genuine desire to rectify them. I.e., to not further celebrate their cheating, gift players' wives expensive rings for no reason, and to not continue to bend the rules causing further rule changes to a great sport, simply because the spirit of the game means nothing relative to winning. For example, I dislike the Sharks, even though they are a plodder club.
Third, the only reason Melbourne continues to have success is purely due to their location. Melbourne is a foothold in AFL territory and a sport-mad city, and means money to the NRL. The Storm is a plastic version of Brisbane - where the love of Rugby League resulted in a market to be embraced into the NRL - Melbourne were a club forced by the NRL to reach into a market. That is why Melbourne is successful, cheating or no cheating. That is why NAS is a protected species and the success of your plastic past (as @LittleDavey rightly said) draws players to the club, from a fabricated success.
Finally, while I don't hold anything against you individual Storm fans, and can't blame you wanting to have a successful club, you're well able to decide for yourselves that it is indeed WRONG to continue to celebrate a machiavellian mindset that led to hollow victories. Especially when the proof and verdict are given. It would be a different story if it weren't proven (like the Roosters salary sombrero). To say nothing to those people within the club hierarchy you know who lauded it is pretty sad. Evil triumphs when good men stand idly by.
Furthermore, you should also condemn foul play and these wrestle tactics and hope that your players don't use them.

/Rant

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

Many of your points I wholeheartedly agree with, but the argument I was making still stands; you can really dislike someone/something, but still have a begrudging respect for what they've achieved. For me personally, Novak Djokovic is a prime example; don't like him at all (and that's before you factor in his many on-court and off-court controversies), but I still admire what he's managed to accomplish.

Also, yes, the club undoubtedly does fight harder against Brisbane, but I think that's mainly driven by Bellamy and his personal history with them.

Hey I'm heading to Melbourne soon, can I come stay at your place? Or does the traffic get too much from Brisbane to Melbourne in the morning?

Sure the losing to them makes them more unlikeable but the main reason I hate the storm is because I love rugby league...it's not just the cheating, the grubbiness, win at all costs crap, it's the fact that after 30 years they are still leeches to qld. Why is their feeder club 20 HOURS DRIVE away? Yes teams develop and scout everywhere but there is zero bloody effort to leave qld and develop from their own state and grow the game, they are only worried about their brand. Even their bloody netball club is in qld, wtf, why? What have they added to the game of rugby league that a state of origin once every 3 years couldn't?

 

[FACTHUNT]

Part of Melbourne’s desperation for success comes from their unhealthy obsession with being better than Sydney too. I bet that they see the NRL as a Sydney league.

If you ask a Sydneysider which city is better they are like “who is Melbourne? ———— oh yeah, I went there for a weekend and it was great”.

If you ask a MeLboUrNe local which city is better you get a 5,000 word dissertation about Melbourne being the point that the world rotates. In my 14 months living in Melbourne I had a great time triggering them and their strange hate for Sydney.

Bless.

 

[Morkel]

My bias aside and with all due respect, I believe that’s a somewhat inane opinion to hold.

Like many of the champion teams in world sport, such as the All Blacks or the Yankees, the Storm are a highly insular organization. They care about one thing, and one thing only: winning. They are often perceived as arrogant, but this ‘arrogance’ is more often a projection of their own obsession. I know a few Storm officials and whenever the cap scandal comes up, they always say the same thing; internally, the club still celebrates those stripped titles because they realize that the situation brought the club to its knees. They realize that they’d made a terrible mistake (as we all do at some point in life), but they managed to come out the other side stronger and better than ever.

The club knows that scandal best exemplifies how ruthless their organization truly is; for nearly every club, that scandal would have spelled destruction, especially in the short term. But, the fact they still kept winning in 2010 despite playing for no points and then came back and won the comp a mere two years later is absolutely absurd and to deny what an admirable effort that was would be to talk out of spite.

Could Melbourne have had more tact at times when addressing their past indiscretions? Absolutely. However, to say they cannot ever be respected, even with fair success, is a fairly petty thing to say and in and of itself speaks of envy. For the vast majority of people, they may not be consciously envious (and are unlikely to admit it regardless), but in the subconscious, the envy is undoubtedly present.

The proof lies in the phycological pudding; If Melbourne had cheated the cap, mastered wrestling techniques and produced countless champion players all the while being another middle-of-the-road, also-ran team which never won competitions and only occasionally scraped into the eight, people would rarely give them a second thought. They may be disliked and viewed with a vague air of contempt, but they wouldn’t be hated.

That scandal should have broken them. The players should all have been stood down for the remainder of their tainted contracts, the administration should have been blacklisted for life, and the player's managers the same. It is a travesty that none of that happened, and the only reason it didn't happen was because the NRL needed Melbourne to survive, and they didn't want their precious Cam Smith, Greg Inglis, Billy Slater out of the game and playing for a rival code or off overseas. I blame the NRL for this side of things, but for the Storm to somehow be proud of the fact that they survived is like a high profile person being proud of avoiding jail for murder and not losing their career.

The same should have happened to the Sharks, but with the most powerful "journalist" being a lifelong Sharks fan, the NRL once again did what was best for them, not Rugby League, and gave them a gentle slap in exchange for favourable press.

 

[McHunt]

As if Peter Badel would let validated facts get in the way of a good story.

In fairness, Badel, the Storm and the Broncos all have the same daddy in Rupert. It's like your typical family: squabbles, but deep down brotherly love.