New photo Storm aim to emulate founding NRL fathers

It would be no mere coincidence if Melbourne were to become the first team since the great Brisbane sides of 1992-93 to win back-to-back NRL titles.

Because as a club the Storm were practically built by the Broncos of the early 90s both on and off the field.

The first NRL franchise to be opened in the fully professional era and free from the scars of the Super League war, Melbourne were made for success from their opening days in 1998.

With Broncos founding father John Ribot as boss, two of Brisbane's back-to-back premiership winners in Chris Johns and Glenn Lazarus were brought down as chief executive and the Storm's first captain.

"Nearly everything in the club was built around what the Broncos were about," Johns told AAP this week.

"The biggest lesson we got from the Broncos was we had to build a sense of club. And people that wanted to be about the club.

"The Broncos were the first to really create an atmosphere as a club where people wanted to play for less money.

"Every player we recruited (to Melbourne) had to come for the same reason.

"They wanted to improve and share in success. We couldn't lure them with money or we'd be starting off on crumbling foundations."

Crucial in that too was the recruitment of Chris Anderson as coach - a man synonymous with the family culture at Canterbury - and Lazarus as leader of a side desperate to be pioneers for rugby league in Melbourne.

By their second year, and with a side mostly made up of players left on the outer by the collapses of the Hunter Mariners and Western Reds, the Storm had their first premiership.

"We became a family and a very close family," foundation player Scott Hill said.

"That's what the Storm still is now.

"That's the greatest thing about being in Melbourne, we're away from media, we have our own selves to work with and we become good mates and it becomes a big family.

"There is no other club that can do that in Australia. Even Brisbane or Townsville, or any club in Sydney."

Melbourne made the finals again in 2000 but it wasn't until Craig Bellamy - another product of Wayne Bennett and Brisbane's coaching system - arrived that things went to another gear.

"He came in and grabbed the senior group we had who were all good leaders and workers and took it to another level. His work ethic rubbed off on everyone," Hill said.

"That developed good leaders. And it gave time for guys like Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis to develop into the true leaders they are.

"That club now is a place people go to become good leaders. They know how to take responsibility of their own actions."

Still armed with the same recruitment strategy as Johns in the early days, Bellamy has continued to provide the same environment and framework at the club.

For all their success Melbourne have rarely paid top dollar to recruit a big name to the club, having instead made the most of those who slipped through the net at other clubs as juniors - including the game's grandest big-three combination of Smith, Slater and Cronk.

"It's a culture that everyone supports each other and supports the club," Johns, who left the Storm in 2002 but still watches on closely, said.

"I think that's stood the test of time where everyone has a passion for the club and not their bank account."

Melbourne's methods from those early foundations in both the front and back office are well proven, with Sunday's decider against the Roosters being their third trip to a grand final in as many years despite the salary cap scandal that engulfed them at the end of last decade.

Outside of rugby league and under new owner Bart Campbell, the Storm's extension into the Super Netball League has seen the Sunshine Coast Lightning win back-to-back titles in their opening two seasons.

"You can't half tell that Melbourne Storm culture is a success," Hill, who now lives in Noosa, said.

"All owned by the one company and driven by the one desire and one belief or philosophy.

"They had to relocate everyone there (to the Sunshine Coast), so it's very similar methods and patterns. It's a pretty amazing club to be founded."

And after dominating the NRL-era, Sunday's grand final and the chance to go back-to-back stands as the final frontier.

Not only to send retiring champion fullback Billy Slater out a winner against the Roosters, but to replicate the feats of Johns and Lazarus at Brisbane some 25 years ago and to become the first team to defend their title in a unified competition.

"It was a lot easier to do that back then than it is today," Johns said.

"It is incredibly hard now. It's so much more competitive. This year there were four or five clubs who could have won it."

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News Pictures Storm aim to emulate founding NRL fathers

You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!

TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st

To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.

Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”

Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”

kim cattrall

Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb

SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.

Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
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