Melbourne Storm emerge as the NRL’s No. 1 bogey team following a dominant 20 years under Craig Bellamy

Craig Bellamy’s Melbourne Storm have emerged as the NRL’s No. 1 bogey team, holding the wood over half the competition. SEE WHO YOUR TEAM STRUGGLES TO BEAT

The Dolphins are on a mission to break their duck against Melbourne after Craig Bellamy’s Storm emerged as the NRL’s No.1 bogey team.

Fresh off stunning four-time premiers Penrith last week, the Dolphins will take on the Storm in a Good Friday showdown at Suncorp Stadium.

And history suggests they will need an Easter miracle to beat the Storm.

The Dolphins are yet to experience victory against Melbourne in three clashes since the Redcliffe club entered the NRL in 2023.

The Dolphins are looking to end their winless streak over the Storm when they go head-to-head in Round 7. Picture: Getty Images

They went into this season having not registered wins against the Panthers, Storm and Bulldogs in their first two NRL campaigns.

With Penrith now ticked off that list, Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf wants to get another monkey off his team’s back when they host the surging Storm.

“Penrith were one of three teams we’ve never beaten and Melbourne are another one,” he said.

“It’s going to be a great challenge for us. They are the best team in the competition at the minute.

“If you watch the last few weeks, it’s going to be a real challenge but we’ve shown we’re up for it.”

The Dolphins ended one of their endless streaks in round six, beating the Panthers. Picture: Getty Images

The Dolphins aren’t the only team that have had trouble beating Melbourne.

In fact, a statistical analysis by Fox Sports Lab shows Melbourne are the bogey side of half the NRL.

Eight of the NRL’s current 17 clubs boast their worst winning record against Bellamy’s perennially successful Storm.

The pride of the league – South Sydney – are the worst of the lot, winning just 17.1 per cent (seven wins from 41 games) of matches against Melbourne.

Ignoring the young Dolphins, the Rabbitohs’ dismal record against the Storm is the worst in the NRL when it comes to bogey teams.

Art by Boo Bailey

It’s only early days but the Gold Coast Titans have only recorded one win in five games (20 per cent) against the Dolphins.

The Storm also have the wood over the Broncos (24.6 per cent), Raiders (29.6), Cowboys (28.9), Panthers (33.3), Dragons (30.2) and Warriors (30.2).

That makes Melbourne the NRL’s No. 1 bogey team.

The Rabbitohs have beaten Melbourne in just 17.1% of their matches. Picture: Getty Images

The only other clubs to be the bogey team of multiple rivals are the Broncos (Bulldogs and Knights) and Sea Eagles (Sharks, Eels and Roosters).

Manly has trouble beating the Dragons (36.1 per cent) while the Wests Tigers have just a 23.1 per cent strike rate against the Roosters.

The Storm’s bogey team is the Bulldogs, but it’s hardly a record to be down about with Melbourne winning 52.2 per cent of clashes.

The Storm also hold claim to the NRL’s current longest winning streak.

Last week’s 42-14 thrashing of the Warriors was Melbourne’s 17th straight victory against the New Zealand team since 2016.

Melbourne’s decade of dominance started at Mt Smart Stadium that year and hasn’t stopped since.

Storm also boast the longest current win streak over a rival, with 17 straight wins over the Warriors. Picture: Getty Images

The next longest winning streak is nine games shared by the Sharks over the Dragons (2020) and the Rabbitohs over the Titans, dating back to 2017.

It’s not all bad news for the Warriors though, they’ve won eight straight games against the Tigers since 2020.

Sitting second on the ladder with a 4-1 record, the Storm have once again started the season in hot touch as they chase redemption after last year’s grand final loss to Penrith.

Woolf knows Melbourne will be a tough opponent, especially at Suncorp where the Queenslander-stacked Storm love to play.

But after losing their first four matches, the Dolphins have shown some promising signs in the past fortnight with big wins against the Titans and Panthers.

Fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow has burst back to life with four tries and things have eased on the injury front for the Dolphins.

Redcliffe stunned the Broncos late last year with their first win in the Battle of Brisbane and Woolf is confident he has the team to beat Melbourne.

“We showed what we’re capable of defensively,” he said.

“Our toughness as a group and desire to turn up for each other is there.

“We’ve got a lot of improvement in us with our attack. In terms of our potential, we’ve got a fair way to go.

“If we can turn up with that sort of mindset every week and commitment to what we’re doing and keep improving, we know we’ve got a real footy side.”