Ultra-consistent Melbourne Storm enjoy record-setting season in front office which has them dreaming of an MCG Grand Final
An NRL grand final at the MCG might seem unlikely right now, but if Melbourne Storm CEO Justin Rodski has his way, it could become a reality writes Shannon Gill.
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An NRL Grand Final at the MCG would “be an incredible spectacle” according to Melbourne Storm CEO Justin Rodski.
Rodski has revealed to CODE Sports that one of the club’s goals is to “purchase the Grand Final from the NRL and take it to the MCG.”
Rodski says the concept has been tossed around in discussions with the MCC, operators of the ground, and insists it’s a viable option with some government support.
“It’d be the biggest NRL grand final crowd ever and if the Storm were playing in it would obviously be very special. I wouldn’t rule it out in the future.”
Those north of the Murray may scoff, or be infuriated, at the brazen suggestion.
Yet it’s this kind of can-do attitude that is making the Storm a force off the field as well as on.
All time highs
The club continues to confound the NRL with their year-on-year consistency, as another Bellamy-built season resulted in a top place regular season finish.
What is less known is that the performance on the park was the bedrock for a record-setting season in the front office.
The Storm has recorded all-time highs for average crowds in Melbourne (19,800), membership (37,000 – discounting the post-covid ‘free’ membership season) and broadcast audience (20.3 million).
This is all happening in an era when the off-field was predicted to struggle as much as its on-field after the departures of the Storm’s ‘Big Three’ superstars Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk.
“There’s no doubt that they played an enormous part in building, establishing and continuing to grow the Storm brand,” Rodski says.
“But I think the club now is at a point where we stand alone within the Melbourne sports landscape, and more broadly the Australian sport landscape, as hopefully one of the most respected and successful clubs in Australia.”
The big three have now been replaced with a ‘big four’ of-sorts; Ryan Papenhuyzen, Harry Grant, Jerome Hughes and Cameron Munster, but Rodski says the growth goes well beyond individuals.
“We’ve had strong growth across all key metrics of the club. Our kids playing rugby league in Victoria has reached an all-time high, and overall interest in the game, the NRL and the club is at an all-time high.
“The club’s in a really strong position.”
Competing, differently
It’s a task that should never be underestimated.
Competing with 10 AFL teams each with 100 plus years of tradition is not easy.
The task saw off Super Rugby’s Melbourne Rebels this year despite Union having a greater tradition in the city.
That’s why the Storm eschew the cookie-cutter approach to selling their team.
“We like to do things differently,” Rodski says.
“We know and understand we’re in an AFL-dominated market but we think we offer a unique value proposition within that market.”
“A lot of people that attend our games, come to our events or are engaged in our business network say how refreshing it is to be involved in an environment that’s different to an AFL club. That’s something we consider a real strength of our organisation.”
The club has focused a lot of its marketing and engagement efforts on the migration growth corridors of Melbourne’s southeast, west and northwest.
“They are the areas where the majority of our members and fans are coming from.”
It’s smart business when the Storm puts its resources directly into those areas, growth to community rugby league clubs in the region results in fans and perhaps talent for its newly established pathway teams.
Code love, not war
Rodski believes another factor in success is not seeking to compete with, or having an adversarial relationship with, the AFL and its teams.
Behind the scenes the Storm works hand-in-hand with the so-called ‘enemy’.
“Collingwood, Richmond, Melbourne, Essendon and Carlton – we talk to all the big clubs and have good relationships with them,” he says.
It plays out in scheduling and promotional cooperation, from Anzac Day matches to AFL-free weekends.
It is a far cry from the NRL vs. AFL code wars that often populate the public discourse. The reality is that Victorian-based AFL fans have universal respect for the Storm.
“We have our core membership base but we’re also happy to be everybody’s second favourite team when it comes to AFL fans. At the end of the day, not every AFL team is winning all the time or playing finals.”
The notion plays out every year as AFL teams seasons go off the tracks and supporters hitch themselves to the perennial purple September bandwagon.
YouGov research suggests that interest in the Storm from invested AFL fans increased by 18% in August this season as the likes of Collingwood, Essendon and Melbourne fell out of AFL finals contention.
Overall they have recorded a 30% increase since July.
Owning the dream
All of this is underpinned by a unique ownership structure. For Melbourne anyway.
The Storm’s private ownership model is unencumbered by a board signing off every significant decision.
“We can be creative, dynamic and more progressive with our thinking, and then we can move quickly on decision making,” Rodski enthuses, with the knowledge of a previous working life working within AFL clubs. .
It’s the sort of thinking that can dream up the MCG NRL Grand Final idea with conviction.
For now though, Rodski is focused on this weekend’s Qualifying Final against the Sharks. He knows fan demand is high because he’s been copping tickets requests all week.
“It’ll end up being a sellout by the time we kick off on Saturday,” he says.
If the Storm were to win it would set up a mouth catering prospect for all Melburnians – a home NRL preliminary final on the AFL Grand Final Eve public holiday.
“How many people in Melbourne are looking for something to do on that Friday night? It would be huge … but we’ve still got to get there.”
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