There comes a moment in every team’s NRL campaign when it all goes on the line—are you a genuine shot at making an impact come September, or just another big dreaming pretender?
With the jury still undecided on Michael Maguire and the Brisbane Broncos in 2025, that moment is surely this Thursday night when they come face-to-face with their greatest NRL nemesis, the Melbourne Storm, at AAMI Park.
Stunned by the Manly Sea Eagles in their last home appearance in Round 20, Craig Bellamy’s perennial premiership contenders will be determined to send Storm fans home with a smile this time around.
Despite again being without the services of injured 2024 Dally M medalist Jahrome Hughes, history suggests they will do precisely that in what will also be captain Harry Grant’s 100th NRL game for the Storm.
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27 seasons of NRL pain
Since Melbourne entered the NRL back in 1998 they’ve met the Broncos on 57 occasions and dominated the match-up with 42 wins, including dishing out some of the Queensland glamour club’s most painful losses.
Despite boasting many of the game’s greatest players in the past quarter of a century, the Broncos have consistently struggled to top the Storm, scraping together just 14 victories, most famously of course being the 2006 NRL grand final.
Broncos looking to snap a nine-year losing streak
More recently, the Storm have prevailed in nine of the last ten meetings and, even worse, Brisbane haven’t won at AAMI Park since late in the 2016 season—a streak approaching nine years.
The last time the two sides met anywhere was Round 27 of 2024 when the Storm thrashed Brisbane 50-12 at Suncorp Stadium in what ended up being Kevin Walters’ final game as Broncos head coach.
Adding even more drama to the occasion, Thursday night’s clash is the first of two critical match-ups in four weeks for the sides, as the final eight continues to take shape ahead of the 2025 finals series.
Melbourne will start hot favourites, but if Brisbane are to make a genuine push for premiership honours in 2025 it starts this week against one of the true competition heavyweights.
If the Broncos can deliver, the rest of the NRL will be on notice.
If they can’t, it could be a case of making up the numbers come September before trying to conquer their Everest once again in 2026.