You can’t simply ‘wash away’ the pain of consecutive NRL grand final defeats, nor the impact of losing some of the biggest stars on your roster.

But according to Melbourne Storm General Manager of Football Frank Ponissi, a strong pre-season coupled with the welcome injection of energy from some of the club’s new and emerging players has the perennial contenders primed to scale the NRL heights once again in 2026.

“It’s been a really good pre-season, there’s a good buzz in the group,” Ponissi told NRL.com.

“The thing that really changes it (the disappointment of losing the 2025 grand final) are the new players that come in from other clubs and the young players that have come up from our pathways into our full-time program.”

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“They’ve just brought a level of energy and enthusiasm that’s been infectious to the rest of the group,” he continued.

‘We’ve still got some tremendous players’ warns Frank Ponissi

Ponissi, who signed a five-year extension at the end of the 2024 keeping him at the Storm until at least 2029, acknowledged the off-season departures of key players including Ryan Papenhuyzen, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Jonah Pezet, Grant Anderson and Eliesa Katoa leaves a big hole in the club’s depth—but reminded fans its a situation the Storm has successfully navigated before.

“Everyone talks about the players we’ve lost, but we’ve still got some tremendous players here, and we’ve got some exciting young players coming through,” Ponissi said. 

“Whilst probably our depth is not going to be as strong as it has been the last two years… when we’re all fit, in terms of our best 17, is going to be still pretty strong.”

Given the off-season changes Ponissi said it was inventible the 2026 season will see an evolution in the Storm squad, but he quickly added that would be no excuse for a drop in the club’s standards or expectations.

“Like all the other 16 clubs we want to be there that first Sunday in October,” he declared.

“But we know there’s an enormous amount of work to do that.

“If we can manage our players well and if we get some good luck with injuries… we still think we’re going to have quite a strong team that’s going to be more than competitive this year.”

The Storm begins its 2026 NRL campaign at AAMI Park against the Eels on Thursday, 5 March.