The Melbourne Storm have a reputation as the club players go to when they want to improve their careers.
The list of players who haven't succeeded in Craig Bellamy's set up is exceptionally small, while the list of players who have arrived in Melbourne and gone from strength to strength is rather lengthy.
The Melbourne Storm are also the club you never want to be let go from without a fight, because it often indicates things are about to take a southward spiral.
Just in the last handful of years, all of George Jennings, Reimis Smith, Brenko Lee, Tom Eisenhuth, Jahrome Hughes, Dale Finucane and even Blake Green turned themselves into genuine first-grade options at the Storm.
In the case of Finucane and Hughes, they became two of the best players in their respective positions across the competition.
Meanwhile, the list of players lost shows a list of players who didn't capitalise on their talent having shown promise in the Victorian capital. Names like Brodie Croft, Curtis Scott, Joe Stimson, Jordan McLean, Justin O'Neill, Ben Hampton and Kevin Proctor headline those who have departed the Storm without a return.
In fact, it could be argued the only players to leave the club and improve in the last decade are Gareth Widdop, Tohu Harris and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, and all three the Storm attempted to hang onto.
Their exiting list in 2022 will include Nicho Hynes and Finucane, who are both going to the Sharks, but Hynes has trashed the theory, telling The Sydney Morning Herald there is no reason he won't be able to improve.
“There’s obviously a lot of noise about people leaving the Storm and going to other clubs if they don’t go as well, but I think that’s all pretty crap to be honest,” Hynes said.
“If you put the work in, I can’t see why you can’t be as good as what you were at the Storm. I just don’t think it’s an appropriate thing to say.
“‘Bellza’ gets the best out of you at the Storm, but why can’t other coaches? If you put the work in, it doesn’t matter what happens.
“I don’t know if I have a point to prove to anyone other than myself. There’s going to be outside noise and plenty of it this year."
Hynes, who is set for a full-time shift to the halves at the Sharks with William Kennedy having a mortgage on the number one jersey, was one product of the Storm's exceptional recruitment machine.
Forced to ply his trade in the Queensland Cup for many years and almost giving up on the NRL, Hynes was eventually given a chance to perform at NRL level and took it with both hands, turning himself into the form fullback of the competition during the middle of the season as he replaced Ryan Papenhuyzen, who missed a large chunk of the season with concussion.
The Storm's position on keeping Hynes was never all that clear, however it was understood they didn't have the salary cap to go with either the Sharks, or a host of other clubs chasing the off-contract star.
