The Melbourne Storm has officially announced the signing of emerging star Cooper Bai to a three-year deal.
Bai will make the switch down to Victoria ahead of the 2028 NRL season, meaning he will remain a Gold Coast Titan for the upcoming season.
He is the son of former Melbourne Storm premiership-winner Marcus Bai, with a new generation set to run out in the purple colours until the end of 2030.
His arrival at the Storm coincides with the club's 30-year anniversary in the NRL.
Bai has only made 24 appearances at NRL level since his 2025 debut with the Titans following his progression as a Burleigh local junior.
2026 is where Bai really showed his worth as an out-and-out first grader, playing 23 matches and scoring two tries in the Titans' campaign this year.
But the 20-year-old forward has shown promising glimpses of a genuine future superstar despite limited NRL games and has already donned international colours for his country.
Cooper Bai scores and the crowd ERUPTS 👏 pic.twitter.com/uXVsEzVghK
— NRL (@NRL) November 1, 2025
Bai has played two matches for Papua New Guinea, making his international debut in 2025 following an impressive launch into his NRL career in the closing round of last year's season.
He also played for PNG Prime Minister's XIII in their clash against Australia in the same year.
Storm head of football Frank Ponissi spoke eagerly about Bai's arrival in Melbourne to continue developing into an NRL star.
“Cooper is an exciting young forward and a quality young man. He's made an impressive start to his career with the Gold Coast, and we're looking forward to supporting his continued development here in Melbourne,” Ponissi said in a Storm statement.
“Cooper has great potential, and we look forward to watching his continued development over the next 12 months before he joins us in 2028, which marks the 30th anniversary of our Club's inaugural season in 1998 featuring Cooper's father, Marcus - making it even more significant.”
