Despite the weeks of scrutiny surrounding his style of play and subsequent NRL judiciary rulings, Storm captain Jesse Bromwich is urging the Storm’s wrecking-ball prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona to continue his style of play during the finals series – starting with the Canberra Raiders on Saturday.
It’s well known that Asofa-Solomona has already drawn five separate charges from the MRC this year without missing a game, and he was put on report again following a slightly-late hit on Parramatta half Mitchell Moses during their Round 25 encounter.
The MRC found that he had no case to answer this week, but his captain says NAS is more than happy to play the villain after goading Parramatta fans when he came off for a spell.
“He embraces it all when he’s in the moment, it can be quite funny sometimes,” Bromwich told NRL.com.
“Nelson is a big, scary guy on the field, but off the field he’s kind of like a kid. He doesn’t know how big he is, he likes to muck around a lot.”
“He’s a guy who, when he’s on, can be one of the most damaging guys in the game, easily.”
The Storm big men will face a massive challenge on Saturday, coming up against renowned heavyweight Josh Papalii as well as the game’s most in-form prop, Joe Tapine, when the two teams meet.
“I’ve played a lot of games again (Papalii), but my job is to stop him from playing good,” Bromwich said.
“He scores a lot of tries for a big guy, and their forward pack – especially the way Joseph Tapine has been playing lately – it’s a real strength of their side.”
After signing for Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins in 2023, Bromwich is treating every game like his last in the iconic purple of the Storm. He’s played 294 games for the club since making his debut in 2010, and was named the club’s Player of the Year on three consecutive occasions between 2014-16.
The club gave Bromwich, and brother Kenneath – who is also going to Redcliffe – a farewell at their final regular season home game.
“It was nice to be able to do that and put it behind us,” Jesse said.
“All I’m worried about is finals footy and doing my job and trying to take this team right to the end.
“We haven’t found ourselves in this (sudden-death) situation much, but it’s important not to let it get to us.
“I know if we play our best we can trouble any team in the competition.”
