As if losing three starting-quality players for the 2022 season wasn't bad enough, the Melbourne Storm will have lost more than half of their 2021 starting 13 by the time the 2023 season rolls around.

The losses of Dale Finucane, Nicho Hynes and Josh Addo-Carr have been covered for 2022, but it's the loss of experienced forwards Kenneath Bromwich, Jesse Bromwich, Felise Kaufusi and Brandon Smith for 2023 without currently-signed replacements which will have Storm fans on edge.

Craig Bellamy and the recruitment machine in the Victorian capital have never failed before, but the club have also never been faced with an as large problem as they do on this occasion.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 17: Coach Craig Bellamy looks on during a Melbourne Storm NRL training session at Gosch's Paddock on September 17, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

With the Dolphins swooping on half of their forward pack, as well as Smith's loss to the Sydney Roosters, Melbourne Storm director of football Frank Ponissi told SEN Radio that 2023 will be a challenge, saying the club "isn't wrapped" with the decision of so many players to walk away.

“We’ve got a really good squad for 2022, but we’ve got a challenge for 2023,” Ponissi said on SEN’s Sportsday.

“We’ve lost experience and also leadership, that’s probably a thing (we’ll target).

“It allows us to get in the marketplace and look at some of our younger players, push them through.

“It is what it is, we’re not wrapped, but we can’t do anything about it.”

Ponissi said that while young players were the focus of the club - backed up by last week's decision to extend the contracts of Reimis Smith for two years, and the yet to debut Jack Howart for five years - the Storm would need to target some experienced players to replace the leadership lost.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 25: Reimis Smith of the Storm runs with the ball during the round seven NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and the New Zealand Warriors at AAMI Park, on April 25, 2021, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

“That’s one thing we’ve always done, keeping the young players in our system, that’s paramount," Ponissi said.

“They’re the future, but we’ll pick up some players from other clubs and people might refer to them as journeymen.

“There will be one or two players we target, I think experience and leadership is an area that we will target.

“We’ll look at that, as long as they fit the system.”

2 COMMENTS

  1. I’m not sure you can call buying in a bunch of “journeymen” a new plan for the Storm. They’ve been doing this for years just to fill holes. Next year they have to replace a whole pack of rep quality forwards that “journeymen” may not cover.

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