The Melbourne Storm have found their big-man enforcer ahead of the 2025 Grand Final, with former Wests Tigers prop Stefano Utoikamanu finding a home in Victoria this season.
While making the switch from the bottom-feeding Tigers to the league-dominating is enough cause for celebration as-is, the plot has grown even thicker after the revelation that the reason for his exit is due to the influence of now-Brisbane Broncos coach Michael Maguire.
While the pair will take each other on in Sunday's Grand Final, they were once united in black and orange, a relationship that nearly saw Utoikamanu at the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2025, not the Storm.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Utoikamanu's arrival in Tiger Town back in 2021 was due to the relentless recruiting of Maguire, the former Tigers coach.
"Madge had gone all out to get Stefano there," said Utoikamanu's agent Daniel O'Loughlin.
"Stefano had only played a couple of games at [the Parramatta Eels] when Madge identified him as a special talent.
"He went there to be coached by Madge, who sold him his vision for the club, how he can turn it around, how he could make him an Origin player, play in a grand final and all that stuff.”
While Maguire's vision never came to fruition, the barnstorming prop was a huge fan of his coach, making his departure in 2022 a far too disappointing decision to ignore.
His exit prompted Utoikamanu to question the direction that the Tigers were going in, soon resulting in the activation of an exit clause for the young star.
While he eventually ended up with the Storm, his agent has revealed that he was nearly a Bulldog, which very well could have altered the matchup of this weekend's 'Big Dance'.
"He was really impressed with Cameron, Gus, their vision and what they had to offer," O'Loughlin said.
"Stefano was actually a whisker away from signing with the Bulldogs."
While Utoikamanu was intrigued by the idea of donning the Bulldogs jersey in 2025, as well as a lucrative offer from the Dolphins, it was the Storm's prestige and impressive track record that ultimately swayed the star prop towards Melbourne.
"It was a big call with a wife and young kids to move away without the family support," O'Loughlin said.
"The money was less than other clubs too.
"But you've seen Melbourne's record with emerging footballers, they're like rugby league Harvard University, where you get the best education.
"Canterbury were certainly a club on the way up but we thought, at this stage of his career, Melbourne was probably the best option."
While the Bulldogs have no doubt become a premier NRL side in recent years, the decision to join the Storm was ultimately the right one, and could result in a first-year premiership for Utoikamanu in 2025.
