How NRL’s biggest names predicted Utoikamanu would be the difference for the Storm

5 days ago 6

On a murky Monday morning in February this year, some of the biggest names in the game gathered in Sydney for the NRL season launch.

This masthead made a point of asking all 17 captains and senior players which rival club would win the premiership if their own team fell short. More than half responded the Melbourne Storm – and one of the main reasons was the signing of Stefano Utoikamanu.

Broncos prop Payne Haas said: “The Storm have a lot of talent, and now they’ve added Stefano in the middle. That’s what they needed. You need good front-rowers to win a comp, and they’ll turn him into a great front-rower. We’ve already seen the talent he has. I’m actually excited to see him play.”

Canberra’s Joe Tapine added: “I think Melbourne have bought well with Stefano. He’s a good player and will add to their forward pack. He helped hold that Tigers pack together at different times.”

Utoikamanu is now 80 minutes away from winning a title with the Storm, and was even rated the best prop in the game across the past two months by coach Craig Bellamy after the preliminary final triumph over Cronulla.

The 25-year-old made headlines this week when he referred to some of the Broncos players as “stuck up”.

We should have listened just as carefully to what some of his peers had to say about him before a ball was kicked this year.

When reminded about the praise from the likes of Haas and Tapine at the start of the season, Utoikamanu said this week: “That’s pretty crazy. Those two are probably the best props in the game, and for them to rap me like that, I’m grateful.

“I’ve probably surprised myself with how quickly I’ve settled into Melbourne. I had a couple of goals, which was to try and get back into the Origin arena, and play some finals footy. I ended up playing two Origin games, and I’ve played two finals.”

Utoikamanu follows teammate Shawn Blore in swapping a wooden spoon at Wests Tigers to playing in a decider with Melbourne within 12 months.

Stefano Utoikamanu during his time at the Tigers.

The front-rower made it clear over the weekend he was disappointed with the way he left the club, and had given his all the four years he was there.

“To see everyone trash me on the way out, the fans, and the media a bit, it was a shit way to go out,” Utoikamanu said.

Several players have reached out to congratulate Utoikamanu, including one Tiger he hopes to take back to the Victorian capital. He even joked he was prepared to wipe the 6 per cent commission agents usually receive for brokering a deal.

“Fonua Pole is from here [Melbourne], he has family here, and I’d love to see him come back,” Utoikamanu said. “He’s such a good player and a good bloke. He’s already messaged me this week.

“I loved my time at the Tigers, but my time in Melbourne has been the best of my career so far, not just because of how far we’ve come as a team, but for me personally and how much I’ve developed.”

Utoikamanu also said Keith Titmuss, a childhood friend who died after a Manly training session in late 2020, would be in his thoughts this week, and a photo of the pair sitting on a hill more than 10 years ago during a schoolboys trial still brought back many warm memories.

“He was one of my best mates, it’s hard to not ever think about him,” Utoikamanu said.

“We had a close group from school, including [NRL players] Matt Doorey, Jason Saab and Tommy Talau. I think about him every week. He was such a good player.”

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