Storm star's nervous wait ahead of GF rematch
Melbourne Storm are sweating on man mountain Nelson Asofa-Solomona's availability for the grand final rematch after the star prop forward was placed on report for a hip-drop tackle in the Queensland Cup in his first game back from a ban that ruled him out of last year's decider.
Melbourne desperately missed his size on grand final night, with the New Zealand international copping a five-match ban for a high shot on Roosters forward Lindsay Collins in the preliminary final.
Asofa-Solomona missed a few matches for the Kiwis in the Pacific Championships and also sat out the Storm's round one win over the Eels, with the prop getting some valuable minutes under his belt for the Sunshine Coast Falcons last week.
However, he was placed on report for a dangerous tackle, with the charge sheet set to drop on Tuesday.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona could face further time on the sideline after being placed on report for a 'hip drop' in the Sunshine Coast's 28-6 win over PNG.NAS was on the comeback trail after his suspension in last year's finals series. Do we think he has a case to answer? pic.twitter.com/cSyK0PZaeu
— The League Scene (@LeagueScenePod) March 16, 2025
'He's still burning after missing last year's grand final, but by all reports he went up there and played for the Sunny Coast and went really well so we're keen to get him back in the side,' halfback Jahrome Hughes said.
'We're hoping we get him for this week. He deserves to be there, he's done a lot of hard work in the pre-season and he's still burning from missing out on last year's GF so he's really hungry to get back in the team.'
Asofa-Solomona would be a huge inclusion alongside new recruit Stefano Utoikamanu for Thursday's showdown with the Panthers who are coming off a shock loss to an undermanned Roosters last week.
Hughes concedes he didn't watch the game and is expecting the Panthers to be fired up when they travel to Melbourne.
'By all reports, they probably didn't play their best footy, and the Roosters apparently played really well,' he said.
'We can't bank on Penrith having another off game because we know they're going to turn up. They've been turning up for many years so we're just trying to focus on ourselves and how we turn up.
'They don't have many bad games in a row so I think they're going to be up for this week's game.
'It's probably a good thing, we want to test ourselves against the best and they're the best at the moment so we're looking forward to the challenge.'
Thursday's clash will be Hughes' 150th NRL appearance for the Storm, with the playmaker relishing the fact the Storm's spine is fully fit after an injury interrupted 2024 campaign.
It's a different story for Penrith who have lost champion five-eighth Jarome Luai to the Tigers, while representative fullback Dylan Edwards will be out for a few weeks with a groin complaint.
'They're such a quality club as a whole,' the 2024 Dally M Medal winner said.
'They've lost players in the last four or five years and they've still been able to finish on top.
'We know they're going to come out and play good footy like they have been, and I don't think it really matters too much about who's in those spots.
'They're still going to be a hard team to defend and a hard team to play.'
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