One of the star teams of the NRL, the Melbourne Storm rugby league team will start playing in Fiji from this year.
They will start off by playing an exhibition match in Fiji in December against a local team selected by the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.
Some prominent players who feature for the Storm are Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk.
The plan was revealed after representatives of the Melbourne Storm met with the Prime Minister and the Attorney General in Suva yesterday.
The Prime Minister and the Club Chairman Bart Campbell also agreed to the Storm playing a regular season match in Fiji against another NRL team within the NRL competition from 2017 and every year thereafter.
The Storm will also train in Fiji in December this year and in 2016.
Alongside their training, the club will have coaching clinics for local clubs and young people as well as open trials for aspiring rugby league players.
The proposed exhibition match will be a 9s match between key Storm players and the Prime Minister’s invitation team.
The Club’s Chairman Bart Campbell thanked the Prime Minister and the Government for their support in agreeing to the squad coming to Fiji and also says that the 9s match would be the highlight of the week.
Campbell also highlighted the support of the Melbourne Storm for rugby league in the Pacific Islands and the fact that some of the club’s most talented players have come from the region, including Fiji’s Marika Korobiete who is one of the most exciting players in the game.
Bainimarama says this will be a wonderful opportunity not just for the fans and our young ones but also for those who want to play professionally in the NRL.
The Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says that this would bring about increased economic opportunities for the tourism industry and the ability to showcase Fiji as a viable investment destination.
Stay tuned for the latest news on our radio stations
