By David Nagel
Melbourne Storm is primed for a huge pre-season NRL trial game against the New Zealand Warriors at Casey Fields after a gruelling three-hour training session at the same venue on Saturday.
An enthusiastic crowd was on hand to watch the full Melbourne Storm squad put through their paces ahead of a massive season for the club.
The Storm and Warriors will dedicate their upcoming pre-season NRL trial game at Casey Fields to the people of Tonga, raising funds for those communities affected by the recent volcanic explosion.
The ‘Unite for Tonga’ match will be played at Casey Fields on Saturday, February 19 with a range of initiatives being organised to allow members and supporters of both clubs to donate to the cause.
For many years, players of Tongan descent have featured for both clubs, including Felise Kaufusi and George Jennings who are part of Storm’s current top-30 squad.
The Warriors’ 2022 squad contains six Tongans – Addin Fonua-Blake, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Eliesa Katoa, Taniela Otukolo and Viliami Vailea.
Storm CEO Justin Rodski said the club’s thoughts were with the affected Tongan communities.
“Tongans have a proud history in rugby league and with Storm,” Rodski said.
“We are honoured to be able to join with our friends at the Warriors for this special ‘Unite for Tonga’ match to do what we can to help in this time of need.
“We want to make sure we have done our bit to support the island community as they look to rebuild.
“We hope the Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors fans can dig deep to support the initiatives we have in place and that life in Tonga can return to normal as quickly as possible.”
Rodski said the club was keen to return to Casey following a huge turnout for the 2020 pre-season match against the North Queensland Cowboys.
“The response and excitement the game created showed just how much interest there is in Storm and rugby league in general in that part of greater Melbourne so we’re delighted to get the chance to come back to Casey for the second time,” Rodski said.
“The south-east is a real stronghold for rugby league with our club and the Warriors being clearly the two most popular teams.
“We expect to again go very close to reaching the capacity which has been set at 8000 for this game with Covid-19 protocols in place.
“I know our players are very much looking forward to the trial game as we prepare for round one and our return to AAMI Park on March 22.”
