Finch joins Storm for 2013
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Brett Finch has signed to play for the Melbourne Storm for the 2013 season, the NRL premiers have announced.
Finch will return from a two-year stint with Super League side Wigan to join the club he won the 2009 grand final with on a one-season deal.
After stints with Canberra, Sydney Roosters and Parramatta the 257-game NRL veteran joined the Storm for the 2009 and 2010 seasons before linking with Wigan.
A part of Wigan’s 2011 Challenge Cup winning side Finch, has represented NSW in State of Origin three times and famously kicked the winning field goal in the Blues’ 17-16 win over Queensland in game one of the 2006 series.
© AAP 2013
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The Crowd Says (17) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Brett Finch, Melbourne Storm, NRL, Rugby League
October 7th 2012 @ 6:26am
steve b said | October 7th 2012 @ 6:26am | Report comment
And they got him cheap to , and Kearney is going to the Bronco’s oikee will be happy about that , they need a bit of structre though ,lol..
October 7th 2012 @ 8:39am
Campaign to return Melbourne's lost premierships said | October 7th 2012 @ 8:39am | Report comment
Finchy and Melbourne are a good fit. The fans like him and whilst he might be past his best, I am sure that ellamy will have a plan for him. One thing I do know, Wigan certainly didn’t want him to go.
October 8th 2012 @ 12:28pm
Stu said | October 8th 2012 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
Oikee does need a bit of structure LOL or are we talking about the Broncos
October 7th 2012 @ 9:45am
Mick said | October 7th 2012 @ 9:45am | Report comment
I think he’ll be a good backup for Cronk and Widdop. He was never a fancy player but Bellamy seemed to bring his best footy out. Nice to see a true “character” back into our game.
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October 7th 2012 @ 10:23am
Crosscoder said | October 7th 2012 @ 10:23am | Report comment
Always a reliable and honest player.Good buy for the Stormsters.
October 7th 2012 @ 12:24pm
Nostradamus said | October 7th 2012 @ 12:24pm | Report comment
Didnt he sign up for the Storm in 2009 mid season for allegedly $50K (yet he was 18th man in the NSW squad) when they had 11 internationals/SOO players which gave the salary cap auditor (and everyone else) a hint that something was amiss and of course it hit the fan in April 2010….So the Storm had to get rid of players in 2010 after the salry cap drama and now at least 2 of them have come back – Hoffman and Finch – People have short memories…..
October 7th 2012 @ 1:30pm
Brian Hughes said | October 7th 2012 @ 1:30pm | Report comment
Why not return to great club.Do you think the current administration would make the same,mistakes as the last? What do mean “people have short memories”? Come on let go and enjoy the best.
October 8th 2012 @ 12:10pm
Stu said | October 8th 2012 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Surely there are two perspectives:
(1) They are, in some perverse way, reaping the benefits of the salary cap rorting by two of the players returning; or,
(2) They never needed to rort the salary cap and had it been put to the players from the start that they couldn’t pay them the ridiculous amounts they may have stayed at the club in any event on lower pay.
I prefer to think the latter albeit that is the sadder version. Others prefer to think that the players, unable to be paid larger amounts, would have been distributed amongst the other teams in the competition. The fact that ex-Storm players are returning for reduced pay to play for the Storm suggests otherwise but its a crystal ball argument that goes round and round in any event.
As I understand it, when the salary cap scandal broke the players offered to take pay cuts to stay together. This was banned by the NRL administrators: no doubt it would have looked terrible if the team that cheated the cap stayed together even if the team did subsequently become cap compliant. They needed to be broken up to make it see like “justice” had been done. Fair enough to an extent but no outcome was going to be a good one, it was a bad situation that was never just going to be “made right”. That is just naieve.
So I’m guessing the current gripe about Finch and Hoffman coming back to the Storm is the perception that “justice” hasn’t been done because players are returning to a salary cap compliant team. I just can’t see the logic in it but happy to be persuaded otherwise.
It is like so many forms of justice, no one is happy with the final outcome. What most of us rule and law abiding citizens want is just for it not to have happened in the first place. It’s a pity we can’t go back in time and fix it, which leads me to my new protest rally shout:
“What do we want?”
“A time machine”
“When do we want it?”
‘Whenever really”
October 8th 2012 @ 4:56pm
Campaign to return Melbourne's lost premierships said | October 8th 2012 @ 4:56pm | Report comment
Hi Stu, When the cap scandal broke, Bellamy was adamant that he wanted to keep the big 4 together (smith,cronk,slater and inglis) even if that meant that the rest of the team had to go. The story goes that the Storm figured a way to do that. All the players offered to take a pay cut in order to stay together including Inglis and the rest of the big 4 but Gallop was livid and insisted that that group had to be broken up and hence Inglis going to the bunnies.
I never got that logic. They had been punished, they were now under the cap …. what is the problem ? I guess that Gallop’s view was that those 4 would never have come together had the cap been complied with, a view I don’t agree with considering they were all juniors when they started at the Storm and the lengths they were prepared to take to stay together.
When he left, Inglis said he would be back, that he would see out his contract with the bunnies then return.
As you say, every rugby league fan and certainly every storm fan would have loved to turn the clock back and ensured this never happened.
October 7th 2012 @ 1:29pm
ᏯᏍᏜᎦᎼᎤ said | October 7th 2012 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
Where are they going to play him?
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October 7th 2012 @ 2:25pm
jamesb said | October 7th 2012 @ 2:25pm | Report comment
perhaps Finch would be handy around the Rep part of the season where Cronk wouldn’t be available.
October 7th 2012 @ 3:36pm
Campaign to return Melbourne's lost premierships said | October 7th 2012 @ 3:36pm | Report comment
It seems that Finchy has gone on a low priced contract for the following reasons :-
He wants back into the Storm set up
He wants to work with Bellamy
He wants to coach
Say’s a great deal about the Melbourne club and this guy doesn’t it.
The fans have a very great respect for Finchy in Melboune, he will be welcomed back.
As for the Storm, what club wouldn’t pick up a guy of his ability or experience for that price ? Ask Shaun Wane at Wigan, he would have paid him a multiple of that money to get him to stay.
October 7th 2012 @ 5:05pm
stormtrooper4 said | October 7th 2012 @ 5:05pm | Report comment
I am a massive melbourne supporter but i don’t know why Finch is coming to melbourne for. We have the best halfback in the league and an under rated 5/8 in widdop who i believe is the future superstar for melbourne in the halves. Finch’s position is taken by two player who are leagues a head of him. Dont know why melbourne signed him to be honest. No disrespect to Finchy but we have really good players coming through our junior system who should be give a go, not people who have no improvements a head of them. just my opinion ofcourse.
GO THE MIGHTY STORM
October 8th 2012 @ 4:59pm
Campaign to return Melbourne's lost premierships said | October 8th 2012 @ 4:59pm | Report comment
Tut tut Stormtrooper, don’t you know that you shouldn’t question these things just BELIEVE!
Come back and question this time next year.
October 7th 2012 @ 9:30pm
bill larkin said | October 7th 2012 @ 9:30pm | Report comment
He will add well needed depth to the inside backs. He’ll probably be a bench player, but is welcome back.
October 8th 2012 @ 6:01pm
storptrooper4 said | October 8th 2012 @ 6:01pm | Report comment
I think that finch will play in the forwards and Hinchcliffe will replace todd lowrie, Finch was bought cheaply because Storm is losing a lot of experience for next year. Not a great signing in my opinion but i do have some sentimental affection for Finchy. I just hope they make him fit into the side without displacing any one (hint:widdop) but in saying that its very unlikely. We have a couple of forwards coming though our junior system so we should be fine for 2013.
p.s.: Hinchy is intrested in coaching roles so an assistant position for 2014 is what hes looking for as well i think.
Go THE MIGHTY STORM
October 8th 2012 @ 9:49pm
Morfs said | October 8th 2012 @ 9:49pm | Report comment
I have seen a similar thought mentioned elsewhere. Also, I believe you meant Finchy, and not Hinch in your post script? I am of the understanding that he has not been brought in to displace anyone, but rather for added depth, as well as to be a mentor to our up & coming play makers (read: Widdop, Hampton, etc.). This would tie in with any future coaching positions, and would, I believe, benefit the club greatly. Widdop has truly shown his worth as a solid 5/8 the last two years, but I feel he can still take a couple more steps up to be a truly great half. Perhaps (I hope) the influence (on field, not off field – I’m sure we all recall Finch & Cronk getting busted in Byron Bay for relieving themselves in public) of Finch can prove the catalyst. I remember when he first joined the club, Finch proved a near-perfect foil for Cronk’s more structured style, and, in my view at least, Widdop is already showing signs of that, but also with some decent nous for more structured play (for reference, see his combo this year with Hoffman, and the Cronk – Widdop – Slater moves).
Anyway, that’s a bit more than I intended to say, but it’s a Monday, and I’ve had a couple of beers, so it got the old cogs working. Suffice to say, I am happy to see Finch come back, and wish him all the best back at the club I love. Now to see if we can secure the WCC to be played in Melbourne….