Confirmed: Storm star Vunivalu switching to rugby

For his sake I just hope he doesn't believe in Jesus..

Great news for rugby in Australia. Don't you love it how when rugby league players change over to union, they're always referred to as former rugby league player. But when it's the other way around , rugby league writers, coaches, etc never say former Rugby Union player. Eg Wally Lewis, Michael O'Connor, and so many other players. The rugby league fraternity are al so precious in ways like this. Thanks for the reminder Brad Thorn of his origins in Union.

Not sure Paul I think he moved. However he was also a serious talent

Very fair comment Bourkos. I think competition for spots makes for a better team. Is Sefanaia Naivalu still with the Reds?

Suliasi Vunivalu is just as good as Folau under the high ball, just as fast and nimble but probably more reliable. He's a great get. Just spewing we can't get him on the park against the All Blacks in Melbourne!

Joe, good call. Papenhuizen's got the goods, the fans just need to be patient. I think we expected a lot from the likes of Hughes, Munster and Croft. I think the Storm will be just fine. As a side note, it occurred to me that between 1998 and 2017 the Storm have had only three regular half-backs: Brett Kimmorley, Matt Orford and Cooper Cronk. That's just nuts!

Vunivalu is more similar to Sisa Waqa than Koroibete, Waqa was a playmaker in 15's, infact a good one but cause Rugby union in Australia had laws preventing capped fijians from playing for their super rugby teams, he switched to league and it hurt him cause he could never play playmaker again..imagine if the Storm used Waqa at playmaker too..one of the main reason why union players that go to league switch back cause they get tired of being underused..

he actauallyl played at lock (grew tall fast) in his early days and at blindside..

pretty sure he is already eligible for the Wallabies..

Unless Vunivalu has a shocking first year, which I doubt, he will be a Wallaby in no time. RA would surely have been part of the pitch as well as QLD. At the Storm he is probably on half as much as he's going to be paid playing RU. The big losers out of this aren't really the Storm as they tend to find players willing to come to the club for unders but with a real chance of playing for a team used to playing finals deep into the end of the year. The losers are the FRL who have made great inroads in the last three years and are on the verge of being promoted to a tier 1 nation. That's a huge thing for Rugby League. There seems to be an endless production line in Fiji of big bodied players who aren't afraid of taking the ball up. Hopefully we've got another one out the back paddock somewhere. No blame should be attributed to Bellamy with the players we have lost not just this year but nearly every year. People on the Roar having been writing the Storm of since we won the GF in 2017 saying we are finished. Go through the Storm Team to see the players we have lost in the last three years.

The SMH reports that Vunivalu has signed a 2-year deal to "play for the Wallabies and Queensland Reds starting in 2021". Surely that should read he has been signed for two years to play for the Queensland Reds starting in 2021, and is eligible to play for the Wallabies (if he is good enough to be picked).

The difference in passing between Koroibete and Vunivalu is that Vunivalu spent time in the NZ rugby development system. His "bullet" passing (long torpedo) is systematic of that training. A few years ago, All Black halfback Piri Weepu did a pre-season training with the Knights and they apparently couldn't believe how he could do 25m passes from dummy half so accurately and fast.

I wasn't aware that Koroibete played Union, if he did he certainly didn't develop the type of passing game that Vunivalu has. I've watched both of them play for the Storm and haven't seen Koroibete do any long passes whereas Vunivalu has thrown some beauties. I'm contending that NRL players and in particular Melbourne Storm wingers are taught to tuck the ball in and take hit ups and play low risk football. I think Union wingers bringing the ball back from a kick are much more likely to pass than NRL players. In the multiphase Union game there will be far more passes than in the 6 tackle sets in an NRL game.

This is a difficult comment to understand. Firstly Koroibete also played union before league. And secondly are you contending that players in union offload and pass more than their league counterparts? If so you watch football through a different lens than myself (and most other Australians).

Yeah I'm always prepared to give a little leeway on such things. It was shorthand for "has to be a genuine finals contender" as opposed to being the also-ran of too many recent years. A bad luck run with injury is always a problem for Aus sides, even if we had the money we don't have the talent to carry much depth outside the top 23.

The cynic in me would agree with that statement but the fact remains that the Storm develop players better than just about any other club. They have are a long history of developing journeymen, raw talent and has-beens and turning them into quality players. Once these players leave the club they are only a shadow of what they used to be (i.e. Tohu Harris). The obvious notable exception was Cooper Cronk who was one of the best players in his position over the last two decades. The simple truth is that Bellamy has a LOT to do with the form and confidence of these players as the bar is set very high to begin with and nothing less is tolerated. Hence the Storm cutting Brodie Croft who had too many errors in his game and he would often crack under pressure. That being the case it will be interesting to see what being coached by Seibold and partnered with Darius Boyd will do for his confidence. Strap yourself in Nat for a wild ride if you thought your 2019 halves pairing were a train wreck! :laughing:

I don't know how they do it but the Storm are developing players to easily replace the ones they let go. Except for Billy Slater. He was special. In any case, no one leaves the Storm if the Storm want them to stay. Josh Addo-Carr may be the first though. The welcome mat has been laid out for his return to Redfern and I'm hearing that's still a possibility. If not for 2020 then for 2021. Watch this space. ;-)

Al, I think you're right about the breakdown. But you can have it both ways - a winger can be good at the breakdown. Speight is one good example.

Do you think Speight is that much quicker than the others Bobby? :stoked: :silly:

Yep he has to make the finals or it`s a fail for me too. Top 6 is a must for Thorn in 2020.