Melbourne Storm football boss Frank Ponnisi has declared the club’s future talent base lies in Victoria as they prepare for a historic weekend.
The NRL side will play in a preliminary final against the Sharks at AAMI Park on Friday night before the Jersey Flegg team takes on Penrith in Sunday’s grand final.
It will be the under 21 side’s first decider since entering the competition in 2019 after they finished the regular season with the minor premiership.
The success at both senior and junior level comes as the Storm double down on their commitment to building a clear pathway for Victorians to the NRL.
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How the Storm plan to sustain success
“We started this program two years ago and we’ve been building towards this point for a couple of years,” Ponissi told NRL.com. “About 40% of the Jersey Flegg squad is Victorians and we’re determined to increase it over the next two years.
“We entered our first Harold Matthews team in 2024 and that team is all local Victorians, we don’t recruit from other states for that team. The SG Ball team made the finals this year so over the next few years as they progress to Jersey Flegg we will be up over 50% Victorians.
“We’re really pleased with the success of this program and we’re determined to keep increasing the number of Victorian kids playing for the Storm.”
The Storm have spent the past few seasons planning a complete revamp of their pathways, with the club determined to provide more opportunities for the next generation of Victorian talent.
A Storm Academy was introduced in 2022, with an under 17 team entering the NSWRL Harold Matthews competition in 2024.
Rather than rely on Queensland Cup and NSW Cup teams to develop players, Melbourne will field a Storm reserve grade team for the first time next year.
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Fa’alogo: “It means a lot to represent Victoria”
The historic move will create a direct pathway from under 17s to the NRL for the first time in the club’s history.
Melbourne will now field a team in Harold Matthews, SG Ball, Jersey Flegg, NSW Cup and the NRL. The club is also focused on their women’s programs and will introduce teams to compete in the Lisa Faiola Cup and Tarsha Gale Cup next season as they work towards adding an NRLW side.
The changes are designed to ensure more Melbourne juniors have the chance to play in the NRL, particularly as the junior playing base in Victoria continues to grow.
While the Storm have enjoyed sustained success at the top level, developing home-grown talent has proven difficult in their 28-year history. Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown became the sixth Melbourne product to represent the club earlier this year, with Ponissi determined to grow that number.
“For all the good things this club has done, that number doesn’t sit well with me,” Ponissi said. “Before this year we were sitting at five Victorian players. We want to double that and have another five within five years.
“It was great to get another one this year with Siulagi and hopefully we can get to 10 by 2028. From there, we just want to keep producing more Storm players.”
The Melbourne Storm stars interacted with their fans at an open training session on Monday.
©Melbourne Storm
The renewed focus on pathways has contributed to a surge in playing numbers in Victoria, with junior participation reaching record levels this year.
Overall registrations grew by more than 11%, with female participation up 15.2% and male participation up 10.4%.
Storm livewire Sua Faalogo has become the public face of the boom, with the 22-year-old progressing through the junior pathways before making his NRL debut in the final round of the 2023 season.
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Sua continues to shine
The fullback is billed as a future star and could provide a finals X-factor if picked for Friday’s clash with the Sharks.
Faalogo has quickly generated a legion of fans, with Melbourne locals latching on to a home-grown talent who has produced multiple highlight reel plays.
This year saw the inaugural edition of the Sua Faalogo Cup, with the city’s best under 16 players invited to compete in a six-round competition.
The youngster first started playing rugby league as a 13-year-old and has noticed a considerable rise in interest from the Victorian public.
“It’s pretty crazy to have kids looking up to me,” Faalogo told NRL.com. “I try to give back and help them out so hopefully there’s more Victorian kids who get to wear that purple jersey one day.
“When I first started, rugby league wasn’t as big as it is right now. Back then it was pretty tough to make it to the top level. You got to play club level but that’s all you could play in Melbourne.
“Now we’re seeing a lot of Victorian kids coming through and we’re seeing the benefits of the Storm Academy. The program is really helping Victorian kids, which is cool to see.”
Sustained success, combined with a club-wide focus to be present in the community has seen Melbourne residents embrace the Storm in recent years.
Crowds have consistently exceeded 20,000 in the past couple of seasons, with the club registering multiple sell outs in 2025.
The players are eager for the full-house sign to go up this week as they look to book a second-straight grand final berth.
Friday’s preliminary final will also be broadcast live on Channel 9 and Kayo and Faalogo is desperate for one more opportunity to play on his home turf before the season ends.
“Getting the opportunity to play finals at home in front of my family is special,” Faalogo said.
“Hopefully I get the opportunity on Friday night, it would be very cool to get that opportunity to play in front of the home fans and my friends and family.”