{"id":195174,"date":"2025-10-07T10:21:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/195174\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T10:21:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:21:10","slug":"nrl-news-2025-melbourne-storm-roster-player-movement-ryan-papenhuyzen-jonah-pezet-sualauvi-faalogo-cameron-munster-contracts-braith-anasta-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/195174\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2025 | Melbourne Storm roster, player movement; Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jonah Pezet, Sualauvi Fa’alogo, Cameron Munster contracts; Braith Anasta comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the sun sets on Melbourne Storm’s second straight grand final loss<\/a>, it will now rise on the club’s roster.<\/p>\n

The brains trust at Melbourne<\/a> will now consider what it will take to go from grand finalists to premiers.<\/p>\n

Luckily for the Storm, possible solutions are already within the four walls at the club.<\/p>\n

LIVE UPDATES: AFL trade period day two<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Storm ‘at a crossroads’, star’s ‘attitude’ in question<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: ‘From above’: Fuming Grant slams vital Walsh call<\/a><\/p>\n

The club must consider players like Jonah Pezet and Sualauvi Fa’alogo who have been waiting in the wings and will undoubtedly press for a move if they are not pushed up the pecking order.<\/p>\n

Melbourne’s problem is Ryan Papenhuyzen<\/a> has one more year on his deal, so that decision is unlikely to have an impact on next season.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ryan Papenhuyzen and Sualauvi Faalogo.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Fa’alogo is signed until 2028, and it’s clear Melbourne sees him as the future.<\/p>\n

Papenhuyzen is a premiership winner and integral figure at the Storm but his injury history appears to have impacted his speed.<\/p>\n

There are reports that R360 could be where he lands. But that won’t be until after the 2026 season. <\/p>\n

Cameron Munster<\/a> is a peculiar situation too. He’s contracted until the end of 2027 but the drums are beating on a Perth Bears move. That would require him to leave a year early.<\/p>\n

Munster and Pezet’s agent, Braith Anasta, foreshadowed what’s to come on Fox’s NRL 360.<\/p>\n

“Huge couple of weeks,” he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jonah Pezet. \u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Pezet can execute a clause to leave the Storm immediately after Jahrome Hughes re-signed, and there’s no shortage of clubs needing a halfback.<\/p>\n

“I’ve got a lot of work to do the next couple of weeks … he loves Melbourne and he went there for a reason, he’s loved everything he’s done there and it’s positioned him into the player he is,” Anasta said.<\/p>\n

“But he’s also more than ready and he’s been so patient, (but) how long can he keep waiting?”<\/p>\n

Then there’s Munster. <\/p>\n

Prior to the grand final, Storm chairman Matt Tripp told The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a> he doesn’t want the five-eighth to leave.<\/p>\n

“The priority for me for him is to be happy, and I hope that’s being happy at Melbourne. We will work all that out over the next few weeks, but at this stage I want him finishing with us,” he said.<\/p>\n

That’s an easy solution for the Storm. He’s contracted, and unless they give him permission, can’t negotiate with Perth for 2027. The club has the power.<\/p>\n

But 2028? That’s a different story, and a long way into the future.<\/p>\n

How the Storm want to handle it will be intriguing.<\/p>\n

Does Pezet get a loan deal for next year before taking over from Munster in 2027. Or does Pezet decide he’s done waiting around and trigger an exit that would ensure the Storm loses a future talent.<\/p>\n

It’s a four-player puzzle that faces the Storm, and it grows into a five-player puzzle, or even six.<\/p>\n

Forming another part of the picture is the enforcer: Nelson Asofa-Solomona.<\/p>\n

The prop’s situation has been bubbling away for over a year with speculation rife that Melbourne are looking for a way out.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Asofa-Solomona extended until the end of 2027, with a reported mutual option for 2028. His salary is reportedly $850,000-a-season.<\/p>\n

It’s a lot of money for someone who hasn’t played a full season over the last two years.<\/p>\n

This year he played 12 matches and missed the grand final again.<\/p>\n

It’s a decent argument that a full strength, in form Asofa-Solomona can make Melbourne premiers.<\/p>\n

But he hasn’t been there when they need him.<\/p>\n

\"Nelson<\/p>\n

Nelson Asofa-Solomona.\u00a0NRL Imagery<\/p>\n

The sixth player? Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.<\/p>\n

He will be a free agent once November 1 arrives and the thought of the big prop returning to Melbourne is romantic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But can they afford it with Asofa-Solomona taking up so much cap space?<\/p>\n

Doubtful. And Melbourne would have to chip in if he left. So far, no suitors are coming forward.<\/p>\n

Post the salary cap scandal, Melbourne’s management of its expenditure has been brilliant.<\/p>\n

The big money sits in the spine and the diamonds in the rough come around them.<\/p>\n

But this is one contract they may look back on with regret. <\/p>\n

In an ideal world, Asofa-Solomona returns to form and finds the balance between aggression and discipline.<\/p>\n

In an ideal world, Papenhuzyen has the perfect off-season, ready to charge for possibly one last year in purple.<\/p>\n

And in an ideal world, Munster stays, Pezet goes on loan for two years and then takes over the five-eighth position.<\/p>\n

But there’s no room for hypotheticals in rugby league. And there’s no room for patience.<\/p>\n

Premierships don’t wait and the clouds are hovering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the sun sets on Melbourne Storm’s second straight grand final loss, it will now rise on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-195174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}