{"id":321961,"date":"2025-12-02T04:08:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T04:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/321961\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T04:08:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T04:08:19","slug":"the-nrls-most-controversial-enforcer-sensationally-quits-to-take-up-a-completely-different-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/321961\/","title":{"rendered":"The NRL’s most controversial enforcer sensationally quits to take up a completely different sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

He is a rugby league international and NRL premiership-winning star, but Nelson Asofa-Solomona is walking away from the game to try his hand at boxing.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne Storm granted Asofa-Solomona’s request to leave the club in October and he had been linked to the rebel\u00a0R360 competition, which has been postponed until 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The giant prop had\u00a0two years remaining on his contract but was reportedly on the outer with club management after a long string of run-ins with referees and the judiciary limited his effectiveness.<\/p>\n

Now the\u00a0115kg forward will reportedly shun rich deals from the English Super League to take up boxing instead.<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona will commence his boxing career against a well-known NRL identity, with ambitions to become a world heavyweight champion, according to News Corp<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nelson Asofa-Solomona has hovered around boxing for years, first making waves in 2020 when he challenged Darcy Lussick<\/a>, then lining up a 2021 bout with Josh Papalii that ultimately fell through.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Melbourne <\/p>\n

Melbourne Storm enforcer\u00a0Nelson Asofa-Solomona (pictured on his way to an NRL judiciary hearing) will walk away from rugby league to take up a new sport<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The NRL star has had a controversial playing career marred by incidents on and off the field<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Storm have granted Asofa-Solomona (pictured at the 2018 Dally M awards) a release despite having two years left on his contract<\/p>\n

By 2023, his training footage was turning heads in the boxing community. Melbourne trainer Antoni Topic said he’d ‘never seen a big man move like Nelson’, praising his speed, footwork and frightening knockout power.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pad-holder Leo Taliu even joked he risked permanent hand damage while holding mitts for the 200cm, 115kg enforcer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His only official in-ring outing so far came at the 2023 Battle on the Reef, where he detonated a spectacular right uppercut, the punch of the night, to floor fellow footy star Jarrod Wallace in the opening seconds<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona’s NRL<\/a> career has been punctuated by a series of controversies, starting with his infamous Bali incident in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While holidaying in the off-season, he became involved in a late-night brawl outside a nightclub, with the altercation captured on video and circulated widely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NRL Integrity Unit launched an investigation, and he eventually received a three-match suspension for upcoming New Zealand Tests, along with a suspended $15,000 fine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona maintained that he acted to defend a teammate who had been coward-punched, but he also conceded he could have handled the situation better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boxing promoter Matt Rose had already tried to sign him after seeing him throw heavy punches during the Bali brawl while protecting teammate Suliasi Vunivalu.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Asofa-Solomona <\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona has used boxing for training for years, and top promoter George Rose has previously tried to sign him<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In his only foray into the ring so far,\u00a0Asofa-Solomona (right) put on a powerhouse clinic to knock out fellow NRL star Jarrod Wallace<\/p>\n

\"Asofa-Solomona <\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona is expected to start his new career with a blockbuster bout against a big-name NRL star<\/p>\n

On the field, disciplinary problems also followed him as his aggressive style repeatedly brought him before the NRL judiciary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2024, he was found guilty of a Grade 3 careless high tackle during the preliminary final for a shot on Lindsay Collins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ruling cost him the chance to play in the grand final against the Penrith Panthers, which the Storm lost.<\/p>\n

More issues emerged in 2025, when he accepted an early guilty plea for a dangerous contact charge after a match against Manly, resulting in a two-match suspension.<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona was also one of the earliest high-profile names attached to the RUNIT Championship League<\/a>, helping promote the launch and appearing in promotional clips that framed the contest as a test of power and toughness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He encouraged competitors to ‘run it straight’ and spoke about dominating contact, which gave the fledgling competition instant credibility among rugby league fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His involvement was widely used across RUNIT’s social media channels and early marketing material.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But after serious concerns were raised by concussion experts and footage showed competitors being knocked unconscious, Asofa-Solomona quietly stepped back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reports confirmed he withdrew his support over fears the safety measures were inadequate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has since shifted his attention to promoting a separate, lower-risk game called Big Steppa, distancing himself from the escalating controversy around RUNIT.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He is a rugby league international and NRL premiership-winning star, but Nelson Asofa-Solomona is walking away from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,100,158,588,85],"class_list":["post-321961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-dailymail","tag-nrl","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321961","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=321961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}