{"id":331550,"date":"2025-12-06T23:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T23:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/331550\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T23:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T23:16:11","slug":"asofa-solomona-speaks-on-shock-storm-exit-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/331550\/","title":{"rendered":"Asofa-Solomona speaks on shock Storm exit – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Melbourne Storm<\/a> enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona<\/a> has opened up on his recent departure from the NRL<\/a> and switch to boxing.<\/p>\n

He revealed he saw his departure from the club coming, saying his split from the Storm was \u201ca mutual agreement\u201d after falling out of favour under Craig Bellamy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona played just 12 games in 2025 and missed the last two grand finals through suspension, before being released from his contract on October 9, walking away from a deal worth more than $800,000 per season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see it coming,\u201d he told foxsports.com.au. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a mutual agreement and I just think it was time\u2026 it was time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MelbourneSUNSHINE COAST, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 19: Nelson Asofa-Solomona is seen during a Melbourne Storm NRL training session at Sunshine Coast Stadium on October 19, 2020 in Sunshine Coast, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The 201cm forward, who played 203 games across a decade and won premierships in 2017 and 2020, admitted he never actually sat down with Bellamy to discuss his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe honestly didn’t have a conversation,\u201d Asofa-Solomona said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not too sure if he even knew\u2026 he’s a coach, he’s focusing on the whole team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following his release, the 29-year-old confirmed several clubs approached him, but he chose instead to sign a multi-year deal with No Limit Boxing, joining the professional heavyweight scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a few clubs there, but I told them all the same thing, I’m not ready to come back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to bide my time and find what I enjoy again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona revealed he seriously considered joining the R360 rebel competition, which has since been delayed to 2028, but opted instead for a break from the NRL<\/a> grind.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mindset was just to have a break, even just travel, bro,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to experience a Europe summer, but here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, with the NRL<\/a> behind him, Asofa-Solomona is preparing for his boxing debut on January 16 as part of the Nikita Tszyu vs Michael Zerafa card.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve thrown myself into the unknown, taken a risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I think, \u2018what the hell am I doing?’ But you have to be in that mindset, what’s life without risk?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Melbourne Storm enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona has opened up on his recent departure from the NRL and switch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-331550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331550","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=331550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}