{"id":933775,"date":"2026-10-19T13:20:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933775\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T13:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:20:20","slug":"nrl-2026-storm-signing-jamayne-isaako-opens-up-on-dolphins-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933775\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Storm signing Jamayne Isaako opens up on Dolphins exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storm recruit Jamayne Isaako concedes he would have preferred to have remained at the Dolphins but says he\u2019s excited to begin the next chapter of his life in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

The pointscoring machine signed a two-year deal with the Storm earlier in the season, with the Dolphins facing a salary cap squeeze with several star outside backs set to become free agents on November 1.<\/p>\n

Isaako didn\u2019t miss a game in his four seasons at the Dolphins and amassed a staggering 1055 points on the right wing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally, we wanted to stay in Brisbane,\u201d he told the NewsWire. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was enjoying my time at the Dolphins, and at the time, they couldn\u2019t come to the table with anything. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was wanting to get a deal done so that I wouldn\u2019t have to worry about footy and I could play the season out without having to have that stress. <\/p>\n

\u201cI left it all to my manager. He basically kept coming back to me and saying that the Dolphins didn\u2019t have anything ready, hence why I made the decision to go to Melbourne who were keen to sign me straight away. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tough decision, one that my partner and I didn\u2019t take lightly because we\u2019ve got two young kids as well. But we\u2019re looking forward to this next chapter. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m officially a Melbourne Storm player now and I\u2019m looking forward to rubbing shoulders with the likes of Jahrome Hughes, Cameron Munster and Harry Grant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outstanding goalkicker is in camp with New Zealand for the World Cup but is looking forward to working with AFL players and coaches in Melbourne to work on his aerial skills.<\/p>\n

He was outleapt twice by Kangaroos winger Jack Bostock in the World Cup opener and has big boots to fill at the Storm given how dominant Will Warbrick was in the air.<\/p>\n

The Storm had a cheat code off kicks in 2025, with Xavier Coates and Eli Katoa incredible under the high ball, but both men missed all of this year. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows that Melbourne is AFL central down there, and you\u2019ve got the elite of the game that play in that code,\u201d Isaako said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can go down there and learn to get a bit more air action and jump a bit higher or whatnot, that\u2019s obviously something that I\u2019m looking forward to taking on board and hopefully adding to the arsenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Storm already has an Isaako on the books, with Victory Isaako starring for them in the lower grades.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been asked if he\u2019s a relative or brother of mine, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any sort of relation there or anything like that,\u201d Jamayne said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI heard he\u2019s from Christchurch too, funnily enough. Maybe there is some sort of relation there or not, but I honestly don\u2019t even know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018We wanted to stay\u2019: Jamayne Isaako opens up on \u2018tough\u2019 contract call as he clears the air on false narrative<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Storm recruit Jamayne Isaako concedes he would have preferred to have remained at the Dolphins but says he\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":933776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[500745,4891,376963,497007,398740,379201,500727,500742,452900,500747,456600,500739,393653,392277,500743,500728,500733,409242,64,63,401983,14828,387617,651,4567,20871,115961,26513,162,500744,80681,500750,9116,187070,8095,500740,500738,446732,389167,402328,4575,500732,402308,500725,366345,15499,398722,647,500737,383343,409981,381011,761,762,1736,500735,158,376545,500746,386275,127524,382305,85,18397,17711,500748,439156,500736,379588,500729,500730,402207,378533,54179,500724,74713,494269,380835,422516,380371,377779,500741,500749,500731,356269,378787,383393,376539,72503,489835,381663,364611,26647,500734,500726,21418,43379],"class_list":["post-933775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-raw-admission","tag-4891","tag-a-bit","tag-a-cheat-code","tag-a-deal","tag-a-game","tag-a-heavyweight-nrl-club","tag-a-major-signing","tag-a-melbourne-storm-player","tag-a-relative-or-brother","tag-a-salary-cap-squeeze","tag-a-staggering-1055-points","tag-a-tough-decision","tag-a-two-year-deal","tag-afl-central","tag-afl-players-and-coaches","tag-an-isaako","tag-any-sort","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-big-boots","tag-board","tag-both-men","tag-brisbane","tag-cameron-munster","tag-camp","tag-christchurch","tag-contract-call","tag-dolphins","tag-dominant-will-warbrick","tag-eli-katoa","tag-false-narrative","tag-footy","tag-free-agents","tag-harry-grant","tag-his-aerial-skills-he","tag-his-former-team","tag-his-four-seasons","tag-his-life","tag-isaako","tag-jahrome-hughes","tag-jamayne","tag-jamayne-isaako","tag-kangaroos-winger-jack-bostock","tag-kicks","tag-kiwis","tag-major-move","tag-melbourne","tag-more-air-action","tag-my-manager","tag-my-partner","tag-my-time","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-zealand","tag-november-1-isaako","tag-nrl","tag-relation","tag-several-star-outside-backs","tag-shoulders","tag-signings","tag-some-sort","tag-sports","tag-star-signing","tag-storm","tag-storm-recruit-jamayne-isaako","tag-that-code","tag-that-stress","tag-the-air","tag-the-air-the-storm","tag-the-arsenal","tag-the-books","tag-the-decision","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-elite","tag-the-game","tag-the-high-ball","tag-the-likes","tag-the-lower-grades","tag-the-newswire","tag-the-next-chapter","tag-the-outstanding-goalkicker","tag-the-pointscoring-machine","tag-the-right-wing","tag-the-season","tag-the-storm","tag-the-table","tag-the-time","tag-the-world-cup","tag-the-world-cup-opener","tag-this-next-chapter","tag-this-year","tag-tough","tag-two-young-kids","tag-victory-isaako","tag-world-cup","tag-xavier-coates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933775","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=933775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/933776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}