{"id":169868,"date":"2025-12-05T18:20:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T18:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/169868\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T18:20:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T18:20:15","slug":"asofa-solomona-hints-at-nrl-return-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/169868\/","title":{"rendered":"Asofa-Solomona hints at NRL return – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Melbourne Storm<\/a> powerhouse Nelson Asofa-Solomona<\/a> made the shock decision earlier this week to quit rugby league in pursuit of a boxing career.<\/p>\n

While the move ruled out any immediate return to footy, he has revealed he’s not ruling out an NRL<\/a> comeback entirely, despite signing a lucrative three-year boxing deal with No Limit.<\/p>\n

The 201cm prop has swapped the rugby league field for the boxing ring after admitting he’s \u201cfallen out of love\u201d with the game following 10 seasons and 215 NRL<\/a> appearances for the Storm.<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona will make his professional debut on January 16 in Brisbane, fighting on the undercard of Nikita Tszyu’s blockbuster bout with Michael Zerafa.<\/p>\n

Despite the move, the 29-year-old says the door remains slightly ajar for a potential return to rugby league.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy big toe is still in the door. I never say never,\u201d Asofa-Solomona told Code Sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart’s not in it right now, but never say never.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told every NRL<\/a> club the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FINALMELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JULY 27: Nelson Asofa-Solomona of the Storm is tackled during the round 19 NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and the Manly Sea Eagles at AAMI Park on July 27, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Kelly Defina\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona’s shift to boxing follows interest from both the Parramatta Eels<\/a> and the now-collapsed R360 rugby competition, though he ultimately turned down the offers to pursue a new passion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI woke up one morning and it felt like a chore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a great time in rugby league, but it’s the rollercoaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on it too long and felt sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

After linking up with Team Ellis in Melbourne, the two-time premiership winner said he rediscovered his spark in the gym.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started training again and fell in love with boxing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cool thing about boxing is the flexibility – you can fight, then have time off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll just play it by ear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona, who last played for the Storm in 2025 and missed the Grand Final through suspension, hasn’t named his first opponent yet, but made his main goal known.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to put everyone on highlight reels,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Whether or not he steps back onto an NRL<\/a> field, Asofa-Solomona’s message is clear – he’s found a new love in boxing, but the game that made him a star may still call him back one day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Melbourne Storm powerhouse Nelson Asofa-Solomona made the shock decision earlier this week to quit rugby league in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-169868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}