{"id":359033,"date":"2026-04-01T19:15:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/359033\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T19:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:15:12","slug":"storm-secure-nas-replacement-for-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/359033\/","title":{"rendered":"Storm secure NAS replacement for the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Storm<\/a> have moved quickly to lock away one of the most exciting young forwards to emerge from their pathways, securing Cooper Clarke<\/a> on a contract extension through to the end of 2029.<\/p>\n

Clarke is currently a top 30 squad member and was previously contracted until the end of the 2028 season.<\/p>\n

It was reported by News Corp last week that the extension would be up to the 2031 season. However, now that is not the case.<\/p>\n

At just 19, Clarke has already made it clear he belongs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After earning his NRL<\/a> debut in Round 1 against the Parramatta Eels<\/a>, he has since added three more first-grade appearances to his name, a rapid rise that few would have predicted even twelve months ago.<\/p>\n

Internally, the club had huge wraps on their NAS replacement<\/a> and in 2025, his season included NSW Under 19’s State Origin honours, named the club’s SG Ball Player of the Year, and played a pivotal role in the maiden Jersey Flegg premiership victory of the Panthers, a result that carried its own weight of significance for a club that is taking its development pathways seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Storm’s Director of Football, Frank Ponissi, in the club statement, made clear that Clarke’s re-signing is about more than the present moment; it is a statement of belief in what is still to come.<\/p>\n

“Cooper is a young forward we’re really excited about. He’s earned his first-grade opportunity this season through hard work and made significant improvements to his game over the off-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s a great competitor with a terrific attitude and a strong willingness to learn, and we’re looking forward to his continued development in a Melbourne Storm<\/a> jersey over the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne Storm have moved quickly to lock away one of the most exciting young forwards to emerge from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-359033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359033","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=359033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}