{"id":572361,"date":"2026-08-18T04:22:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T04:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/572361\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T04:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T04:22:23","slug":"storm-lock-up-surprise-signing-for-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/572361\/","title":{"rendered":"Storm lock up surprise signing for 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Melbourne Storm<\/a> has announced the signing of Kelma Tuilagi<\/a> on a 12-month deal starting in 2027.<\/p>\n

Tuilagi will depart the Parramatta Eels<\/a> at year’s end, returning to his local club, where he progressed through the Victorian pathways after relocating from New Zealand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With incoming recruit Jaydn Su’A<\/a> is set to secure the right second row position at the Eels, and with workhorse Jack Williams<\/a> in the mix, along with the emergence of Kitione Kautoga<\/a>, he wasn’t able to pick up an extension for next year.<\/p>\n

Tuilagi was a member of the Storm’s NRL<\/a> squad in 2020, later making his NRL<\/a> debut for the Wests Tigers<\/a> the following year, where he has played 88 NRL<\/a> games for the Tigers, Manly Sea Eagles<\/a> and the Eels.<\/p>\n

“We’re delighted to have Kelma returning to Melbourne Storm<\/a> and Victoria in 2027,” director of football Frank Ponissi said.<\/p>\n

“Kelma has a strong connection to our Club. He was part of our 2020 Premiership-winning squad and came through the Victorian rugby league system, so it’s fantastic to bring him back after he’s established himself as an NRL<\/a> player.<\/p>\n

“He’s a powerful, athletic forward who has continued to develop over the past few seasons. He’ll add experience and physicality to our forward pack, and we’re excited to see him back in a Storm jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KelmaMarch 22, 2025: Parramatta Eels forward Kelma Tuilagi runs the football during an NRL Round 3 match against the St George Illawarra Dragons. (Photo credit: Josh Davis \/ Zero Tackle)<\/p>\n

Tuilagi was born in Samoa<\/a> and later represented them on an international level in the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n

The addition of Tuilagi gives the Storm second row depth moving into the future with Shawn Blore<\/a> departing the club, while Eliesa Katoa<\/a> is no guarantee of returning to the field.<\/p>\n

Tuilagi locked down a starting back row spot for the Sea Eagles when he arrived on the Northern Beaches in 2023, but with a logjam of backrowers at the club, including Samuela Fainu<\/a> and Ben Trbojevic<\/a>, Manly released Tulagi from the remaining two years of his contract for a new opportunity at the Eels.<\/p>\n

He came through the grades with the Casey Warriors and Victorian Thunderbolts clubs, a unique pathway into the NRL<\/a>, while also re-locating to the Sunshine Coast with the Storm outfit in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, later securing the premiership title that year.<\/p>\n

Tuilagi is currently plying his trade in the Eels NSW Cup<\/a> side, where he scored a double against the North Sydney Bears on the weekend.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Melbourne Storm has announced the signing of Kelma Tuilagi on a 12-month deal starting in 2027. Tuilagi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":572362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-572361","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\/572361","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=572361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}