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Melbourne Storm star could quit the club after NRL grand final after $140,000 contract offer

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Melbourne Storm star could quit the club after NRL grand final after $140,000 contract offer

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Sunday night’s NRL grand final looms as potentially the last game that Tui Kamikamica will play for the Melbourne Storm amid revelations he’s been asked to take a $260,000 pay-cut if he wants to stay. Kamikamica has a club option in his contract for next season, meaning it’s completely up to the Storm as to whether they offer him a new deal.

The 31-year-old is said to be on $400,000 this year, but the Storm have told him they can only offer the league-minimum $140,000 for 2026. The Fijian has been one of the unsung heroes for the Storm over the last few years, playing 137 games since debuting in 2017.

He’s cemented his spot in first-grade and will be used off the bench in Sunday night’s grand final against the Broncos. Kamikamica has become a valuable member of the Storm’s forward pack, but the club are willing to part ways due to salary cap restraints.

The 31-year-old would need to take a $260,000 pay-cut if he wants to stay in Melbourne in 2026, but that seems unlikely. The Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitohs had made enquiries about signing him for 2026, but both decided against it.

It now appears a move to the UK Super League might be the most likely option, although Kamikamica doesn’t want to relocate his young family. Manager Jeff Jurotte told the Courier Mail this week: “Tui would love to finish his career at Melbourne but they have salary-cap pressures.

“He has had an offer from the Storm and he has interest from St Helens, but his preference is to stay in Australia. He was close to going to Souths with Wayne (Bennett) but unfortunately the deal fell through.

“I had some talks with the Broncos but that didn’t work out either. Tui is still in brilliant shape, if you look at him with his shirt off, he has one of the best physiques in the NRL. He has a young family and he’s got commitments here, so ideally Tui can stay in the NRL.”

Kamikamica has played 16 Test matches for Fiji across his career, and featured in 23 games for the Storm this season. The Perth Bears or PNG could be an option, but won’t enter the comp until 2027 and 2028 respectively.

The situation in Melbourne might change dramatically if the Storm can find a club to take on Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s contract. The Kiwi forward has played 215 games for the Storm, winning two premierships in 2017 and 2020. 

However he’s fallen out of favour with coach Craig Bellamy this year, and struggled to crack the first-grade side. Bellamy used Asofa-Solomona in the last two games of the regular season, but he copped a three-game ban that’s ruled him out of the grand final. Bellamy is said to be frustrated with Nelson’s continued lack of discipline, after he missed last year’s grand final with a ban as well.

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Last month, the Daily Telegraph revealed that a “third party” had been in contact with the Warriors to gauge their interest in taking Asofa-Solomona. However the New Zealand club baulked at the offer due to Asofa-Solomona’s $850,000 price tag.

The Kiwi prop is under contract until the end of 2027 on a deal worth $850,000 per year. The Storm would likely have to chip in a sizeable portion of that money in order to move him on.

“Melbourne would like it if he was elsewhere, there’s no doubt about that,” journalist Michael Carayannis told SEN radio. “His contract makes it incredibly hard for him to ship (to another club). He’s been mentioned at the Dragons and there’s a long list of clubs…this has been going on for two years now at least. Melbourne would be happy for Nelson to potentially go.”

This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sport Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/melbourne-storm-star-could-quit-the-club-after-nrl-grand-final-after-140000-contract-offer-224112450.html