Hoffman: I'm not leaving the Storm

Melbourne Storm back-rower Ryan Hoffman has a blunt message for those suggesting he could be a victim of the club’s end-of-season purge: “I’m not going anywhere”.<br><br>Hoffman is one of a number of players linked in the past week with a move to English glamour club Wigan – who are coached by former Storm assistant coach Michael McGuire – as the disgraced former premiers try to offload up to $1.3 million in talent to get themselves under the salary cap in 2011.<br><br>Melbourne is determined to retain their key quartet of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Greg Inglis and Cooper Cronk but will almost certainly have to offload other big-name players in order to do so.<br><br>Those also believed to be in the firing line include Adam Blair, Sika Manu, Anthony Quinn and Jeff Lima, who has already been granted a release.'<br><br>But Hoffman told NRL.com that reports of his impending departure are wrong and insisted he had no intention of leaving Melbourne at the end of the year.<br><br>“I’m contracted until the end of 2012 with the Melbourne Storm and that’s what it is as far as I’m concerned,” the former Blues representative said. “I’ve got no plans to go anywhere else.<br><br>“I’m contracted – and that’s as far as it’s going.”<br><br>Hoffman said it had been a difficult few months for the playing group, whose collective futures remain clouded in uncertainty as they wait for accounting firm Deloitte to finish their audit of Melbourne’s massive salary cap rorting of the past few years.<br><br>But the 26-year-old is particularly concerned for rookies Matt Duffie and Justin O’Neill, who like the rest of the squad have been told they are unable to be re-signed until Deloitte’s final report has been issued.<br><br>“Look, it’s tough because they (Melbourne) want to keep their big four and everyone wants to stay at the club,” Hoffman said. “I’ve been at the club for eight years.<br>&nbsp;<br>“But it’s also our young guys who I really hope don’t get forced out because of this. <br><br>“It’s particularly hard on them because they really want to stay at the club but like the rest of us they’ve got to wait for this report to find out what’s going on. <br><br>“We want to be fair to everyone in the game and everyone at the club so we’ve got to find a way for these young guys to secure their future.<br><br>“A guy like Justin O’Neill has earned his opportunity this year and taken it with both hands but he still hasn’t been able to secure his future because we have to wait for Deloitte. <br><br>“Hopefully we can sort it out sooner rather than later.”<br><br>Despite Hoffman’s stubborn insistence that he will remain with the Storm beyond 2011, it is clear that the club won’t be able to honour all contracts if they are to get themselves back under the salary cap.<br><br>But NRL boss David Gallop said all responsibility for sorting out the mess they created remained with Melbourne.<br><br>“Until Deloitte’s report is handed down we still don’t know just how far over the cap Melbourne is but certainly playing contracts can’t be varied without the agreement of both the player and the club,” Gallop said.<br><br>The Storm has already released prop Ryan Tandy to Canterbury with Aiden Tolman due to join him next season.<br><br>The futures of Brett Finch and Dane Nielsen also remain clouded.<br>