Bellamy calls on teen giant as Storm put epic Rd 1 record on the line

Melbourne mentor Craig Bellamy has turned to a trio of rookies, including a teenage forward who has trimmed down from 145kg, as the Storm aim to maintain their remarkable 23-year unbeaten Round 1 record with the super coach at the helm.

Bellamy, who recently agreed to remain as Storm coach until at least the 2028 season, will oversee a changing of the guard in Melbourne for Thursday night’s season opener against Parramatta, with Cooper Clarke and Preston Conn set to debut and Moses Leo playing just his third NRL match.

With Ryan Papenhuyzen, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Troy Pezet leaving, Xavier Coates and Shawn Blore injured, Bellamy will blood Clarke and Conn from the interchange bench, while Leo – a New Zealand rugby 7s representative – has been named in the centres.

"There's been a lot of big turnover in our squad, we've got a couple of new players in that have played first grade at other clubs, but more than anything, we're relying on our younger blokes that have been coming through the juniors here,” Bellamy said.

“There are one or two who will definitely get their chance tomorrow night.”

Conn was captain of the Storm’s Jersey Flegg premiership winning team last season, while Clarke won the 2025 Greg Brentnall SG Ball player of the year award.

A NSW Under 19s representative, Clarke, whose father Leo played for Wests Magpies, has been earmarked to replace Asofa-Solomona after trimming down from the previous season.

“Cooper is only a young kid who will be making his debut. He has done well in the trials, he can play a little bit on the edge and can play through the middle, so he gives us a little bit of versatility there,” Bellamy said.

“He is a kid that has worked hard for it as well. Just presenting his jumper, it was mentioned that when he first came into the Under 19s he was 145kg. That is a big boy, so he has certainly worked hard to get down to the weight he is now and to be playing good footy.”  

Asked if he could recall a Storm team that was such an unknown quantity, Bellamy said: “It would have been at some stage, but I think it's a long time ago”.

He was also uncertain how last year’s grand finalists would perform after conceding 15 tries in their two Pre-season Challenge matches – a 32-6 loss to Canberra and 42-12 defeat by Gold Coast.

"It's another round one game and it's not that important in the context of the start of the new season and getting back to playing our best footy, that's the thing," Bellamy said.

"It's probably going to take a little while to know what our best footy is. Our trial form wasn't great, so there's a couple of things there that we need to really tidy up on and we've had a couple of weeks to do it.

"Our defence was really poor in the trial so that's something we really need to pick up on."