Stefano Utoikamanu moved to the Storm to get better. He’s done that without even playing a game
“That doesn’t take anything away from the Wests Tigers and what they have – they have a lot of good players, and I loved my time there – but coming here, it’s a fair bit different because a lot of them have played at Origin level and international level. I think that will help take my game to the next level.”
On a gloomy Monday morning in Sydney last month, the NRL captains and senior players gathered to help launch the NRL season. More than half of them tipped the Storm to go all the way this year – and largely because of the addition of young prop Utoikamanu.
The only front-row combination arguably more lethal than Utoikamanu and Nelson Asofa-Solomona is the Broncos pairing of Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas.
Haas played alongside Utoikamanu with the NSW Blues, and said of his move to Melbourne: “The Storm have a lot of talent, and now they’ve added Stefano in the middle. That’s what they needed. You need good front-rowers to win a comp, and they’ll turn him into a great front-rower. We’ve already seen the talent he has. I’m actually excited to see him play.”
Canberra captain and fellow forward Joe Tapine added: “I think Melbourne have bought well with Stefano. He helped hold that Tigers pack together at different times.”
Utoikamanu, 24, will lead the Storm pack against Parramatta on Sunday afternoon at AAMI Park as the home side shoot for a remarkable 23rd straight round-one victory. Former Storm favourite Robbie Kearns presented him with his club jersey. The Storm thought it was fitting given Kearns and Utoikamanu were both established front-rowers before making the big move south.
Bellamy has urged Utoikamanu to stick to his strengths, including his carries and ability to isolate defenders in attack. But Bellamy has worked hard on making sure Utoikamanu has tidied up his defence, which has been a problem across the board at the Tigers in recent years.
Utoikamanu wants to play finals football – and is also daring to dream when it comes to his personal goals.
“I definitely want to be one of the best props in the game,” he said.
“I just want to be the best prop for my team. I feel like if I can lock that down, I can hopefully progress to the next thing, which is hopefully getting an Origin jersey [again].”
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Storm officials have praised Utoikamanu for how quickly he has settled into his new environment. He has only been recognised “by one or two people” the whole time he has been in Melbourne.
Utoikamanu made his debut for the Eels before spending four seasons at the Tigers. He will still make time to watch his old club if his schedule allows it, and said: “I’ll be rooting for them because I still love the boys at the Tigers, and I have a lot of good mates there. I hope they do well. I’m pretty close to [front-rower] Fonua Pole, his little brother [Suli] is here, and I’m keen to see what he will do this year because I know he will probably take his game to the next level, too.”
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