Melbourne Storm focus on job ahead of Roosters clash in Adelaide
Melbourne Storm veteran Ryan Hoffman has backed star prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona to stand up for his club despite a frustrating week.
The New Zealand prop was stuck in Denver earlier this week due to plane delays after the Kiwis' Test with England at Mile High Stadium.
The delays left the Storm and other NRL clubs infuriated as they had already raised concerns about the merits of playing an overseas Test match in the one-week break for the stand-alone State of Origin game.
With the Storm already short on fit props, a tired Asofa-Solomona arrived back in Melbourne on Wednesday morning and rejoined the team for their flight to Adelaide on Thursday morning.
He will be called upon to play a big role against the in-form Sydney Roosters at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
“He was stoked that our flight from Melbourne to Adelaide was delayed – he is used to that,” Hoffman quipped on Thursday.
“He was buzzing about the experience playing over in Denver and I know for a fact he is excited to be back and it will be tough for him but he is a professional, an international and we expect he will do his job.
“We are having a run of bad luck with our guys in the middle so Nelson has become a real leader for our pack.”
The Storm will come up against celebrated half-back Cooper Cronk for the first time since he moved to Sydney during the off-season and some players have mentioned it will be difficult to face off with their long time teammate.
Hoffman is not one of them.
“I’ve played against Cooper a few times in State of Origin and when I was with the New Zealand Warriors but it’s the first chance for a lot of these boys to play against him, Hoffman said.
“He was part of the furniture here at Melbourne for 14 years, he is a close friend of quite a few of us but I just take it back to Origin where you play against the jersey, not the person. You get through 80 minutes of rough, tough stuff then have a beer after that.”
The Storm won’t be sure of their starting side until game day with injury clouds hanging over Origin players Josh Addo-Carr, Cameron Munster, Felise Kaufusi and Billy Slater although earlier in the week coach Craig Bellamy said he expected Queensland centre Will Chambers would be fit to play.
The Roosters face similar concerns with captain Boyd Cordner (concussion) ruled out due to injury and Kiwi prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in doubt after struggling with his recovery following the Denver Test.
The Storm play the Roosters at Adelaide Oval on Friday at 7.55pm.