You know that when you begin to draw comparisons to Israel Folau and his break-out year that your career is going to be in good stead, and that is exactly what the Storm’s next big thing has done.
After coming to the Storm from the Warriors NYC team, Elijah Niko is tipped to become one of the game’s next top young players, and is expected to make an immediate impact on the NRL.
In light of their salary cap scandal, the Storm have been forced to rely on their younger players, and with the signing of Niko, the Storm are looking forward to seeing how their young players progress over the years.
Club officials want to keep Niko under wraps, but that now seems unlikely, with Storm captain and hooker Cameron Smith giving Niko a glowing affirmation.
“I think Elijah is a guy you’ll see a lot of in the near future,” Smith said.
“He reminds me a lot of Israel Folau when he first arrived at the club. He came down as a big, young, raw winger, but this guy has got plenty of skill and will be playing plenty of first grade as his career goes on.
“He’s a big athletic bloke, strong, runs the ball hard, is quite good in the air, and has got a really good set of hands when he’s got the ball.
“He’s also got great ability to offload to a winger in tight situations.
“I’m not trying to put pressure on the bloke and say he can be like Israel, he just reminds me a lot of him from what I’ve seen the past month.”