As June 30 approaches and teams race to finalise their rosters, the Melbourne Storm have finalised theirs, adding Max King, Solomone Kata and Harry Grant.
Kata and King join the club with immediate effect from the New Zealand Warriors and Gold Coast Titans respectively.
Their deals run until the end of the 2020 season.
Kata, the most high-profile of the trio, has played in 93 NRL games for the Warriors and has scored 46 tries in that time.
With six appearances for Tonga to his name, he boasts pedigree at all levels and after asking for a chance to play more first-grade, the Warriors let him go.
“Sol has played a lot of football in all grades since joining the club but after being an NRL regular over the last few seasons he has been in reserve grade (Canterbury Cup NSW) recently,” said Vodafone Warriors general manager football Brian Smith.
“With limited NRL opportunities, he was keen to look at other avenues and asked for a release after Melbourne showed interest in him.
“He goes with our best wishes and we thank him for his contribution to the Vodafone Warriors.”
As for King, the young budding forward has had his ups and downs but did enough to impress the Storm and they like what they see.
“We are delighted to be able to sign two players of Solomone and Max’s calibre and thank the Warriors and Titans for allowing them to join us before the June 30 deadline,” said the Storm’s General Manager of Football Frank Ponissi.
A solid player that pleased some Titans fans, King will be missed in certain circles and was given well wishes ahead of his new move.
“Max is a quality human being who will definitely be missed around our club,” Titans coach Garth Brennan said.
“He was presented an opportunity and with an extension, which was something that couldn’t be guaranteed here at the Titans.
“I know I speak on behalf of everyone here in wishing Max all the best for the future.”
The third and final player is one that was already in the Storm’s system but has now been promoted to a full-time contract.
Harry Grant is that young player and with a bright future ahead of him, the Storm were keen to continue his development.
“We’re also very pleased to promote the Intrust Super Cup’s best player of the past two seasons, Harry Grant, to our top 30 squad.
“Harry has been part of our system for some time and his NRL contract is a great reward for the dedication he has put into improving his game.
