NRL 2024 market watch: what the Justin Olam-Shawn Blore trade means for Wests Tigers and Melbourne Storm

As Justin Olam and Shawn Blore hit the turf in their new colours, PAM WHALEY reveals the pros and cons of the swap deal and how it will benefit both Wests Tigers and Melbourne Storm in 2024.

Wests Tigers centre Justin Olam on his first day at the club. Pic: Tom Meredith / Wests Tigers

Justin Olam and Shawn Blore kicked off the new year in fresh colours on Monday.

After a swap deal between Melbourne and Wests Tigers was finalised last week, the pair fronted their respective teammates for the first time and hit the ground running for 2024.

Ex-Storm centre Olam spent his first day training with the Wests Tigers at the club’s centre of excellence in Concord, while Blore joined his Storm teammates for the start of their annual two-week camp in Geelong.

Putting the trade under a microscope, it’s a fresh start for both players.

While Olam, 30, will add experience to a Tigers side desperate to improve, Blore comes to Melbourne hoping to unlock the potential he showed as a young forward rising through the grades at Penrith.

He played Junior Kangaroos, under-19s Origin for NSW and won an SG Ball premiership with the Panthers in 2018, but in the four seasons he spent at the Tigers, Blore played just 33 games as he battled injury and fought to get back on the field.

Justin Olam at Wests Tigers training. Picture: Tom Meredith/Wests Tigers

Shawn Blore at his first Melbourne training session. Picture: Instagram

Two ACL injuries (one in 2019 and another in 2022) severely dented his career so far.

However, at 23, he still has years ahead of him to reach his potential and last year he played 15 games in the second row for the Tigers.

At Melbourne he will compete for a spot on the edge with starting second-rowers Eli Katoa and Trent Loiero, and there’s at least one spot vacant on the bench after the exit of Tom Eisenhuth and Tariq Sims from the 2023 squad.

For Olam, his arrival will make an immediate impact on the Tigers.

He won’t be the student now, he’ll be a teacher.

The PNG international’s physicality on the edge will strengthen the young backline with Jahream Bula, Junior Tupou, Asu Kepoa and Starford To’a still with plenty to learn.

He’s a weapon in attack but if he can recapture the form he showed at Melbourne in 2021 when he was named Dally M Centre of the year, he can completely change the backline defence.

With Jarome Luai coming in 2025, as well as Api Koroisau and Isaiah Papali’i already on the books, he will add weight to the club’s recruitment efforts in coming seasons too.