NRL grand final 2024: Who will Melbourne Storm turn to to cover Nelson Asofa-Solomona

An $80,000 development player from Penrith has emerged as the grand final bolter to cover the loss of Melbourne giant Nelson Asofa-Solomona to suspension.

An $80,000 development player from Penrith has emerged as the grand final bolter to cover the shock loss of Melbourne giant Nelson Asofa-Solomona to suspension.

The Melbourne prop’s premiership hopes have been rocked after being charged with a grade three careless high tackle charge by the NRL match review committee.

Asofa-Solomona faces a four to five-game suspension.

The heavy penalty is impacted by the charge being Asofa-Solomona’s third and subsequent offence.

Asofa-Solomona collected Roosters prop Lindsay Collins with a high shot just 19 seconds into the preliminary final clash at AAMI Park on Friday night.

Collins was concussed from the collision and played no further part in the game.

The MRC has the right to take the injury into consideration before deciding their charge.

The Storm has wasted no time seeking advice on whether to fight the charge from prominent barrister Nick Ghabar.

The risk of missing five matches and eating into next season may be too great for the Storm to roll the dice on.

The Storm won’t waste time agonising over the decision to accept the ban, wanting to move on quickly in order to focus on their grand final build-up without the distraction of not knowing if their big man will be available.

Lazarus Vaalepu. Picture: NRL Photos

Joe Chan. Picture: NRL Photos

The NRL has given the Storm until Monday lunchtime to make a call with many fans and commentators torn over the severity of the suspension.

“I think it’s ridiculous,’’ Ryan Girdler said on Triple M.

“There was absolutely no intent.’’

Who Storm coach Craig Bellamy calls upon to replace Asofa-Solomona is layered with intrigue, particularly with little-known Lazarus Vaalepu an option.

The 25-year-old, who joined the Storm from Penrith, is one of the leading candidates to fill the void in the Melbourne pack.

On a development deal worth $80,000, Vaalepu has featured in seven games this season for the Storm, six of which were from the interchange bench.

Another contender is Joe Chan, who will line-up for Storm feeder-club North Sydney in their grand final against Newtown at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.

Both Vaalepu and Chan would be considered bench options with either Tui Kamikamica or Christian Welch promoted to the starting front-row after playing from the bench in the side’s preliminary final win over the Roosters.