Craig Bellamy unmoved by Nelson Asofa-Solomona speculation, confirms Cam Munster return

Two massive Melbourne Storm ins will make the NRL ladder leaders a scary prospect now and even more so in the finals.

Cameron Munster will make his long-awaited return. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy is thinking only about the “damage” giant prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona could do against Parramatta in his return from injury on Friday night with little interest, or time, to delve into speculation about his future.

The NRL ladder leaders are reaching peak levels of player health with superstar playmaker Cameron Munster also set to play just his eighth game of the season, and first since May, against the Eels, but Bellamy unsure whether the remaining rounds are “enough time or not enough time” to have his star playmaker primed for the finals.

“He knows what the big games are about, so it’s just a matter of now getting ready for those,” Bellamy said on Thursday.

“Hopefully, he can have an uninterrupted run into the finals, but we just hope he can get through with his injury.

“It’s been a long one and it’s taken a lot of getting over and a lot of rehab work to get to where he is now. Hopefully, he’ll get some good results out of the amount of work he’s done.”

Cameron Munster is a big-game specialist. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Asofa-Solomona looms as just as big an inclusion for the Storm, having only played 11 of Melbourne’s 17 games himself during a season interrupted by hamstring issues and punctuated with ongoing speculation he could be mulling a move to rugby.

The giant Kiwi is contracted until 2027 and could form a scary front-row combination with West Tigers gun Stefano Utoikamanu, who is weighing up offers from Storm and the Bulldogs.

Bellamy said “we’d like to have him here” when asked about the push for Utoikamanu but conceded it wasn’t up to him.

“We’ve had our discussions. He’s got a decision to make. Everyone makes decisions for what’s going to suit them and we’ll let Stefano do that,” he said.

“We’d like to have him here, without a doubt.”

Bellamy also likes having Asofa-Solomona both back in the line-up and contracted to the club for the foreseeable future, unwilling to concern himself with external speculation.

“I’m not sure how much is right and how much is wrong. I don’t really know exactly what’s going on myself,” he said.

“All we are concerned about at the moment is getting out on the field and playing some good footy.

In the elements 🌦️ pic.twitter.com/JYz69jlO0s

— Melbourne Storm (@storm) July 25, 2024

“Hopefully, he can play again like he was playing before (getting injured).

“He had a couple of really good games coming off the bench and done some real damage, so we’ll be looking for him to do that again.”

Despite being two games clear at the top of the ladder, Bellamy said he would resist any temptation to rest players in the run to the finals.

“Not yet,” he said.

“We might have a look at that if the situation is the same in a couple of weeks.

“We are aware of where we are on the table, but where we are now ain’t going to help us at the end of the season.”