NRL 2021: Melbourne Storm forward Tui Kamikamica determined to make up for lost time

Tui Kamikamica missed out on the 2020 premiership after his year was wrecked by injury. Now he has his sights set on filling the void left by Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.

The Storm pulled their fingers out and were rewarded handsomely. Picture: Getty Images

Melbourne Storm wrecking ball Tui Kamikamica has declared he is ready to fill the void left by the departure of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui starting with Thursday night’s season opener.

Kamikamica had a frustrating 2020 campaign, undergoing back surgery and then an ankle setback on the eve of the finals that saw him miss Storm’s premiership win.

The Fijian international though has enjoyed a faultless pre-season campaign and believed he could help offset the loss of Fa’asuamaleaui, who joined Gold Coast after playing in last year’s grand final win.

Watch The 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership Live & On-Demand with No Ad-Breaks During Play. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Tui Kamikamica is looking to make his mark in 2021.

“That’s the aim,” he said.

“Tino was good for us last year and played really, really well and he had a good game again on the weekend in his trial game.

“There’s a spot there for me, but the only thing I can control is how I train and the coaches can do whatever they want to do.”

After managing just five matches last year, the towering forward has had his sights set on Thursday night’s Round 1 clash with South Sydney at AAMI Park.

“I’ve been looking forward (to it) since the first day of pre-season,” Kamikamica said.

“My main focus had been just to get through all of pre-season first and now I’ve done all the hard work, so I’m just keen to get out there and especially at home in front of a home crowd.

“The last time we played here was the 2019 finals against the Eels, so it’s a long time and hopefully we have 50 per cent capacity here on Thursday night.

“I’m putting my hand up and whatever the coaches want me to do I’m ready to go.”

Justin Olam and Tui Kamikamica share a laugh.

Kamikamica said his back felt as good as knew as tried to re-establish himself in coach Craig Bellamy’s premiership-winning side.

“It was the first time I’d had surgery (last year) so I was so nervous,” he said.

“But I’ve been training the whole time and time and it doesn’t even bother me at all.

“I wish I had the surgery earlier, but it is what it is.

“Even though I wasn’t part of it (the premiership) I was just so happy we got the job done.”

How a Billy Slater text message inspired unlikely Storm title

It was not long into Melbourne Storm’s move to its Sunshine Coast hub last year when the phone of every player buzzed simultaneously.

It was club football boss Frank Ponissi, forwarding to the players’ WhatsApp group a text message he’d received from Storm legend and coaching consultant Billy Slater in locked-down Melbourne.

“In the first couple of weeks the players weren’t doing anything bad, but on their social media they were posting photos of themselves around the pool and things like that,” Ponissi said.

“Bill just sent me a text saying something like: ‘I know the boys are enjoying the sunshine but just be conscious of all the supporters and members back in Melbourne because we’re doing it really tough back here.’

“He asked that whenever players did media, just to remind them about people back in Melbourne.

“It was a pretty powerful and inspirational message so I passed that on to the rest of the group and it made a real impact immediately.”

Was a Billy Slater text the catalyst for Melbourne Storm’s stunning premiership?

When Ponissi sent every player Slater’s message, he prefaced it with a message of his own.

“I said when I forwarded it: ‘Boys, we know how glass half-full and positive Bill is, but you can tell from his text things are pretty grim back in Melbourne, so we need to come up with something to show we’re playing for them’.”

The message hit the mark.

The playing group and the coaches met together in their Twin Waters hub to go over ideas before landing on a winner.

“As a group we decided we needed something on our jersey like ‘Melbourne proud’ or something like that,” Ponissi said.

“We thrashed it around as a group and someone said it should be Victoria, and then someone else, it may have been Cameron (Smith), said: ‘Why don’t we put the big V on the jersey?’”

It was agreed upon and the players then voted on the logo, which was done up by the Storm digital team and head of brand and content Oran Aziz.

The winning design was the ‘V’ with the words ‘Our home, Victoria’ emblazoned across it on the front of the jersey.

The players now had something tangible as a constant reminder they were playing for something so much greater than themselves.

The Storm pulled their fingers out and were rewarded handsomely. Picture: Getty Images

The buy in, from both players and supporters, was swift.

“It was originally going to be a one off against Canberra, but we got a lot of good feedback and we decided to run with it and it grew from there,” Ponissi said.

“We had signage in our dressing room and team rooms, and every week we’d pass on messages from staff in Melbourne, former players and supporters.”

Coach Craig Bellamy didn’t need any further convincing that Victorians were struggling, based on his own phone conversations with people in stage four lockdown.

“After about three or four minutes on the phone with some of them, their voices were breaking,” he said at the club’s 2021 season launch this week.

“That’s how hard they were doing it and we knew that we were luckier than them.

“We were in isolation and lockdown, but our backyard was two acres, so that was a fair bit of room to move around in and the sun was shining a lot more than down here.

“We really felt for everyone in Melbourne, which is why Billy came up with that idea.”

At the season launch, Slater explained why he felt the need to reach out to Ponissi and his former teammates.

“Firstly, I was in Victoria and I knew how hard the Victorians were doing it down here and secondly I know how connected Storm members and supporters are to their football team,” Slater said.

“I didn’t want that lost to the playing group and I know it certainly wouldn’t have been, but the way they drove it throughout the year I’m sure would have given a lot of Victorians a huge lift.

“And I’m sure it worked the other way as well and what the people of Victoria were going through certainly lifted the players.”

It became a strong theme for the players during the season, carrying right through to grand final day.

Just before the players ran out for the premiership decider, then skipper Cameron Smith gathered the players in a huddle.

At the end of his final message, he concluded it by looking them in the eye and pointing to the ‘V’ on his jersey.

Originally published as NRL 2021: Melbourne Storm forward Tui Kamikamica determined to make up for lost time