Nelson’s making up for lost time
NELSON Asofa-Solomona put his giant arm around Billy Slater after Melbourne Storm won its way in to a second straight NRL grand final last Friday night.
The 21-year-old prop and the veteran fullback embraced on the field and as they did Asofa-Solomona whispered in to his teammate’s ear.
Both players missed last year’s decider against Cronulla, which Storm lost, because of injury. Slater had a shoulder injury he didn’t know if he could come back from. AsofaSolomona dislocated his elbow at training before the preliminary final.
They watched the grand final from the stands.
But both were still standing when the final siren sounded last Friday night, Storm 30-0 victors, and both are going to get their grand final chance.
“Last year, he was missing too, and I remember before the team photo, and I saw his face, and I was feeling the same way. Just really gutted, missing out on an opportunity like that,” Asofa Solomona said.
“So I pretty much said to Billy that I was so proud of where he had come from.
“Not many players come back from those injuries.
“I said, ‘I’m so proud of you bro. I remember how we felt when we had to come and take that team photo. But we’re in it now’.”
Asofa-Solomona is massive, standing 200cm and weighing 115kgs. Even in a game full of big brutes, he’s the biggest.
He snarls when he gets the football too and charges in to a defensive line. It’s like a block of flats has sprung from its foundations and is on the run. But all that aggression is purely the Kiwi’s on-field persona.
His embrace of Slater, and the message that followed, are a greater indication of the human touch Asofa-Solomona has, and tries to live by.
He’ll play in Sunday’s decider against North Queensland with five metal staples in his head, courtesy of a “friendly fire” head clash with teammate Felise Kaufusi.
“I’m just so happy I am in the position now, and we have to take the opportunity with both hands,” he said.