A first for King
Storm not focused on Newcastle Knights’ form
MELBOURNE Storm had their first training run at Churchill Park in Lautoka yesterday and were greeted by fans which included schoolchildren and adults who cheered on their favourite Storm players.
Lock Josh King is excited to be in Fiji for the first time let alone playing on Fijian soil.
“This is my first time in Fiji, to come over here and see the culture. I guess it’s very exciting for us and the Fijian people are so welcoming,” King said.
King marvelled at the enthusiasm surrounding the training session, noting the significant turnout yesterday.
“I know that they love their rugby, and just the training session the turnout is great, so I’m really excited for Saturday,” King said.
With a touch of humour, King remarked on the contrasting weather.
“A little bit different weather, humidity is a little bit higher, but this afternoon breeze is lovely. If this is on Saturday, that’d be perfect, fingers crossed,” he said.
In a heartfelt message to the fans, the captain conveyed gratitude.
“Thank you from the Melbourne Storm and all of us in the NRL, I guess know how welcoming they are and how much love they give to our game,” he added.
Expressing happiness about their visit, the captain shared, “It’s really exciting for us to be here and to see all these people come out and show how much they appreciate us being here. Hopefully, we can come back again.”
When asked about having Tui Kamikamica in the team, King couldn’t help but acknowledge the significance.
“Yeah, that’s, I guess you look at Tui he’s a king over here, and everyone wants a bit of him.
“It’s good for him to be able to come here, and I think he’s got a lot of family coming to the game on Saturday. So, really good.”
MELBOURNE Storm captain Harry Grant says the club is not focused much on the strong finish made by the Newcastle Knights last year.
The former premiership winner will play the Newcastle Knights at 2.45pm in a pre-season trial match at Churchill Park in Lautoka on Saturday.
“The Knights finished very strong,” he said.
“And to be honest we have not thought much about their performance but more so about our game individually, what we are going to bring, and it is going to be a good hit out.”
Grant said the team needed a bit of footy before playing their first NRL game against the Penrith Panthers.
“We have been doing preseason training and everyone has been screaming for a game, so we are looking forward to it.
“There are superstars in the game — Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes and the Safiti brothers from the Knights.
“So that is very exciting in itself and hopefully the Fijian fans can come out and see those guys playing.
“We just hope there is plenty people supporting and enjoying rugby league.”
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