{"id":289752,"date":"2023-04-26T01:13:33","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T01:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=289752"},"modified":"2023-04-26T02:00:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T02:00:05","slug":"storm-stars-heartfelt-reason-he-couldnt-defect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=289752","title":{"rendered":"Storm star's heartfelt reason he couldn't defect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nelson Asofa-Solomona<\/a> had the endorsement of his late father to play for the Wallabies<\/a> but ultimately said he couldn't leave the NRL<\/a> club he calls "home".<\/p>\n

In early April, the Melbourne Storm<\/a> star revealed he had been approached by Wallabies coach Eddie Jones<\/a> and Rugby Australia<\/a> chairman Hamish McLennan to switch codes.<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona ultimately re-signed to the Storm, which was confirmed after the team's come-from-behind win over the Warriors<\/a> during Anzac Round.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific and Super W seasons on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> All matches streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The Wellington-born prop said he seriously considered leaving league for union and long before the formal approach had spoken with his father about a switch.<\/p>\n

\"Nelson<\/p>\n

"I'm very grateful that Eddie (Jones) and Hamish (McLennan) looked at me and I was seriously having a look at rugby," said Asofa-Solomona.<\/p>\n

"I felt like I've given a lot to rugby league and I thought I was a good chance to go to rugby.<\/p>\n

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"Of course, I'm a very proud Kiwi, but at the end of the day, my mum and dad get the last say in everything I do in my career.<\/p>\n

"Before my dad passed away, he said 'I just want you to be happy, I don't mind if you play for the Wallabies'.<\/p>\n

"At the end of the day, I love the Storm too much \u2013 this is my home."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona has played for the Storm since 2015 and will rack up a decade with the club with his new four-year deal.<\/p>\n

His debut during Anzac Round eight years ago was also the same match that his father first attended.<\/p>\n

Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona's father died in January, 2022.<\/p>\n

"I know my mum and dad will be pretty happy and I'm really happy to be staying on with the club for another four years," he added.<\/p>\n

"Whenever I come into these games, I think about my old man and everything that he sacrificed for me to get to this very spot."<\/p>\n

\"Melbourne<\/p>\n

Storm head coach Craig Bellamy admitted there was a nervous period where he thought the 27-year-old would leave.<\/p>\n

It's a small win for the NRL as its war with the Wallabies and Super Rugby Pacific for top talent heats up.<\/p>\n

"The last four or five days it's been up and down," Bellamy said.<\/p>\n

"I spoke to the chairman Matt Tripp a couple of times and it was a bit like a rollercoaster; he's just about ready to sign and 24 hours later it looks like he might be going to rugby.<\/p>\n

"There was a lot of interest with rugby union. It's a great result for our club and a great result for rugby league."<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/em>For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nelson Asofa-Solomona had the endorsement of his late father to play for the Wallabies but ultimately said he couldn't leave the NRL club he calls […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":289754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=289752"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289758,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289752\/revisions\/289758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/289754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=289752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=289752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=289752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}