{"id":425137,"date":"2024-10-05T20:59:26","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T20:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=425137"},"modified":"2024-10-06T00:08:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-06T00:08:50","slug":"banned-enforcer-putting-his-arms-around-rookie-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=425137","title":{"rendered":"Banned enforcer 'putting his arms around' rookie replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storm<\/a> coach Craig Bellamy<\/a> said suspended enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona<\/a> has "put his arms around" \ufeffhis rookie replacement Lazarus Vaalepu.<\/p>\n

Vaalepu has played just seven first grade matches, \ufeffand has been named on the Storm bench for Sunday night's decider against the Panthers.<\/p>\n

Speaking to media on Saturday, Bellamy said Vaalepu was fitter and stronger than ever, and was confident the 25-year-old wouldn't be over-awed by the situation.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ufeff"At the end of the day it's what players play for, to play in grand finals," Bellamy said.<\/p>\n

"He understands at the end of the day, how he's feeling doesn't mean a whole heap, it's how he does.<\/p>\n

\"Lazarus<\/p>\n

"We know he's capable, he's trained well this week. He seems like a fairly relaxed kind of guy. I don't think it'll worry him too much."<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona was rubbed out of the grand final after failing to have a dangerous tackle charge overturned at the judiciary on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

In his absense, Tui Kamikamica has been elevated into the starting lineup opposite Josh King, with Vaalepu named at No.16.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL grand final live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

The \ufeff203-game veteran has remained embedded in the Storm camp in an effort to pass on whatever wisdom he could. Bellamy said he's paid particular attention to Vaalepu.<\/p>\n

"He's been really good for the whole team, especially Laz. He's taken him under his arm a little bit, put his arms around his shoulders," he said.<\/p>\n

"Nelson can tip him up a bit on a couple of things – the size of the occasion and what the mentality has to be.<\/p>\n

"Nelson has played a lot of games off the bench, so hopefully some of the advice he's given wi\ufeffll help Laz play well."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Storm coach Craig Bellamy said suspended enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona has "put his arms around" \ufeffhis rookie replacement Lazarus Vaalepu. Vaalepu has played just seven first […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":425139,"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\/425137"}],"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=425137"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":425142,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425137\/revisions\/425142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/425139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=425137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=425137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=425137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}