The Melbourne Storm’s NRL season has hit a dramatic rough patch, and a surprise guest appearance at the club’s recent training session has brought a mix of hope and uncertainty to the embattled outfit. Veteran Fijian prop Tui Kamikamica, who has not played since the club’s round four away match in Townsville, showed up unannounced to watch his teammates train this week, months after a life-altering suspected stroke that forced him to immediately step away from the sport.
Kamikamica was discharged from hospital following the medical incident earlier this year, but he has not been cleared to join any on-field training with the squad, and no timeline has been set for his eventual return to the NRL. His presence on the training sidelines ahead of Friday’s do-or-die clash against the Canberra Raiders is more about morale than a comeback, according to long-time Storm head coach Craig Bellamy.
Bellamy explained that he hopes the sight of Kamikamica recovering well after such a severe health scare will give his struggling side a much-needed emotional boost. The Storm have dropped four consecutive matches, a slump that has sparked widespread public debate about whether the club’s 20-year run of consistent dominance at the top of the NRL is finally coming to an end. After opening the 2025 season with blistering, lopsided wins over the Parramatta Eels and St George Illawarra Dragons, the Storm’s attack has stagnated, and their defense has leaked tries at a rate that has caught even seasoned observers off guard. Last week, the team suffered a humiliating home defeat to the New Zealand Warriors, where the Storm was outmuscled and overpowered in front of their own fanbase.
Beyond Kamikamica’s absence, the Storm has been crippled by key forward departures and injuries that have gutted their traditional physical edge in the middle of the field. Star big man Nelson Asofa-Solomona left the club and retired from rugby league entirely in the off-season, while elite edge forward Eli Katoa was ruled out of the entire 2026 season after suffering repeated concussions. The club has been forced to shift rookie Cooper Clarke out of his natural position to cover the gap, but there is some positive injury news on the horizon: forward Shawn Blore is in line to make his return from a foot injury for the Canberra away game.
Addressing the ongoing lack of size in his forward pack, Bellamy said the team has no choice but to adapt to the hand they have been dealt. “It’d probably be handy to have another big body, but we haven’t got it so we have to go with what we’ve got and work out what we need to do well,” the coach said. Speaking about Kamikamica’s return to the club, he added: “He has been through a really tough time. To see him back looking as good as he looks is good. He’s still got a little way to go, but it’s great to see him back. Hopefully having him back here for the training session can lift the boys’ spirits a little bit. We’re probably down on that a little bit, but hopefully that will give us a bit of a lift.”
Heading into Friday’s match, the Storm faces a steep challenge against a Raiders side that is coming off a thrilling upset win in Perth. Bellamy acknowledged that his side has produced inconsistent performances through the first half of the season, pointing to a string of injury disruptions and off-field upheaval as contributing factors to the current slump. “You don’t look back too much, you look forward and hopefully work out where we need to improve and get better,” he said. “We train for that and hopefully we do that. We’ve had a few disruptions with injuries and a few other things that happened off the field, so it’s been a bit of a tough time with that. On the field, we’ve been good in patches but then not so good in other patches so we need to be a bit more consistent.”
Despite the team’s struggles, there are bright spots for the Storm’s future. Fullback Sua Fa’alogo, a homegrown club product, has emerged as a consistent standout performer through the slump. And another young Victorian talent could make his NRL debut on Friday: exciting young prospect Hugo Peel, who recently scored a hat-trick in the NSW Cup, has been named to the Storm’s extended 20-man bench. Bellamy praised Peel’s work ethic and fitness, noting that while the NRL’s current substitution rules only allow four interchange players to take the field from a six-man bench, the young forward has earned his call-up through his reserve grade form. “He’s great in the effort areas. He’s fit as and he just wants to be involved in the game,” Bellamy said. “With how the system works these days, you’ve got six on the bench but can only use four, so whether he gets a run or not, that’s another thing. It’d be good for him to get his debut because he certainly deserves it with the effort he’s put in in reserve grade.”