Melbourne Storm five-eighth Blake Green will captain the Club at next week’s Auckland Nines.
Green has been selected to lead the team at the two-day pre-season tournament in what shapes as a further boost to the playmaker’s leadership credentials.
Despite entering just his second season in Melbourne, Green has already emerged as a strong leader amongst a playing group that now boasts an ideal mix of established and emerging talent.
Green played every minute of every game during the 2015 NRL season as he established a standout partnership alongside Cooper Cronk in the halves.
Today’s appointment is seen as another step forward for Green in Melbourne.
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“It is obviously a really good feeling…it is important for me to play a bit of a senior role at the club and set an example at training and on the field. Nines is the start of that hopefully,” Green said.
“It will be a great opportunity, there is always a big crowd there, a great following by the people of New Zealand.
“It is great entertainment value and a great opportunity for some of our young kids to come up against some of the really talented athletes of the competition and see how they go.”
At this stage, Storm will name its full Auckland Nines squad by the end of the week.
The Club has been drawn in the Waiheke group against the Roosters, Rabbitohs and Eels, who they will kick of their campaign against in Game 2 of the tournament on February 6.
“It’s my first time going to the Nines to really looking forward to it,” Green said.
“We’ve got a young team going over and everyone seems to be pretty excited. It always seems to be a pretty good weekend.
“We’ve played a few (Nines) games in our pre-season but I think towards the back-end of this week and early next week we will get together and come up with an idea of how we will attack it.”
