It may not have happened all that long ago but we are sure glad it did.
June 23, 2014 – the day we signed Marika out of Leichhardt.
At that time there was no way of telling just what Storm fans could expect from the relatively unknown winger.
A total of 12 tries from 16 NRL games made for impressive reading but after playing in Wests Tigers’ season opening loss to the Dragons, Koroibete had spent the next three months fighting to get back in the side.
“I was playing NSW Cup back then,” Koroibete said.
“After I went to play for Fiji in the World Cup I missed two months of pre-season and it was hard to get back in the team.”
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Despite being the leading try scorer in NSW Cup, Koroibete was unable to find a place in Michael Potter’s side with David Nofoaluma and the experienced Pat Richards holding the wing positions.
Left in limbo with a desire to prove himself at the top level, the Fijian international looked at pursuing opportunities elsewhere.
That thought came to action in Round 15 of the 2014 season. While Wests Tigers’ enjoyed their bye week Koroibete boarded a flight down to Melbourne that would prove to be the start of his purple path.
“He was coming off contract at the end of 2014 and our recruiting people were out looking at him with the view of signing him for 2015 onwards,” Storm Football Director Frank Ponissi said.
“When he came down with his manager just before June 30, it was purely with the view of showing him the place for 2015.
“We didn’t even ask the question and his agent said, ‘would you take him this year if he became available,’ and we said ‘absolutely’”
