Melbourne Storm’s entire NRL squad will be on show on Saturday with a second match added to the program at Albury Sports Ground.
Those players not selected for the official NRL trial between the Storm and Newcastle Knights kicking off at 5.30pm will get their first minutes of the season in a curtain-raiser match at 3pm.
The Storm squad to face the NSW Cup Knights will also feature four players from Intrust Super Cup affiliates Brisbane Tigers and Sunshine Coast Falcons, who have trained in Melbourne during pre-season, as well as two players from local club Albury Thunder and two Victorian under-21 players, who will get the chance to step up to a higher level of football.
Thunder, who play in the NSW Group 9 competition, are coached by Adrian Purtell, a former teammate of Storm assistant coach Ryan Hinchcliffe.
"Saturday will be a great chance for all of our available squad members to get some vital game time," Storm General Manager – Football Frank Ponissi said.
"Unfortunately we had to miss out on the trial game against the Warriors at Redcliffe at the weekend which was a little bit of a setback to our preparations.
"We’re really pleased with where we’re at since starting pre-season on January 4 but nothing beats actual time on the field in a match situation.
We expect that both clubs will name their top 17 for the NRL trial and then the remaining players to be involved in the curtain-raiser which should be another high quality game.
Frank Ponissi General Manager - Football
Teamlists for the two Storm teams will be released on Tuesday afternoon.
Information on ticketing for this Saturday’s games will be available once a COVID-19 Safety Plan for the venue has been finalised.
Storm will hold its captains run in Melbourne on Friday before making the bus trip north to the border later in the afternoon.
