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What can Melbourne Storm expect of Vunivalu in his last year?

Dermott Banks

The Melbourne Storm may be forgiven for wondering just how Suliasi Vunivalu will go in the last year of his contract. The Fijian has agreed to join the Queensland Reds at the end of the 2020 NRL season and with such a big payday within touching distance, you’re left wondering if the winger will put it all on the line again for the Storm during his last 10 months?

Vunivalu isn’t the first to swap codes from rugby league to rugby union or indeed vice versa and when asked about his decision, the 24-year-old said it was down to wanting to secure the future of his young family. The very lucrative two-year contract with Rugby Australia he signed will go a long way in doing that. Whichever way you look at it, you can’t argue with his reasoning, given that at the best of times, the career of a sportsman is short and full of unknowns.

The length of the contract that the custodians of rugby union in Australia are offering him is just long enough to entice him away from rugby league but also short enough to dangle a carrot in front of him. Basically, they have identified Vunivalu as one of the outside backs the Wallabies so desperately need but with only a 24-month contract on the table, the Fijian will know there are bigger financial rewards in the pipeline should he hold down a regular spot in the Australian side.

And if we’re being honest, the Wallabies need all the help they can get as they currently sit way down the pecking order in international rugby. It’s no wonder there is a big recruitment drive taking place given that Australia are at 14/1 to win the 2023 World Cup in rugby union betting and looking a shadow of the team they once were.

With that in mind, union’s gain will be league’s loss when you consider just how influential the 24-year-old has been. It was during the 2016 and 2017 seasons that Vunivalu topped the try-scoring list, and it was in 2017 when he helped Melbourne Storm win the Grand Final against the North Queensland Cowboys. Even if it has only been six years in Melbourne, Vunivalu has left his mark and the club will be hoping he can do the same one last time during the playing of the 2020 NRL season.

There is, however, a lingering feeling in the back of one’s mind that perhaps the winger’s focus will be on the new chapter of his career instead of going out in style for the Melbourne Storm. There was talk of letting Vunivalu leave before his contract was up and join the rugby union ranks earlier than expected, which would obviously help shift some of the Storm’s wage bill, but the decision was made to let him play out his final year. The Melbourne Storm hierarchy don’t seem to foresee any issues ahead but we will only know in the next ten months if that was indeed the right call.

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Dermott Banks