MELBOURNE STORM RELUCTANT TO COMMENT ON MUNSTER AND COATES POSSIBLE MOVE TO PNG
Storm star Cameron Munster. Picture supplied
By Parker Tambua
Trending speculation in Australian media suggests Queensland Maroons and Melbourne Storm star Cameron Munster is being targeted by the PNG Chiefs as a marquee signing for the 2028 NRL season.
EMTV News reached out to Storm football manager Frank Ponissi for comment.
Ponissi was asked if the Melbourne Storm is willing to retain the star five-eighth beyond 2027. His Storm teammate and former Kumul Xavier Coates faces the same scenario, with both contracted to the club until the end of the 2027 season.
Both players will hit the open market for 2028 and beyond, coinciding with the PNG Chiefs’ entry into the competition. However, Ponissi said the Storm cannot comment at this stage on whether it will retain them or let them test the market.
“Both players (Munster and Coates) are under contract until the end of 2027, so we won’t make any comment at this stage,” Ponissi said. “That goes for any of our players contracted from 2027 onwards.”
Meanwhile, the NRL salary cap for each club’s top 30 players is approximately K35 million ($12 million AUD) per season. Marquee signings typically command 10 percent of a club’s annual cap, meaning a star like Munster could earn K3.5 million ($1.2 million AUD) per year.
