Sua Fa’alogo isn’t playing in Sunday’s NRL grand final.
But a Melbourne club legend has revealed the emerging backline star could still hold the key to victory as the Storm plots to stop dangerous Brisbane fullback, Reece Walsh.
Appearing on The Bye Round Podcast with James Graham, 163-game Storm veteran Christian Welch said Fa’alogo would almost certainly be harnessed at training to replicate the unpredictable attacking play of Broncos fullback Reece Walsh.
“He (Fa’alogo) will have been studying how Walsh runs, what side he goes down, all those little tendencies—they’ll absolutely be trying to replicate that,” Welch declared, offering a deep insight into the preparation methods of his former coach Craig Bellamy.
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“They’re called the ‘Renegades’ down in Melbourne,” Welch continued.
“You have your Storm thirteen and then you have the rest of your squad, they’re called the Renegades and they’ll be doing everything they can to replicate what the Broncos do.”
While he isn’t at Reece Walsh’s level just yet, Welch said dynamic 22-year-old Fa’alogo offered the next best thing as the Storm look to refine their defensive systems ahead of Sunday’s NRL decider, knowing the danger the Broncos number one poses in attack.
“Obviously Reece Walsh does some stuff that you can’t really train for,” he admitted.
“But they (Melbourne) will definitely be trying to go at him because he’s also got some errors (in his game) along with some wonderful match-winning ability.
“They’ll be thinking ‘we can really front load the pressure on him and maybe get an error or two and win a bit of field position’.”
One of the Storm’s most exciting young outside backs, Sua Fa’alogo is considered the heir in waiting to Melbourne’s number one jersey—a transition that could happen even sooner than expected should incumbent fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen depart for R360 in 2026.
Fa’alogo made seven first-grade appearances in 2025 before a hamstring injury derailed his season in Round 17.