‘Got their own motivations’: Madge’s final say on Storm star’s ‘stuck up’ sledge

Melbourne Storm prop Stefano Utoikamanu ruffled a few feathers this week labelling Broncos players “stuck up”, but Brisbane coach Michael Maguire didn’t bite when asked about it as the grand final heat rose a few levels in Sydney on Thursday afternoon.

A dazzling morning turned into a wild and windy afternoon as heavy clouds rolled in, but the only storm was the Melbourne team with neither side keen to add fuel to the fire Utoikamanu lit at his media conference on Monday.

“I’m going to make sure I set up this week to get that first kick of the game – there are going to be a lot of people I want to run at, a lot of people I don’t like on this team,” he said.

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“I don’t want to name names, there are a lot of people I think are a bit stuck up. I’m pretty keen just to run out and do a job for our team.”

Broncos great Corey Parker bit back declaring the prop forward hadn’t won anything in the game amid an early week firestorm.

It also raised the eyebrows of Storm coach Craig Bellamy who was quizzed on the comments having said last Friday night how humble Utoikamanu was.

“I didn’t actually hear it, but I heard about it,” he said at the fan event in the Rocks.

“I was surprised. I’ll leave it at that.”

The pre-game barb has been welcomed by fans who enjoy a bit of spice, but Maguire insists it won’t fire up his troops who are looking to win the club’s first premiership since 2006, when the Broncos took down the Storm.

“My players have got their own motivations,” he said.

“They’ve been very dialled in for the last couple of months and we’ve really focused a lot more on ourselves than what goes on around us.

“This is why we are where we are.”

It’s unclear who Utoikamanu was referring to, with the likes of Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam often praised and criticised for their “rock star mentality”.

“To be honest, it doesn’t really bother me,” lock forward Pat Carrigan said.

“It’s all part of life. People are going to think and say whatever they want about you, but I love playing footy with these boys.

“We know that we’ve got a job to do and that’s about locking into our role and playing our brand of footy.”

A sold-out crowd at Accor Stadium will see whether the comments lead to any on field fireworks on Sunday night, with Sydney fans guaranteed to have the grand final for at least another year following an announcement from the state government.

Both the NRL and NRLW grand finals will remain in Sydney where they’ve been played every year since 1908 except for the Covid-interrupted 2021 season which saw the game played in Brisbane.

“NSW is the home of rugby league and Sydney is unquestionably the greatest rugby league city in the world, so there really is no better place to be hosting the NRL’s showpiece event,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said.

“The NRL Grand Final is one of our nation’s greatest annual sporting events and with NSW representing more than half of the clubs across both the NRL and NRLW competitions, this is great news for the thousands of fans who will come together to celebrate the game in its home city.”

This year’s finals series has seen record crowds and has attracted millions of viewers, with ARLC chairman Peter V’landys thrilled to have Sydney locked in as the host city again.

“The NRL Grand Final day is the most iconic event on our sporting calendar, drawing global attention and attracting tens of thousands of travelling fans into Sydney and NSW every year,” he said.

“This year alone over 40,000 tickets, which is more than half the stadium, have been sold to interstate and international fans, providing a huge economic stimulus to the local economy and a $50 million plus return on investment to the NSW Government.”