Storm recruit Stefano Utoikamanu has opened up on his first gruelling pre-season under Craig Bellamy and the differences he has noticed between Melbourne and his former club the Tigers.
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Utoikamanu was a shock signing for the Storm after missing out on luring Tino Fa’asuamaleaui home from the Titans and he has been charged with being the club’s enforcer in 2025.
The 24-year-old man mountain has scored 11 tries in 78 NRL games for the Eels and Tigers since his debut in 2020 and has one Origin for NSW and two Tests for Samoa to his name.
However, it is fair to say he hasn’t reached his potential in the NRL, which is why he chose to come to a club like the Storm and play under Craig Bellamy.
“It’s pretty cool, he’s one of the best coaches in the NRL, so it’s that’s probably one of the things I looked at before coming here,” Utoikamanu said.
“He’s improved a lot of players’ games and for myself that’s what I wanted to do.
“I need to improve my game to take a stepping stone to become a better player and so it’s been pretty cool actually.”
Bellamy’s pre-seasons are notoriously tough on his players, who he aims to make the fittest in the NRL every season.
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However, Utoikamanu believes the scary stories he heard of Bellamy’s training regimes actually helped him.
“I feel like coming down here I expected it to be hard, so it kind of makes it a little bit easier,” Utoikamanu said.
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“But even at the Tigers it was pretty hard, so probably the biggest difference for myself is just different kinds of training.
“The way they go about things is just a little bit different. It’s probably a little bit better that’s why they are at the top.”
However, Utoikamanu admitted the club’s infamous Geelong pre-season camp was tougher than anything he has experienced in professional sport.
“The Geelong Camp was pretty hard,” Utoikamanu said.
“I’ve never done a camp like that before and it was pretty tough going into that, but a lot of the boys told me a lot of stories about it, so it kind of eased me into it a little bit. But yeah it was still very tough.”
While careful not to detract from his former teammates and the Tigers club, Utoikamanu admits the number of world class players is the major difference between the two teams.
“I think it is just the calibre of players they have here,” Utoikamanu said.
“They have a lot of good players and a lot of rep players and those players a lot of them are the best in the game in their position.
“So it’s probably easier for myself to go about my game when you have got players like Munster, Grant, Hughes and Papenhuyzen.
“We have got a pretty good spine and I think it probably just makes my job a little bit easier.”
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Having lived his whole life in Sydney, Utoikamanu believes the biggest adjustment to moving to Melbourne has come off the field, but he is content with his decision.
“It’s been a bit of a big move for myself, I’ve never moved out of Sydney before and it’s good to come to a club as good as this one, so it’s pretty exciting,” Utoikamanu said.
Melbourne is a much different atmosphere to Sydney, but Utoikamanu has focused mainly on his footy, apart from taking part in the city’s obsession with coffee.
“I haven’t really done too much, I’ve kind of just gone out for lunch and going for coffee is a big thing here,” Utoikamanu said.
“I’m not really a big coffee drinker, but I’ve gone out for coffee a couple times, so it’s been pretty cool.”
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On the field Utoikamanu has made a slow start with the Storm losing both their trial games, but Craig Bellamy will no doubt have his side ready to continue his undefeated run in Round 1 clashes over his Storm career.
However, Utoikamanu was impressive against the Cowboys in a 36-24 loss with 120 metres from 14 runs to go with six tackle busts, three offloads, a linebreak, a try and 18 tackles without a miss.
“I feel like I’ve settled in pretty well here,” Utoikamanu said.
“It took me a little bit longer than it would in Sydney because I’m around family and stuff.
“I’ve come down here and I don’t really have any family down here, but I’ve fitted in well with the boys.
“It’s been pretty good the first two games even though we haven’t won any of those two games.
“But it was good to go out and have a hit-out with the boys, especially the first week they had a bit of a younger squad and then last week we had most of the main squad in there, so it was good to get a run with everyone.”
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Utoikamanu is excited to work with players that can help him focus on his own job, but knows he was brought to the club to be an enforcer and leader of the pack.
“They have got heaps of good players in heaps of different positions, so it makes my job easier,” Utoikamanu said.
“And I’m here to try make their job a little bit easier too, so I’m excited for this year.”
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