Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr isn’t returning to Sydney with Melbourne confirming he will be part of their 2020 NRL line-up.
Storm chief executive Dave Donaghy said he met with Addo-Carr on Thursday in Sydney, where he is holidaying with his family, to confirm his commitment to the minor premiers.
There was speculation that the NSW Origin flyer wanted out of the final two years of his contract to remain in Sydney, with former club Wests Tigers ready to pounce.
The Tigers reportedly yanked a massive offer to Sydney Roosters premiership centre Latrell Mitchell to chase Addo-Carr.
But Donaghy said Addo-Carr wasn’t heading home and would be back at training on December 16.
“I can say hand on heart Josh is committed to Storm as much as we’re committed to Josh,” Donaghy said.
“We don’t respond a lot to external noise but given there is quite a bit of commentary at the moment I thought I’d clear that up.”
Melbourne on Friday confirmed the departure of Brodie Croft and Curtis Scott as they shake up their NRL playing list, which bowed out in the preliminary finals.
Halfback Croft is joining Brisbane while premiership centre Scott will link with Canberra after the Storm released them from their contracts.
Both players made their NRL debut for Melbourne in 2016 with Scott going on to play 48 NRL games, including nine in 2019, while Croft took his career tally to 39 appearances with 22 matches this year.
Croft fell out of favour with coach Craig Bellamy heading into this year’s finals series while Scott had a rollercoaster season due to injury and is believed to want to move closer to Sydney for personal reasons.
Melbourne say they will make further changes to the roster before the New Year to ensure they are “salary cap compliant for the 2020 NRL season”.