Nelson Asofa-Solomona

Nelson Asofa-Solomona (born 29 February 1996) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL and New Zealand at international level.^[1]

Nelson Asofa Solomona

Personal information
Full name	Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Born	(1996-02-29) 29 February 1996 (age 26) Wellington, New Zealand
Height	200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	115 kg (18 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2015– Melbourne Storm 164 27 0 0 108 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2017– New Zealand 11 2 0 0 8
Source: ^[1]^[2] As of 6 November 2022

Asofa-Solomona won the 2017 NRL Grand Final and the 2020 NRL Grand Final with Melbourne.

Early life

Asofa-Solomona was born in Wellington, New Zealand, Nelson's parents are of Maori, Samoan, Tokelau and Irish descent.^[3] He is the first cousin of Wests Tigers wing Ken Maumalo.^[4]

Asofa-Solomona grew up playing rugby union for Upper Hutt Rams before playing rugby league. He played his junior rugby league for the Upper Hutt Tigers and Wellington Orcas junior representative team while playing rugby union at Wellington College. He was then signed by the Melbourne Storm at 15 years of age.

Personal life

Asofa-Solomona briefly trialled veganism, however found it did not work with his dietary requirements. Asofa-Solomona has, on multiple occasions, spoken of the influences his family has had on him throughout the years. In 2018, he stated that being able to provide for his family was one of the main perks of playing rugby league for the Melbourne Storm.^[5] Asofa-Solomona has several tattoos, notably two Samoan designs - one on his right leg and one covering his right forearm. He has stated that the flowers in his leg design are a tribute to his sisters and the women in his life. Asofa-Solomona has four dogs: two dachshunds, a husky & a Staffordshire bull terrier.^[6]

Playing career

 

Asofa-Solomona playing for the Cronulla team in 2014

2014

In 2014, Asofa-Solomona played for the Melbourne Storm's NYC team.^[7] On 2 September, he was named at second-row in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year.^[8] On 18 October, he played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos at second-row in the Kiwis' 15-14 win at Mount Smart Stadium.^[9]

2015

In 2015, Asofa-Solomona graduated to Melbourne's Queensland Cup team, Sunshine Coast Falcons.^[10] In Round 8 of the 2015 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, playing off the interchange bench in the Storms' 12-10 loss at AAMI Park.^[11][12][13] On 2 May, he again played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos, playing at prop in the Kiwis' 22-20 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.^[14][15] In Round 20 against the St George Illawarra Dragons, he scored his first NRL career try i in Melbourne's 22-4 win at McLean Park.^[16] He finished off his debut year in the NRL having played in 12 matches and scoring one try.^[17]

2016

On 1 February, Asofa-Solomona was named in Melbourne's 2016 NRL Auckland Nines squad.^[18] Asofa-Solomona finished the 2016 NRL season with him playing in 15 matches for the Melbourne club.

2017

In February 2017, Asofa-Solomona was named in the Melbourne squad for the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines.^[19] In April 2017, Asofa-Solomona was called into the New Zealand Kiwis squad with a view to making his international debut against the Kangaroos but had to withdraw due to a hand injury.^[20] On 6 July 2017, Asofa-Solomona extended his contract with the Melbourne Storm to the end of the 2019 NRL season.^[21] On 1 October 2017, in Melbourne's 2017 NRL Grand Final against the North Queensland Cowboys, Asofa-Solomona played off the interchange bench in the 34-6 victory.^[22][23] Asofa-Solomona finished his successful 2017 NRL season with him playing in 26 matches and scoring four tries for Melbourne. On 5 October 2017, Asofa-Solomona was named in the New Zealand Kiwis 24-man squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.^[24] On 28 October 2017, Asofa-Solomona made his international test debut for New Zealand against Samoa, where he played off the interchange bench and scored 1 try in the 38-8 win at Mt Smart Stadium.^[25]

2018

Asofa-Solomona was part of the victorious 2018 World Club Challenge and was awarded Man of the Match award. He was also part of the Melbourne Storm team that played in the 2018 NRL Grand Final. Asofa-Solomona was nominated for Dally M Prop of the year in 2018. Asofa-Solomona was part of the New Zealand national rugby league team tour of Denver, Colorado, in June 2018. It was the first time that Asofa-Solomona had played in a team with cousin, Ken Maumalo, professionally.^{[citation needed]}

2019

Asofa-Solomona was awarded two Dally M points for his round one appearance in the victory over the Brisbane Broncos.^[26] He won a popular vote for tackle of the round for his hit on Matt Gillett.^[27] Round two saw Asofa-Solomona score his first try of the season.^[28] Asofa-Solomona played 27 games for Melbourne in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished as runaway minor premiers. Asofa-Solomona played in the club's preliminary final defeat against the Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.^[29] In October, Asofa-Solomona was involved in an ugly brawl whilst on holiday in Bali. The NRL later fined Asofa-Solomona $15,000 and handed him a three-match test ban for New Zealand which saw him miss both matches against Great Britain and Australia. Asofa-Solomona says he reacted violently after it was alleged his Melbourne teammate Suliasi Vunivalu was coward-punched by an unidentified male.^[30][31]

2020

In the 2020 NRL Grand Final, Asofa-Solomona helped lead Melbourne to victory in their 20-26 win over the Minor Premiers Penrith. Asofa-Solomona played in 20 games in the 2020 NRL season, scoring four tries.^[32]

2021

Asofa-Solomona played a total of 17 games for Melbourne in the 2021 NRL season as the club won 19 matches in a row and claimed the Minor Premiership. Asofa-Solomona played in two finals matches including the preliminary final where Melbourne suffered a shock 10-6 loss against eventual premiers Penrith. He scored a try in the match but it was ruled out for obstruction.^[33]

Honours

Club

• 2016 Minor Premiership Winners
• 2017 Minor Premiership Winners
• 2017 NRL Grand Final Winners
• 2018 World Club Challenge Winners
• 2019 Minor Premiership winners
• 2020 NRL Grand Final Winners
• 2021 Minor Premiership winners

Individual

• 2014 Melbourne Storm Darren Bell U20s Player of The Year
• 2017 New Zealand Kiwis Rookie of the Year
• 2017 Spirit of ANZAC Medal
• 2018 World Club Challenge Man of the match

References

1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
2. loverugbyleague
3. "Cameron Smith says Storm's Nelson Asofa-Solomona could be one of the NRL's best players". Heraldsun.com.au. 26 April 2017.
4. "Kidwell gives debutants a pass". Te Ao Maori News. 29 October 2017.
5. "New deal and Bellamy spray over vegan diet for Storm giant". NRL.com. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
6. "Storm giant Nelson Asofa-Solomona is just a big teddy bear". dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
7. "NYC Trump Storm 38-8". Rabbitohs.com.au. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
8. . Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. 2 September 2014. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
9. . Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
10. "Feeder Team Update - Round 7 - Storm". Melbournestorm.com.au. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
11. "Late mail: Round 8 - Storm". Melbournestorm.com.au. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
12. "Craig Bellamy is Weighing Up Whether to Pick Veteran Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and Teenage Monster Nelson Asofa-Solomona". Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
13. "Biting Allegation Against Jesse Bromwich Sours Storm 22-4 Win Over Dragons". Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
14. "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
15. "Junior Roos hold on in thriller". NRL.com. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
16. "Biting Allegation Against Jesse Bromwich Sours Storm 22-4 Win Over Dragons". Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
17. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
18. "Storm name youthful Nines squad". NRL.com. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
19. "2017 Auckland Nines squads: Every player named for the tournament". The Roar. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
20. "Kiwis' new boy Nelson Asofa-Solomona ruled out of Kangaroos Test with hand injury". Newshub.co.nz. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
21. "Size does matter: Storm signs giants". Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
22. Bungard, Matt (1 October 2017). "NRL grand final 2017: How the Melbourne Storm players rated". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 5 October 2017 – via The Sydney Morning Herald.
23. "Super Storm crowned NRL premiers". Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
24. "Kiwis name depleted Rugby League World Cup team". Nzherald.co.nz. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
25. "Young foward [sic] Nelson Asofa-Solomona gives Kiwis hope for future". Stuff.
26. "NRL Round 1 snapshot plus Dally M votes". National Rugby League. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
27. "Tackle of the Week: Round 1 winner announced". National Rugby League. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
28. "Broncos outclass Cowboys in Qld derby, Storm get the win over Raiders". ABC News. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
29. "Roosters 14-6 Storm: NRL preliminary final – as it happened". The Guardian.
30. "Another summer of woe: The seven NRL stars in off-field incidents". Fox Sports.
31. "Nelson Asofa-Solomona's NRL ban for Bali brawl 'disgraceful' and 'dehumanising' for players". www.abc.net.au.
32. "Rugby League Project - Nelson Asofa-Solomona". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
33. "Penrith Panthers beat Melbourne Storm 10-6 to reach second straight NRL grand final". ABC News. 25 September 2021.

External links

• Melbourne Storm profile
• Storm profile
• NRL profile
• 2017 RLWC profile