Today, Melbourne Storm announced that a gang of players had re-signed and that gang is headlined by Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Kenny Bromwich. Asofa-Solomona has signed on, extended his contract until the end of 2017 while Bromwich has signed until the end of 2018.

Felise Kaufusi was born in Aotearoa, he's a Queenslander though.

This puts an end to one of the more intriguing kiwi player movement sagas, as NAS has quickly established himself as one of the more potent young forwards in the NRL. A bunch of teams were apparently in the mix to sign NAS but the Wellingtonian's decision to stay with Melbourne is a massive boost for the Storm and leaves NAS with options in his favour.

Melbourne simply need NAS, he's that influential to their team and he's shown that in only around 30 minutes of action each week. NAS offers the Storm size, athleticism and an offload, allowing the Storm to roll down field with ease (in conjunction with their strong forward pack) while also sparking their attacking movements thanks to those offloads and quick play-the-balls.

In signing on for another season, NAS leaves plenty of room to benefit beyond 2017. At the end of this contract, Melbourne will definitely need to upgrade NAS' contract and this will give them time to juggle their cap, moving blokes on to open up space in their cap. This gives NAS an opportunity to gain more experience and put his talents on display, which should result in him bumping up his asking price. You'd have to assume that the Storm discussed their future plans with NAS when signing him for another season and while they are leaving the door open for NAS to head elsewhere in pursuit of more money, I'd suggest that the Storm would told NAS that there would be greater flexibility in their cap after next season and that if he's consistently on the park, he'll definitely be rewarded with a hefty contract.

Awesome to have these 5 showing their #purplepride for the future!! ⚡️✍

A photo posted by Melbourne Storm (@melbstormrlc) on Aug 29, 2016 at 8:54pm PDT

The alternative is that NAS shows what a beast he is before this contract expires and other clubs throw crazy amounts of money his way. Point being that NAS now has an opportunity to drive his price up with another year of footy, especially as he's still a fresh face in the NRL.

The younger Bromwich brother was always a far greater chance of staying in Melbourne than NAS and it never felt as though Kenny would look elsewhere. Kenny joins Jesse and Kevin Proctor in coming off-contract after the 2018 season (Tohu Harris and NAS signed 'til end of 2017) and I reckon keeping this group of kiwis in tact down in Melbourne will be a priority for both the players and the Storm.

Kenny has done a fantastic job for Craig Bellamy in a variety of positions and he's impressed at various stages this season through the middle and out on the edge. With Kenny playing through the middle, the Storm have speed, footwork and power through their middle as well as a slick combination with Jesse that sees either brother giving a slick short-ball to the other.

While I reckon Kenny's best suited to adding some spark to the Storm's middle, his real value is in his ability to cover nearly every position and Bellamy knows what he's going to get from Kenny regardless of the position he's playing. Injury and suspension means that you need forwards who can plug a hole; Melbourne have guys like Kenny and Tohu Harris who do this very well.

For our kiwi lads, I view this as a wise move to stay with the Storm. There will be opportunities for growth as players and financially down the track, for the next few seasons though they will be playing alongside Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk (Billy Slater as well) as they extend their Premiership window.

This Storm team has evolved and adapted to the changes in the NRL extremely well, having blokes like NAS and Kenny Bromwich are crucial to this. Snapping this two kiwi lads up for next season and beyond will ensure that Melbourne have a forward pack that has size, footwork and skill, laying a fine platform for their play-making greats to do their thing.