HAVING taken boom back-rower Felise Kaufusi to the brink of Origin selection Craig Bellamy is now set to poach his younger brother Patrick from the Cowboys.

At 23, the youngest of the three Kaufusi brothers is poised to take up a two-year, $100,000 a season deal with the Storm in 2018 and add front-row depth ahead of Jordan McLean’s move in the opposite direction to Townsville.



“Felise’s younger brother he’s agreed to terms to come here next year,” Bellamy told the press on Friday.

“Basically we have had the three of them. Antonio was here when I started so that’s three of the brothers who have all played for Storm and the Cowboys.

He’s coming down next year. Felise’s been wonderful this year so hopefully Patrick can have the same impact.”



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Round 20

The contract bringing Kaufusi, who hasn’t played since round nine due to a season-ending foot injury, is yet to clear the 10-day cooling off period, but will be registered by the NRL in the next fortnight.





Cowboys prop Patrick Kaufusi. Picture: Zak Simmonds Source: News Corp Australia





Kaufusi has played 22 games for North Queensland since debuting midway through 2015, and is set to follow the same career path as older siblings Felise and Antonio, who rose to Queensland and Kangaroos honours under Bellamy a decade ago.

The news follows the retention of star speedsters Suliasi Vunivalu and Josh Addo-Carr, completing a round dozen of Storm players now signed up through 2020 or beyond.

The club officially announced the extensions of Vunivalu (until the end of 2020) and Addo-Carr (2021) on Thursday, with both players understood to have earned healthy salary upgrades in the process.

Both wingers have enjoyed superb seasons in purple, with Vunivalu’s 22 tries putting him in line for the NRL’s top tryscorer honours for the second year running.

One more try in their final regular season game will take him past the injured Alex Johnston, while Addo-Carr’s 19 four-pointers place him fourth across the competition behind Jordan Rapana (20).

While 2017 heralds the end of one era at Melbourne with Kevin Proctor (Titans) already gone, Tohu Harris (Warriors), and McLean to follow and Cooper Cronk doing likewise if he doesn’t retire, it has also seen millions outlaid in the name of a particular rosy future in the southern capital.

Craig Bellamy’s side hasn’t missed a beat en route to successive minor premierships and the shortest priced premiership favouritism in a decade.

And along the way this season Addo-Carr, skipper in waiting Jesse Bromwich (one year as a player option), Dale Finucane and future stars Brodie Croft and Brandon Smith have all been locked down until the end of 2021.

Ben Ikin, Nathan Ryan and Ben Glover are joined by Nate Myles to discuss his recent move to the Storm and look at what needs to change for the bottom seven in 2018.

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In the same period Vunivalu, Kenny Bromwich, Will Chambers, Cheyse Blair, Jahrome Hughes have re-signed until 2020, and recent representative rookies Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Cam Munster (2019) aren’t going anywhere any time soon either.

Meanwhile Bulldogs behemoth Sam Kasiano and highly rated Wests Tigers junior custodian Ryan Papenhuyzen will also arrive in 2018 on three-year deals, rounding out a strong contingent the Storm sees continuing their standing as the NRL’s most successful franchise.

Both Bellamy and future Immortal Cameron Smith are contracted until the end of next season and showing no sign of slowing down, while Billy Slater is also considered more likely than not to take up a one-year extension for 2018 as well.



As revealed this week by foxports.com.au, next on the club’s retention list are recent Queensland 18th man Felise Kaufusi (player option until the end of 2019), Origin workhorse Tim Glasby and outside back talent Curtis Scott (both off-contract in 2018).





The tremendous strides taken by Vunivalu and Addo-Carr since arriving at the Storm are typical of the club’s recruitment strategy, with both arriving on cut-price deals and providing brilliant returns at a bargain price.

Vunivalu’s first deal with the club saw him pocket just $30,000 on a basic under 20s contract before coming from the clouds with 23 tries in 2016, the most ever in a rookie season.

Addo-Carr meanwhile is the only man besides Finucane to play all 23 Storm games this season, and has done so on a modest wage of around $140,000 after a sporadic nine games with the Tigers last year.

“Suli and Josh are important to the future of the Storm so to have them re-signed for three and four years respectively is fantastic for our club,” football manager Frank Ponissi said.

“There is hardly a better sight in rugby league than seeing the two of them in full flight.

“The challenge now for our young players is to ensure they put in the hard work to get the most out of their ability and help this club achieve a sustained period of success.”