FORMER Hawthorn rookie Shem Tatupu has switched codes and agreed to terms with NRL club Melbourne Storm.

The 20-year-old New Zealander, who has spent the past two years playing VFL with Box Hill, will join Storm on a two-year deal with a club option of a third.

It is just over a week since he was released from his contract with the three-time defending premier after declaring he had lost the passion to play AFL.

Hawks Kiwi recruit Shem Tatupu has decided to switch back to rugby league and signed with Melbourne Storm. Picture Norm Oorloff Source: News Limited

Round 19

Tatupu, who stands 196cm and weighs 104kg, is expected to play as an outside back at Storm.

“I’m very excited to join Melbourne Storm, I’m looking forward to starting training with my teammates and working hard to get an opportunity to play first-grade football one day,” Tatupu said.

“I would like to thank Hawthorn Football Club for giving me my first opportunity as a professional athlete and for the time they have put into my development on and off the field.”

“I can’t wait to get started with Melbourne Storm and I am excited to be part of the club.”

Tatupu grew up playing rugby league and rugby union, but turned his attention to Aussie rules after taking part in a junior AFL tournament in Auckland in 2009.

His league pedigree is strong with father Tony a former New Zealand Warriors player with 67 games to his name.

Shem Tatupu in action for Box Hill. Picture: Janine Eastgate Source: News Corp Australia

Storm football manager Frank Ponissi said Tatupu would be a strong addition to the club.

“He has grown up with a rugby league background and comes from an outstanding and successful culture at Hawthorn, which we know will hold him in good stead at Storm,” he said.

“Shem will spend time with our development coaches in learning the Storm system and will play with one of our feeder teams in the near future allowing him the time to make the transition back to NRL and allow him to develop the necessary skills and physical qualities of rugby league.”

Tony Tatupu, Shem’s father, pushing off Melbourne Storm’s Glenn Lazarus in the late 1990s. Source: News Corp Australia

Hawthorn football manager Chris Fagan last week said the Hawks were sad to see Tatupu go.

“This has been a tough decision for Shem to make. We have been really impressed with the way in which he has applied himself over the past two years and he has made some positive progress,” Fagan told the Hawthorn website.

“There is no doubt Shem is a talented athlete and all at Hawthorn Football Club wish him well for the future.”

A 20-year old New Zealander who has been with the Hawks since the start of 2014, Tatupu left the three-time defending premiers last week, saying he’d lost his passion for AFL.

Tatupu has played 22 matches in the VFL and VFL development league since joinin the Hawks and was first spotted by the club playing rugby in New Zealand when he was 14.

He becomes the second AFL player to eye rugby league in recent months with former Gold Coast Suns ruckman Josh Hall joining Penrith last year.