Official Christian Welch waves off Dragons interest to ink new two-year deal with Melbourne Storm

steeliz

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Queensland forward Christian Welch has waved away interest from NRL rivals to re-sign with the Melbourne Storm until at least the end of 2022.

The consistent fan-favourite prop is one of three players to ink new deals, with the Storm also announcing Max King and promising youngster Jack Howarth have signed new deals.

Welch was understood to be on the radar of other clubs, most notably the Dragons, who The Daily Telegraph reports tabled a three-year deal worth in excess of $1 million to the 26-year-old back in August.

However, the Origin star, who is expected to earn selection for the Maroons again this year, has tied his future to the Storm for a further two years.

“Christian is having an outstanding 2020 to back up earning his first jersey for the Maroons last year,” Storm general manager Frank Ponissi said in a club statement.

“What we like a lot about Christian is the leadership skills that he possesses on and off the field and the dedication he puts into improving his game.

“He’s entering the prime of his career as an NRL front-rower and we’re delighted to have him at our club through to the end of 2022.”

King, meanwhile, has also signed on with the Storm for 2021 after arriving at the club midway through last year from the Gold Coast Titans.

The diverse forward has had an injury-interrupted 2020 campaign but has proven handy for Craig Bellamy's side off the bench in recent weeks and recently hit the 50 game milestone.

“There is definitely many more NRL matches in Max’s future,” Ponissi said.

“I’m sure he’s looking forward to getting in a full pre-season and making the most of 2021.”


The re-signing of Howarth until the end of 2022 comes as the under-18's Maroons representative was elevated to the Storm's full-time NRL squad for next season.

A product of the club's feeder club Easts Tigers, Howarth is due to complete his year 12 studies in Brisbane before moving to Melbourne next year.

The trio's commitment to the Storm comes after the club announced the re-signing of Chris Lewis, Issac Lumelume and Aaron Pene earlier in the week.
 

Psycho Doggie

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Its not too surprising that Welch re-signed. He has played 66 games in 4 seasons. Too many injury interruptions, and hardest for him was when he was looking like the next big thing in 2017 and then did his ACL. He has had a great 3 or 4 months, given where he is at in his career right now he wants some stability above anything. Maybe in two seasons if he's played regularly and feels he's earned the right to be one of big earning props he will jump at a big offer from elsewhere.
 

bradyk

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Been great this year, unlucko...
 
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