Queensland's rising star Xavier Coates has recently disclosed why he left Red Hill in favour of a move down to Melbourne.
Coates, 20, is seen as the fitting replacement for departed Josh Addo-Carr in Victoria, as the Storm look to bounce back from their preliminary finals exit.
Finishing up his third season in the NRL with several Origin appearances and 17 tries to his name, Coates stated his excitement in joining the Storm.
“It’s pretty surreal – I’m real happy with the decision I’ve made,” Coates said, per Fox League.
The promising flyer also mentioned the open and honest discussions he held with Storm coach Craig Bellamy ahead of his move south.
“I had a few chats with Craig and I feel like what he told me was the pinpoint of why I came down here," Coates added.
“I think the first thing when you think about the Storm is how good the people are here, particularly the staff and players, and one of the first things he told me was you won’t fit in down here if you’re not a good person.
“If you surround with the people you want to be like, they will improve you. That was my first step to leading to making my decision with the Storm, and also looking at how tough they train.
“I think that’s a big key on why they are so good, because everyone understands how tough they train and everyone talks about the real hard pre-seasons.
“I’m sort of just bracing for it and it will get harder and harder, but I am really looking forward to the challenge.”
Coates will be looking to follow in the footsteps of many in joining Bellamy's brigade and potentially transitioning into a star of the league.
The supercoach's success speaks for itself, boasting a rich history of developing players into blue-chip names. Players such as Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk are some of the many names the man known as 'Bellyache' assisted in their prosperous careers.
Is Xavier Coates next? Only time will tell.