Eight players depart Storm

Melbourne Storm has announced a number of changes to its playing squad for the 2017 season.

It has been confirmed that a total of eight players will depart the Club in the off-season; Blake Green, Marika Koroibete, Ben Hampton, Ryan Morgan, Richie Kennar, Tony Tumusa, Francis Tualau and Matt White.

Green will leave Melbourne after two consistent years for Storm that saw him play 50 games in the purple jersey, scoring 10 tries and forming a strong halves pairing alongside Cooper Cronk.

Koroibete played 58 electrifying games for the Club as the human highlight real built himself into a fan favourite. The Fijian Flyer arrived at Storm midway through 2014 and instantly announced himself with four tries in his first five games before going on to score a further 29 over the next two seasons.

Hampton and Kennar will also look to continue their careers elsewhere after both entering the NRL system through the Storm development program.

Hampton played 36 games over four seasons, 20 of which were in 2016 as he came primarily off the bench in a utility role. Kennar managed six games in two seasons for Melbourne and was unlucky to not play more first-grade football in 2016 due to injury.

After playing one season with Storm, Morgan and White will depart. Morgan played only eight games for the Club but it was enough to endear himself to the purple faithful with his hard-nosed defensive approach while White made three appearances.

Thunderbolts products Tualau and Tumusa will also leave Melbourne. Despite not making a first-grade appearance the pair were important players for feeder sides Easts Tigers and Sunshine Coast Falcons respectively.