Melbourne Storm CEO Justin Rodski is still holding out hope that unvaccinated forward Nelson Asofa-Solomoa will return to the club ahead of the 2022 season.
Asofa-Solomona is currently training away from the Storm as Victorian Government regulations state that all players must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to complete their work at the club.
While at this stage the 25-year-old is yet to budge on his vaccination stance, Rodski says the club is in continual dialogue with the New Zealand-born prop in the hope that he changes his mind.
“There’s not a heap I can say on that one, but the process is ongoing with Nelson,” Rodski said on SEN Drive.
“We’re still hopeful and optimistic that he’ll be able to return to commence his official pre-season training sooner rather than later.
“He has been training away from the club, he has a program at the moment so we know that he’s keeping himself in good condition.
“In terms of timeframe on that, I couldn’t say at the moment, it is a sensitive one, and we’re working through that process there.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to resolve it in the coming weeks.”
While the Storm are hopeful that Asofa-Solomona will play a role in the 2022 season, recent reports have suggested that it will be his last year at the club, with the prop linked to a cross-code move to play in Japan’s League One rugby union competition for the 2023 season.
Rules in Japan are more lenient on unvaccinated players, and at this stage Asofa-Solomona would be free to play for the Panasonic Wild Knights despite the fact that he's yet to take the jab.