The Melbourne Storm have made the rare and classy move of paying tribute to five retiring NRL players who didn’t even finish their careers at the club. Among the retiring class of 2025 are former Storm players Kenny Bromwich, Jordan McLean, Mark Nicholls, Tariq Sims and Reimis Smith.
All except Bromwich and Smith are better known for their careers at other clubs, but the Storm have spent the past week paying tribute and thanking their former players on social media. Bromwich and McLean won premierships at the Storm, with Bromwich triumphant in 2017 and 2020.
Kiwi international Bromwich played 216 games for Melbourne from 2013 to 2022, before finishing his career with 44 games for the Dolphins from 2023 to 2025. McLean played 86 games for the Storm from 2013 to 2017, and was part of the 2017 team that won the grand final.
He went on to have a longer career at the North Queensland Cowboys, playing 156 games from 2018 to 2025. Yet the Storm paid special tributes to Bromwich and McLean on social media this week, despite them finishing at different clubs.
The club wrote about Bromwich: “Two-time Premiership player. New Zealand International. 216 games in purple. Thank you, Kenny. For McLean they wrote: “Forever Storm. Thank you, Jordan.”
And it was the same for Smith, Sims and Nicholls, with the club writing: “Forever a part of our history. Thank you.”
Reimis Smith’s emotional farewell to NRL
Smith played 68 games for the Storm from 2021 to 2024, after 49 for the Bulldogs from 2016 to 2020. He finished his career with 19 games for Catalans Dragons in the English Super League.
“I want to thank the coaches that coached me, the physios that helped me out from my injuries. Thank you guys so much for that. I appreciate it,” he said on social media last month. “I want to thank all the players I played with, trained with. Thank you guys as well.
“I want to thank the fans that followed me throughout my career since 2016 when I made my debut until now. I appreciate you guys, and it never goes unnoticed. I thank my family. I love you guys so much, and I appreciate you all so much, and thank you for helping me out and getting me to where I am today.
“Thank you for the good times and bad times as well, I appreciate it all. My chapter ends, another starts. I’m super excited to be moving to the next chapter of my life. I’ve got a couple of exciting things coming up, but until then, thank you guys and can’t wait to share my next chapter with you.
Melbourne Storm fans thank retiring players
Sims only played one season at the Storm in 2023 in which he featured in 15 games for the club. He played 274 games all up – 71 for the Cowboys, 27 for Newcastle, 123 for St George Illawarra and 38 for Catalans. He also played six State of Origin games for NSW.
As for Nichols, he only played nine games for the Storm across 2016 and 2017. He also played 19 games for Canberra, 100 for Souths and 66 for the Dolphins – a total of 194 across a 13-year career.
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