NRL Premiership-winning centre Ricky Leutele has signed a contract with Melbourne Storm for the remainder of the 2020 NRL season.
The 129 game veteran with the Cronulla Sharks joins the Storm, following the withdrawal of the Toronto Wolfpack from the Super League where Leutele was a teammate to Sonny Bill Williams.
The 30-year-old will serve a two-week mandatory quarantine period, with his family, before being allowed to join the Storm camp at Twin Waters in Queensland.
Leutele made his NRL debut for the Sharks in 2010, while he has played five internationals for Samoa since 2014.
The powerful, hard-running back was a key figure in Cronulla's maidan and only NRL title in 2014.
With the Wolfpack, he has played 27 matches, scoring 18 tries, helping them to promotion to Super League for the first time last season.
Leutele will take up the No.30 slot on Storm’s 2020 roster, providing extra depth in the outside backs after loan signing Paul Momirovski was ruled out for 12 weeks following surgery on a finger tendon injury.
