This was published 7 years ago
Melbourne Storm lose Christian Welch, Nelson Asofa-Solomona to injury
By Roy Ward
Melbourne Storm's forward pack has taken a double blow in the aftermath of the win over St George Illawarra on Sunday.
Emerging forward Christian Welch is out for the rest of the season after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament just before half-time in Storm's 34-22 win while imposing forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona was found to have a broken hand after the match and will miss two games.
Storm's Nelson Asofa-Solomona is out of action for several weeks with a broken hand. Credit: Getty Images
Welch has become one of the Storm's most reliable forwards both coming off the bench and, at times, starting, with the club rewarding him with a two-year contract extension last month to the end of 2019.
The 22-year-old is expected to have a knee reconstruction next Tuesday with Storm football director Frank Ponissi pledging the club's full support.
"We are extremely disappointed for Christian after he had made such a terrific start to the season," Ponissi said.
"The club will support him through this recovery and we are certain that with his level of work ethic, he will leave no stone unturned during his rehab.
"We have no doubt that Christian will continue to support the boys throughout the 2017 season and we look forward to seeing him back on the field and playing good footy for Melbourne in 2018 and beyond."
Asofa-Solomona won the Spirit of Anzac medal during the Storm's win over New Zealand Warriors on Anzac night and was again in form in the win over the Dragons before having scans on his sore hand.
He is expected to have surgery on Thursday and will miss New Zealand's clash with Australia on Friday night plus the Storm's next two games against Gold Coast Titans on May 13 and South Sydney Rabbitohs on May 21.