The City of Casey and Melbourne Storm have signed a five-year partnership agreement. The new partnership was announced at AAMI Park on Monday 13 February by City of Casey CEO Glenn Patterson and Melbourne Storm CEO Justin Rodski, as Storm builds towards its opening NRL match for the 2023 season on 2 March.

Mr Patterson said the new partnership, which is in place until October 2027, is a game-changer for Casey and Melbourne’s south-east.

“We are thrilled to announce this new partnership. Melbourne Storm shares Council’s community-first ethos and will be a wonderful addition to our growing and diverse region,” he said.

City of Casey Chair of Administrators Noelene Duff PSM echoed Mr Patterson’s sentiment.

“We want to inform, motivate, and create a wider variety of opportunities for physical activity, and remove any barriers to participation for Casey’s residents,” Ms Duff said.

“This partnership will no doubt help drive rugby league participation across the community, with free community programs and family day events.”

Mr Rodski said the new partnership with the City of Casey was an extension of Storm’s activities in the region in recent seasons.

“The City of Casey and the wider south-east is home to thousands of our Storm members and a real growth area for rugby league,” he said.

“In the past three seasons, we have conducted two very successful NRL trial matches at Casey Fields, as well as meeting our members and fans at open sessions and via our Storm in Your Club program.

“Storm is dedicated to developing more local Victorian juniors into NRL players and currently two juniors from the Casey Warriors Club, Sheldon Diaz and Jared Nauma, are on that pathway via our new Storm Academy program.

“NRL Victoria through the Storm Cup, Storm Premiership and Storm Junior League is also looking to continue to grow rugby league in the south-east via its five clubs and the work of its game development officers.

“We’re delighted to welcome City of Casey as an official Storm partner for the next five years and look forward to the joint benefits the partnership will bring to our club and the Casey community.”

Melbourne Storm was founded in 1998 as the first Victorian club in the newly formed National Rugby League and has a strong presence in south-east Melbourne.

Melbourne Storm’s junior representative teams will play a number of their home games at Casey Fields during the 2023 NSWRL competition.

The 2023 SG Ball under-19s team will play one game at Casey Fields on Saturday 18 March against the Sydney Roosters, while the Jersey Flegg under-21s team will play three games at Casey Fields, starting on Sunday 25 June against the Dragons.