Queensland young gun Xavier Coates has revealed why he left the Broncos to play under Craig Bellamy at the Storm.
Brisbane were desperate to keep Coates, who is still only 20 but has already played five games for the Maroons.
But Bellamy went after the winger and got his man for the next two seasons, who will replace Bulldogs-bound flyer Josh Addo-Carr.
Coates has played three seasons in the NRL and scored 17 tries in 32 games for Brisbane.
“It’s pretty surreal – I’m real happy with the decision I’ve made,” Coates said.
“I had a few chats with Craig and I feel like what he told me was the pinpoint of why I came down here.
“I think the first thing when you think about the Storm is how good the people are here, particularly the staff and players, and one of the first things he told me was you won’t fit in down here if you’re not a good person.
“If you surround with the people you want to be like, they will improve you. That was my first step to leading to making my decision with the Storm, and also looking at how tough they train.
“I think that’s a big key on why they are so good, because everyone understands how tough they train and everyone talks about the real hard pre-seasons.
“I’m sort of just bracing for it and it will get harder and harder, but I am really looking forward to the challenge.”