NRL Grand Final war of words as Melbourne Storm star makes Brisbane Broncos ‘stuck-up’ claim

Melbourne Storm forward Stefano Utoikamanu has lit the touchpaper ahead of this weekend’s NRL Grand Final, describing rivals Brisbane Broncos as ‘stuck-up’ and declaring he is ‘keen to run someone over’. 

His fiery comments have now enacted a war of words between the camps heading into Sunday’s Grand Final at Accor Stadium in Sydney, with both sides vying to be the first new name on the trophy since Melbourne last won the title in 2021, with four-peat Premiers Penrith now knocked out.

‘There are a lot of people I don’t like on this team’

“I’m going to make sure I set up this week to get that first kick of the game,” the front-rower told members of the Aussie press ahead of this weekend’s Grand Final.

“There are going to be a lot of people I want to run at. There are a lot of people I don’t like on this team (Brisbane). I’m keen to go out there and run someone over.”

“I don’t want to name names, there are a lot of people I think are a bit stuck up. I’m pretty keen just to run out and do a job for our team.”

It isn’t just him that feels that way, either, with Utoikamanu claiming ‘a lot’ of the Melbourne squad share his sentiment.

“I feel like that’s what a lot of our boys feel. But this week is probably just about us and our preparation. If we prepare the best we can and everyone brings their strengths to the game, then we can win the game.”

His strong comments have since been rebuffed by Brisbane star Payne Haas, who is looking to make his former New South Wales Blues teammate eat his words come the final whistle this weekend.

“They can say what they want,” said the Dally M Prop of the Year nominee. “But we’ll be out there on Sunday, we’ll see if that’s still going to be thrown around.

“We know who we are. They got this certain image of us down there, so it is what it is.

“We’ll see what happens.”

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