NRL: Melbourne Storm set to confirm home game in Napier

Hastings-born Storm prop Tohu Harris. Photo / Getty Images

The Melbourne Storm are set to confirm they will play a home NRL match at Napier's McLean Park this season, probably in June or July.

Fairfax Media are reporting that the Storm have been in negotiations since last year with the Napier City Council (NCC), who operate McLean Park, about bringing a game to Hawke's Bay.

A date and opponent - believed to be another Australian club - have been finalised but those details will not be announced until match tickets are ready for sale.

Under chief executive Wayne Jack, the NCC are said to be aggressively marketing McLean Park.

Following the success of last year's All Blacks' test against Argentina, Jack has pushed for the venue to include rugby league, and is believed to see merit in the idea of developing relationships with Australian NRL clubs.

The Storm have always had a strong connection with New Zealand, with Kiwis players Stephen Kearney and Tawera Nikau playing leading roles in their inaugural premiership win in 1999, while the club's early fan base included many ex-pat supporters of the 13-man code.

Those links continue today, through forward Tohu Harris - a former Hastings Boys' High School student - and fellow New Zealand representatives Jesse Bromwich, Kevin Proctor, and Matt Duffie.

The efforts of the late Darren Bell saw the Storm establish annual player recruitment camps in Wellington, with many players receiving scholarships or contracts, including Harris, Bromwich and Duffie.