LeagueNews.co | Jess Malloy
The inaugural Sua Fa'alogo Cup, launched by the Melbourne Storm, highlights top young talent in the U16 category across their junior league.
Named after Melbourne's locally raised player, the cup is currently at its halfway point within a six-round competition.
It features three teams representing different metropolitan hub regions in Melbourne, all of which have recorded both a win and a loss at this stage.
A total of 12 U16 teams from the NRL Victoria competition are participating, with selected players representing their respective hub areas.
The teams engage in a home-and-away format, totaling six matches before the Final scheduled for August 18.
Home teams don the Melbourne Storm's purple jerseys, while away teams wear the white strip.
The Sua Fa'alogo Cup serves not only to spotlight the best U16 players from Victoria but also to prepare them for the upcoming 2026 Harold Matthews season.
From this competition, promising players will be chosen to participate in an U16s September Hub training program, with a subsequent selection for the 2026 Melbourne Storm Harold Matthews train-on Squad before the preseason begins in early November.
The competition format replicates the Harold Matthews structure, comprising two 30-minute halves, with 17 players and 8 interchanges.