{"id":860,"date":"2026-04-29T00:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/860\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T00:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:02:12","slug":"nrl-2026-melbourne-storm-hand-debut-to-20-year-old-as-state-of-origin-winner-demoted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/860\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Melbourne Storm hand debut to 20-year-old as State of Origin winner demoted"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coach Craig Bellamy<\/a> has made sweeping changes to his struggling Melbourne Storm side and is set to hand youngster Hugo Peel a debut on the wing. This comes as Queensland representative Trent Loiero<\/a> has been demoted to the bench after a number of tough NRL<\/a> games in the Storm jersey.<\/p>\n

Bellamy is going through the worst slump as a coach since starting at the club in 2003. Melbourne have lost six straight games with the Rabbitohs the latest team to pummel the Storm with an emphatic 48-6 win.<\/p>\n

\"Melbourne<\/p>\n

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has dropped Trent Loeiro and handed youngster Hugo Peel a debut on the wing after making a number of changes to his side. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Bellamy said it was the “most embarrassed” he had been in his football career and he has reacted to the situation. After their latest hammering at home in AAMI Park, Bellamy has demoted a number of stars.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest names to drop to the bench is Loiero. Queensland coach Billy Slater rewarded Loiero with a Maroons jersey last year with the Storm lock helping his state to a series win. However, his form has dipped in 2026 with the lock giving away a number of errors against the Rabbitohs.<\/p>\n

This followed tough displays against the Raiders and the Warriors. And Alec McDonald has been promoted to the starting side at 13. Loiero’s demotion to the bench is a huge blow to his State of Origin chances.<\/p>\n

He will be up against potential Queensland lock Max Plath this weekend. Plath has been in sensational form upon his return from injury for the Dolphins. The Dolphins are also desperate for a win having lost to the Penrith Panthers and Warriors in consecutive weeks.<\/p>\n

\"Trent<\/p>\n

Trent Loiero (pictured left) has been demoted to the bench for the Melbourne Storm.<\/p>\n

(Paul Kane via Getty Images)Craig Bellamy hands Hugo Peel his debut<\/p>\n

Bellamy also demoted both young star Cooper Clarke and Joe Chan. The second-rowers have been pushed back to the bench with Ativalu Lisati and Shawn Blore earning a start. But maybe the biggest change was handing 20-year-old Peel his debut on the wing for Manaia Waitere.<\/p>\n

Peel has scored six tries in six games for the Storm’s NSW Cup side. He has played both wing and fullback. And the club junior is looking to become just the seventh Victorian player to debut for the Storm.<\/p>\n

Trent Toelau has been named on the bench and is looking to become the eighth Victorian-based player to debut for the Storm. The only forced chance for Bellamy is that of Jahrome Hughes.<\/p>\n

The halfback failed his HIA on the weekend and also appeared to injure his wrist. Utility Tyran Wishart will play halfback alongside Cameron Munster. Hughes is expected to be back the next week against the Wests Tigers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coach Craig Bellamy has made sweeping changes to his struggling Melbourne Storm side and is set to hand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[645,1638,719,260,1269,1639,748],"class_list":{"0":"post-860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-melbourne","8":"tag-craig-bellamy","9":"tag-debut","10":"tag-hugo-peel","11":"tag-melbourne","12":"tag-melbourne-storm","13":"tag-trent-loeiro","14":"tag-trent-loiero"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}