Ex-NRL player and Fijian international James Storer plans to continue mentoring young people

However, the ex-NRL player and Fijian international plans to continue utilising the knowledge he’s acquired – both on and off the park – to mentor young people. 

“Any kid that I speak to, anyone I meet… I find that’s my purpose, to share my story and help younger kids see the light, see (beyond) all the negative.

“It might have stopped with Port Kembla, but it definitely hasn’t stopped in my life in general.”

Port Kembla will not field a side during the 2018 Group 7 season, after officially withdrawing from all senior rugby league competitions.

Storer was captain/coach of the Blacks’ first grade team during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, helping instill a competitive edge in a club which previously had regularly been on the receiving end of heavy defeats. 

“I wasn’t there to win the comp, I was there to help change their lives, try and help make them better people,” he said. 

Storer said he was still seeking a club to potentially join for the 2018 season, but is already looking to help Port return to the competition fold next year. 

The coal miner and personal trainer promotes a healthy lifestyle via social media and training videos. 

The Corrimal resident, now 36, grew up in an Aboriginal mission in Mogo on the South Coast.

Storer was “pretty much surrounded with alcohol and violence down there”, but has never touched the booze or other drugs himself. 

“Growing up in tough situations… It’s been a real blessing to grow up like that because it’s helped me see a lot of things,” he said. 

“I owe a lot to rugby league itself, because if it wasn’t for the sport I would have ended up in prison.

“That’s why I really wanted to take on the job at Port Kembla, because I know there’s a lot of kids there that are in the same sort of circumstances that I was in.

“They think, ‘because my Mum drinks’, or ‘my Dad’s in jail’, that they can be bad... (That can be) a blessing if that happens, for me anyway, because it just makes me want to be better, and better at life.”

Being a part of the Fijian team (his father is from Fiji) also changed Storer’s life – during the training for the 2008 World Cup they went to Fiji and it was there that he found God.

Last year, Storer took a delivery of more than 800 donated footy boots to Fiji, to help lift the spirits of those devastated by Cyclone Winston.

According to Fairfax Media, the Illawarra District Rugby League board of management hopes to meet with representatives from the Blacks club in the coming months, to plan a return for the club in 2019.