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Melbourne centre Paul Momirovski opens up for the first time about the historic player swap between the Storm and the Wests Tigers.
Melbourne recruit Paul Momirovski hopes his historic player swap with Harry Grant opens the door for other fringe NRL players to land playing opportunities.
Momirovski had his first day at the Storm on Monday, while Grant joined the Wests Tigers after the league green-lighted the first player-swap in NRL history.
The development ends months of speculation of a deal that threatened to fall over numerous times since it was first mooted last November.
"It did get a bit frustrating towards the end once the football started coming around because all you want to do is play," Momirovski said on Monday.
The former Sydney Roosters centre revealed he and Grant became good friends as they shared their frustrations during the protracted discussions.
However, the pair will now look to advance their careers at their new clubs, with the Storm in search of a new centre following Curtis Scott's exit in the summer.
The Tigers are also desperate to land a hooker after the retirement of Robbie Farah and injuries to Jacob Liddle.
Momirovski was on hand to watch Melbourne's two-point win over Cronulla at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday night.
"It was a bit of a weird situation. I trained in the morning with the Tigers to keep my fitness up and then in the afternoon I got a Storm polo on," he said.
"Definitely it's something that's different.
"But hopefully it's something that goes forward with a lot of other teams so it gives some opportunity for players to play some football."
Both players will return to their original clubs at the end of the season, with the Tigers admitting they are in talks with Momirovski about an extension.
"The arrival of Harry now gives us a specialist hooker in our roster following the retirement of Robbie Farah and the injury sustained by Jacob Liddle," Tigers football manager Adam Hartigan said.
"While we are excited for the future of Jake Simpkin and a number of young players on our roster, this deal now allows us to significantly strengthen our side while not troubling our future roster."
