Christian Welch has revealed an unfortunate injury on the golf course led to him missing Melbourne’s last game of the regular season last week against Brisbane.
The Storm put the Broncos to the sword as Craig Bellamy welcomed back a majority of his rested stars ahead of this week’s qualifying final against Cronulla.
However, after initially being named on the bench, Welch dropped out of the side and was replaced by rookie Lazarus Vaalepu.
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Storm veteran Christian Welch reveals golf injury that led to absence
"I actually got bitten by something,” Welch said while appearing on 2GB's Wide World of Sports Radio.
"I'm a terrible golfer, so I was off in the shrubbery and I think a little spider got me."
The prop has endured a frustrating campaign to date with a back injury mainly causing him to play just two games since Round 18.
Welch finally made his return to action in Round 25 against the Dolphins when he featured off the pine, before starting the following week against North Queensland.
The plan was for the forward to play once again against the Broncos in order to build up his match fitness ahead of the finals, but he was instead struck down by illness.
"My leg blew up and got infected, and I had a pretty bad fever," Welch revealed.
"It was a strange injury to have, but I’m back fully healthy now."
The 30-year-old will take his place on the bench alongside Tyran Wishart, Tui Kamikamica and Alec MacDonald as the Storm attempt to advance into the prelims at the Sharks’ expense.
Craig Fitzgibbon’s side beat the Storm earlier in the season 25-10 to become one of just two teams to beat them at AAMI Park in 2024.
"It's a really threatening team," Welch stated.
"We're certainly not taking them lightly. They're a really well-coached side and just really physical and work really hard."
