‘He was shocked’: Inside the meeting… and special bond that sealed Bromwich brothers’ Dolphins move

Siblings generally is a ache. Just ask Jesse Bromwich, who “couldn’t go anywhere” with out his youthful brother whereas they had been rising up.

“He was the worst, I couldn’t go anywhere without him,” Bromwich instructed foxsports.com.au.

“He used to be a bit crazy though. He used to do my head in and want to always follow us everywhere which was fine but we used to make him work for it though.”

And surprisingly, there have been no denials from Kenny — or ‘Porks’ as his massive brother calls him.

“He set the rules. We’d get into it a few times but we were always sweet as after that… I had to be sweet otherwise I wasn’t allowed to hang out with him,” he laughed.

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The two are as thick as thieves, which is why Kenny’s “mind was made up” as quickly as Jesse determined to signal with the Dolphins.

The Bromwich brothers have performed a key function within the Storm’s success over the past 10 years. Jesse, 33, performed 295 NRL video games for the membership, whereas 31-year-old Kenny notched up 216.

But when Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins reached out, the chance to attempt one thing totally different was too good to move up.

Jesse was the primary of the pair to talk to Bennett after his supervisor knowledgeable him the Dolphins had been .

“I suppose I just went into the meeting with an open mind… And at this point I hadn’t even thought about leaving the Storm — it wasn’t even an option,” he recalled.

“I just had this feeling after the meeting that I wanted to do it and that I was willing to pick the family up and move them all the way up (to Queensland).

“It wasn’t one single thing that (Bennett) said, it was more so a bunch of things he said.

“No disrespect to anyone down in Melbourne, but the feeling I had outweighed anything I sort of thought at the time… Wayne just worked his magic on me I guess.

“Obviously I had been at the Storm for a long time and I had a great relationship with Frank (Ponissi), Craig (Bellamy) and the owners there… But I think the opportunity to be able to do something different before I finish was far too great for me to decline.”

It was a “really tough decision” for Jesse to depart the Storm however after deciding on it he needed to inform his brother.

“He was shocked,” Jesse stated about Kenny’s response.

“We used to carpool to every training session down in Melbourne. I remember telling him that I think I’m going to leave.

“Before that I really hadn’t had a thought of leaving, but (Kenny) picked me up the next day and I said ‘I spoke to Wayne last night and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be leaving.’

“He was kind of caught off guard and said ‘really? I didn’t even know you were talking to them’ and I said ‘neither did I.’ He was pretty shocked and then he said — because we have the same manager — ‘I think they want to talk to me as well.’

“I didn’t really want to be involved in it so told him to do what’s best for him and his family. I didn’t want to push them either way, I knew he had a good thing going down in Melbourne and I didn’t want to be the one to force him to pack up and move up here and maybe not enjoy it.”

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But it didn’t matter what Jesse stated. Kenny was all the time going to comply with him.

“I think they spoke to Jess first and then not long after that they came to me. My mind was sort of made up when Jess made it official, I was pretty keen to stay with him,” Kenny recalled to foxsports.com.au.

“I never really thought I was going to leave Melbourne but when Jess mentioned to me that he could be leaving and started talking to me about why he was thinking of leaving I guess I started to get curious about what else was there.

“My old man spoke to me too and wanted me to go with my brother, I’ve done everything with him as a child coming through so he was pretty keen for me to follow him up there.

“But I think learning some new things, especially under another great coach in Wayne, the lifestyle change up here and experiencing something different with my family — those were a few things that helped me make my decision.”

Jesse inked a two-year deal in January 2022, whereas Kenny signed on for 3 years not lengthy after. Having secured their futures, the following step was to interrupt the news to Storm coach Craig Bellamy.

Jesse was first.

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“It was pretty tough,” he stated.

“It was a private conversation, but I remember ringing him and telling him that I was going to be leaving.

“I think he asked if I could give him another week or something but I said I had to sign and I couldn’t really get much time.

“I didn’t really want to make the call. I’m just so grateful that I was able to be coached by him for such a long time.

“I said to him ‘I’m not going to be like those guys that come to Melbourne like Billy (Slater), Cam (Smith) and Cooper (Cronk) — I’m not going to be involved in footy for life like those guys. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and my family to come up here’

“He was pretty understanding.”

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The cause Jesse received’t be just like the three Storm legends he talked about is as a result of he plans on “getting a real job” when he hangs up the boots.

But that didn’t imply Bellamy wasn’t going to attempt to discover a approach to maintain his star prop — who had been part of three premierships — on the membership.

“I think just out of respect he wanted to try, but I couldn’t really give him the chance to. I knew what I wanted to do,” Jesse stated.

A few weeks later it was Kenny’s flip. He conceded it was “pretty hard” to inform Bellamy he was leaving too however it turned out the veteran coach had an inkling.

“He said he knew it was coming,” Kenny revealed.

“He was disappointed that we couldn’t finish there but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

“The chance to come here and have two different perspectives on football — not just know one club — I think it’ll be good for me.”

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Kenny admitted the transfer was “a little bit daunting” at first however after a brutal three-day military camp earlier this month he felt like he’d identified his new teammates for “at least a year.”

The squad had been in a position to take a second through the camp to let it sink in that they are going to be part of NRL historical past when the Dolphins run out at Suncorp Stadium on March 5.

That “most definitely” performed a job in Jesse’s resolution to signal — and now the New Zealand skipper has put his hand as much as be the Dolphins’ inaugural NRL captain too.

“One of my goals is to captain the side so to be able to do that would be pretty special,” Jesse stated.

“He (Bennett) knows that’s one of my goals. I don’t think they’ve come out and announced anything yet but it’s something I’m really working towards.”

It could also be a brand new chapter for the brothers, however they’ve really carried a small piece of the Storm with them as much as Redcliffe — Kenny’s nickname.

“That’s actually a ‘Bellyache’ (Bellamy) name for him, Craig used to call Ken ‘Porks’ and Brandon Smith ‘Porky’. He used to reckon they looked a little bit overweight,” Jesse laughed.

Asked if Kenny had ever bit again with a not-so-flattering nickname in return, Jesse served an ideal massive brother response: “Porks is pretty hard to top.”