Season in Review: Christian Welch

2023 saw Melbourne Storm’s captain return from injury, Christian Welch playing 25 games and bringing leadership and experience to the Storm forward pack.  

A no fuss forward that does the little things right, Welch was strong in both defence and with the ball in hand, averaging 110 run metres a game while also making 744 tackles.  

The Queenslander racked up 808 post contact metres and was a key contributor to Storm’s second phase football, producing 39 offloads, the most of the club. 

After not scoring a try since 2021, Welch even managed to find the try line twice inside three weeks, breaking his try scoring drought against the Raiders in Round 24 before scoring again in Round 26. 

Despite missing the entirety of last season, Welch made his return to the representative arena this year, included in the QLD Maroons squad as 19th man for Game 1.