The Melbourne Storm has confirmed the club won't be fielding any of their big three stars at this weekend's inaugural NRL Auckland Nines.
Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater won't play the rugby league pre-season tournament after the World Cup-winning Kangaroos trio were all left out of coach Craig Bellamy's 16-man squad.
New South Wales back-rower Ryan Hoffman will captain the side, with stars Will Chambers, Matt Duffie, Justin O'Neill, Kevin Proctor, Jesse Bromwich also included, while Tohu Harris will play his first official game since being bumped out of New Zealand's World Cup squad by Sonny Bill Williams.
