Star winger Xavier Coates says a warning from Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy helped sway his decision to join the NRL club.
Before signing a two-year deal, the ex-Brisbane flyer was told by Bellamy not to bother unless he was a good person.
That was enough for the 20-year-old to commit to the Storm, with Coates completing his first training session on Thursday.
"One of the first things that Craig told me was that you won't fit in here if you're not a good person," Coates said.
"What I feel is that if you surround yourself with the people you want to be like that will improve you, so that was the first step in leading me to make my decision.
"As soon as I signed nearly the whole team messaged me and said they couldn't wait for me to come down and that makes me feel like I'm at home and proves what Craig said about good people here."
It helped that the Storm has established a production line of turning talented wingers into superstars with Marika Koroibete, Suliasi Vunivalu and Josh Addo-Carr, whom Coates replaces, some of the most recent graduates.
But Coates, already a Queensland State of Origin winger, wants to create his own legacy.
"The main thing I came down here for was to improve myself," Coates said.
"I want to make my own legacy and improve on certain aspects that will help the team improve on the field.
"There's a lot of hard work I have to do to prove a point and pull on that purple jersey."
Coates said he was "bracing" for Melbourne's infamously gruelling pre-season.
New Storm recruits also complete a torrid SAS-style camp and are sent out to a building site for two weeks on the tools.
"I've never picked up a tool in my life ... I'm probably more nervous about that than the rest of the pre-season," he said.
"You give your best effort and don't quit - that's what Craig and the players want to see, someone who is reliable on the field and doesn't give up."
Making the transition a little easier is that his best mate Cole Geyer - son of Storm great Matt - also landed at the club as a development player with the pair moving in together.
Coates and Geyer played at Currumbin Eagles on the Gold Coast from under nines and went to school together.
"It's a dream come true - we spoke about playing in the NRL together one day and we are a step closer to that now," Coates said.
"I signed and then I found out two weeks later that he signed too. It's a fairytale sort of thing for us."
