Melbourne Storm's buyers kicked the tyres before committing A consortium of Australasian businessmen has taken over NRL club the Melbourne Storm. THE consortium that bought Melbourne Storm sounded out the NRL before Christmas over the code's commitment to the growth of the game in the AFL's heartland before agreeing to sign on the dotted line. As revealed in The Australian yesterday, News Limited (publishers of The Australian) has agreed to sell the club to a syndicate of high-profile businessmen, Holding MS Australia. The consortium includes New Zealand entrepreneur Bart Campbell, who takes over from Stephen Rue as Storm chairman. Former Sportsbet chairman Matthew Tripp, and Jayco caravan founder and former Storm director Gerry Ryan are also believed to be involved. The Australian understands Campbell met various NRL heavyweights including chairman John Grant, head of strategy Shane Mattiske and chief executive Dave Smith on at least three occasions to discuss the sale. The first meeting occurred before Christmas, the second in February and another was staged at the club's Anzac Day clash against the Warriors at AAMI Park. Campbell, who has ties to some of the world's best-known sporting identities, was keen to know what the NRL could do to help the Storm prosper in terms of scheduling, promotion and membership. "It was a very wide-ranging discussion," new Storm chief executive Mark Evans said yesterday. No undertakings were asked for nor given in that sense, but it was a positive conversation. They were trying to do some work on us and we were trying to elucidate from them where they were going with the game. Evans revealed yesterday that the club was aiming to break even within five years. The timing coincides with the deal News Limited struck with the Australian Rugby League to exit the game in place of an independent commission. News was desperate to ensure the Storm would remain part of the NRL landscape and secured $26.5 million in funding across six years. With $6.5m passed on last year, the new owners still will have $20m to play with across the next five years to achieve their goal. Membership is always viewed as an untapped resource in the NRL. The Storm has just under 15,000 members and is aiming for 20,000, although Evans and outgoing CEO Ron Gauci refused to put a timeframe on that scenario. "You grow your revenues and you keep your costs under control - it's like any other business really," Evans said. I think the fundamentals here are quite sound. It's a great ground, it's a terrific team, I think membership and average attendances are moving in the right direction, so I think it can be done. The Storm is well-placed to remain competitive for some years to come. Coach Craig Bellamy, fullback Billy Slater and halfback Cooper Cronk are all locked in to long-term deals. The only missing piece of the puzzle is Australia captain and Test hooker Cameron Smith, but Evans said he had no intention of interfering with the work of the football department. "To be fair, the football department have got a very good track record in terms of recruitment and retention over the years," Evans said. Frankly I'll be leaving that up to them. Gauci paid tribute to the club that was on its knees only three seasons ago when it was stripped of two premierships and was forced to play for no competition points after being found guilty of breaching the salary cap. The incident led to the demise of several officials and saw Gauci appointed as chief executive. The club responded by winning the premiership last season and is currently running third behind South Sydney and the Roosters. "Today the club is in its best position in its history," Gauci said. The rebuilding of the club has been remarkable. It's able to stand on its own two feet. What was the biggest story in 2010 from a negative perspective became the biggest story in sport from a positive perspective.