Melbourne Storm are mourning the sudden death of recruitment manager Darren Bell who passed away from a heart attack today.
Bell was responsible for bringing rising stars such as Matt Duffie and Jesse Bromwich to the Storm in addition to recruiting the club's under-20s list.
Football operations manager, Frank Ponissi, says the club was shocked by the news.
"Darren was very well respected in the industry as a recruitment manager and as a person,” says Ponissi.
"As a member of our footy department he has been very important in our recruitment and retention strategy over the last four years and was part of the plans around our future recruitment.
"Darren had a great eye for identifying football talent, but most of all he was a good person.
"His most important recruitment philosophy was to recruit good people first and he certainly led by example in this area."
Bell is survived by his wife Jackie.
AAP