After 29 weeks of gruelling rugby league the men in purple will head into Sunday night’s decider fresh and firing.
Storm booked their place in the 2016 NRL Grand Final courtesy of a thrilling 14-12 win over the Raiders on Saturday night.
For a side that has endured countless injuries and setbacks this season, Storm’s resilience has held firm and they will now head to the big dance confident of performing at their best.
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“We are really big on routine here at the Storm, that is what has made us successful over a long period of time and particularly this year,” Storm skipper Cameron Smith said.
“The one thing about our club this year is our medical staff and our high performance staff have done a very good job with our squad and getting us prepared physically.
“This week is a little bit different with some of the things that we need to do but I know all the guys will be ready to go physically.
“This match is about our mental preparation more than anything.
“It’s a big occasion, huge crowd, huge atmosphere and if we are ready to go mentally that should help us to put in a good performance.”
Attention will now turn to taking on a Sharks side that flexed their attacking muscle against the Cowboys, with a 32-20 Preliminary final win.
Melbourne holds recent bragging rights have won 26-6 the last time the two teams met at AAMI Park in Round 26.
That score line and the eventual result means very little when that kick-off time arrives on Sunday.
“This year we’ve played each other twice and we are one each with victories,” Smith said.
“This game is going to be totally different, it is a Grand Final and going off the Sharks recent form they’ve been fantastic.
“They absolutely blew the Cowboys out of the water only a few nights ago so it is a different prospect, two different teams from when we met last time so it is not going to be like it was down here a few weeks ago.
“It is going to be a tough match but we are looking forward to it.”
