Melbourne Storm will select its strongest possible side for February’s World Club Challenge match against Leeds.
It was announced on Tuesday that Storm will face the English Super League Premiers on February 16 at AAMI Park, for the right to be called the best rugby league team in the world.
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With the marquee game set to attract global interest, Storm have reaffirmed they will leave no stone unturned in their bid to be crowned the world’s best.
“We will certainly be looking to play our best possible team,” Storm Football Director Frank Ponissi said.
“With the shortened pre-season for a lot of the players (due to the World Cup) we’ve got to keep that in mind, but we are going to work with our performance staff and the players themselves to give them every possible chance to be available for that game.
“It is a game that we value and we are very keen to do well in and win.”
The countdown is now on with 93 days until Storm take on the Rhinos at AAMI Park.
With pre-season training already underway there was no hiding the enthusiasm about the opportunity that now awaits.
“When Dave Donaghy contacted Craig, myself and Adam O’Brien on our US trip to get our thoughts on whether we would be interested in playing the game here in Melbourne, we absolutely jumped at the opportunity,” Ponissi said.
“We value the World Club Challenge and we just think to be able to play it right here in Melbourne, in front of our own supporters is something we can really look forward to.
“The players are all looking forward to it, we’ve had a lot of players already comment on that.
“Whilst we’ve won the World Club Challenge before and we’ve won the Premiership and Minor Premiership, in the Club’s 20-year history, we’ve never held the three trophies at the same time, that in itself is a huge incentive.”
