VENUE & TIME: AAMI Park, Saturday September 24, 7.45pm (AEST), 9.45pm (NZT) COVERAGE: Channel Nine/Sky Sport
HEAD TO HEAD Played: 28, Storm 14, Warriors 12, 2 draws
LAST TIME: Storm 16 - Warriors 8 at Mt Smart Stadium, Round 16, 2011
WALKING WOUNDED:
Melbourne have picked utility Rory Kostjasyn (hamstring) but he'll have to pass a fitness test after being injured in the warm-up a fortnight ago while it will come as no surprise if Maurice Blair (hamstring) is recalled at the expense of Beau Champion. That leaves only Adam Blair (suspension) and Justin O'Neill (back) on the unavailable list.
The Warriors have recalled rookie back-rower Elijah Taylor for Saturday's game at the expense of Ukuma Ta'ai, while Shaun Berrigan (hip), Joel Moon (ankle) and Jerome Ropati (knee) will all watch on from the stands with their seasons over.
FORM:
The Storm leapt to premiership favouritism thanks to their 12 wins in a row heading into Round 25 but defeats in the final two rounds against the Sea Eagles and Roosters were followed by a solid but far from spectacular defeat of the Knights in the qualifying final.
Belted by the Broncos in the opening weekend of the finals in Brisbane, the Warriors were given little chance of bouncing back against the Tigers last week but bounce back they did, from an 18-6 half-time deficit, as Krisnan Inu's last-gasp try while lying on the ground proved decisive.
WHO'S HOT:
In the absence of Adam Blair a fortnight ago Sika Manu played a mighty game for Melbourne in their win over Newcastle. The burly back-rower was tireless in his afternoon's work, carting the ball 159m in 17 runs as he also busted eight tackles and made a line break.
Take your pick among the Warriors with Inu grabbing his chance last week and Feleti Mateo also continuing to have a big impact. Others getting plenty of headlines include Shaun Johnson and James Maloney, the latter in demand for his services for 2012, while Aaron Heremaia has been a spark at hooker too.
WE THINK: Coming to Melbourne for this one will hold no fears for the Warriors, who have one of the best head-to-head records against the Storm in their 14 seasons in the NRL, and won at their only visit to AAMI Park earlier this year. But Melbourne had some revenge later in the year and finals football is a major step-up, the new competition one Craig Bellamy-coached teams usually thrive in. Even though they won last week the game should probably have been put beyond them by the Tigers and they had a horror visit to Brisbane a week earlier. The Storm were clearly a class above the likes of the Warriors throughout the season and with the likes of Cam Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk they boast too many guns for the Warriors to cover them all. Storm by 8.
TEAMS
Storm:
1. Billy Slater, 2. Matt Duffie, 3. Dane Nielsen, 4. Beau Champion, 5. Anthony Quinn, 6. Gareth Widdop, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cam Smith (c), 10. Bryan Norrie, 11. Kevin Proctor, 12. Sika Manu, 13. Todd Lowrie
Interchange: 14. Ryan Hinchcliffe 15. Rory Kostjasyn, 16. Adam Woolnough, 17. Jaiman Lowe, 18. Troy Thompson, 19. Sisa Waqa, 20. Maurice Blair, 21. Atelea Vea
Warriors:
1. Kevin Locke, 2.