The “best news” for the Storm ahead of prelim

Melbourne Storm CEO Justin Rodski has praised the sustained success of the club ahead of a 10th Preliminary Final in 11 seasons.

The Storm host the Cronulla Sharks on the penultimate weekend of the NRL season tonight (Friday) at a sold-out AAMI Park.

It’s a remarkable set of results under master coach Craig Bellamy and Rodski had nothing but adulation for the team and the club as a whole as it embarks on another prelim.

“It’s unbelievable - in 11 years this is our 10th prelim final,” Rodski said on SEN’s Fireball.

“So to have that level of sustained success doesn’t happen by chance or fluke, it’s a combination of things.

“You need everything to go your way but you also need everyone working together. The hard work, the standards that are set by Craig Bellamy, Frank Ponissi, by the entire club across everything that we do are the reasons why we’re here again.

“We never, ever let them slip. We’re really proud to be Melbourne’s team, we’re really proud to be playing in front of a sellout crowd tonight at AAMI Park.

“It’s a great showcase for us on the night before the AFL Grand Final.”

This season the Storm and Sharks are one apiece and the presence of some stars in the opposition lineup, such as Nicho Hynes, makes it an intriguing contest.

Rodski insists the best news for the Storm is the fact that they are at absolute full strength now that Jahrome Hughes and Ryan Papenhuyzen are back from a broken arm and head knock respectively.

“They’re a danger team, they’ve got some weapons all over the park,” Rodski added.

“They’ve got a couple of ex-Storm players playing as well, particularly Nicho Hynes in the halves. We’re not going to be able to take them lightly, we’ve got to come out firing early.

“The best news for us is we’ve got our absolute best team on the park tonight.

“We’ve got our big guns back - Jahrome Hughes in the halves, Ryan Papenhuyzen is back at fullback - the stage is well and truly set.”

The prelim clash with the Sharks kicks off at 7:50pm AEST on Friday night in the city of Melbourne’s precursor to Saturday’s AFL Grand Final.

The Storm’s starting lineup is as below:

BACKS
1 - Ryan Papenhuyzen
2 - Will Warbrick
3 - Jack Howarth
4 - Nick Meaney
5 - Xavier Coates
6 - Cameron Munster
7 - Jahrome Hughes

FORWARDS
8 - Stefano Utoikamanu
9 - Harry Grant
10 - Josh King
11 - Ativalu Lisati
12 - Eliesa Katoa
13 - Trent Loiero

INTERCHANGE
14 - Tyran Wishart
15 - Shawn Blore
16 - Tui Kamikamica
17 - Alex MacDonald

RESERVES
19 - Grant Anderson
20 - Joe Chan