Round 22: Melbourne v Canberra preview
Storm roll towards minor premiership as Raiders walk finals tightrope.
On their way to what appears a record breaking minor premiership, the Melbourne juggernaut will head back to their home away from home as they run out onto Sunshine Coast Stadium on Thursday night looking to notch what would be a staggering 18 straight wins as they continue to dominate the competition.
Coming off wins against premiership contenders Penrith and Manly, Craig Bellamy's men face the prospect of a five-day turnaround and a clash with good mate Ricky Stuart's Raiders who they've have had some mighty battles with in recent years.
The Storm will be boosted by the return of star forwards Felise Kaufusi (Suspension) and Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Hamstring) with Tom Eisenhuth and Tepai Moeroa moving to the reserves.
For the Raiders, veteran bookend Iosia Soliola re-joins the squad in place of Elijah Anderson on the bench and Bailey Simonsson returns from a toe injury on the wing with Semi Valemei making way.
After a disappointing opening half of the year, the green machine has turned a corner in recent times to chalk up four wins from their last five games as they continue to battle it out with the Knights, Titans, Sharks and Dragons for the final two spots available in this year's finals equation.
It will be interesting to see if Stuart tries to replicate a similar game plan to Manly's style of play that seemingly troubled the Storm at times last week by shifting the ball to the edges early in order to try and move Melbourne's big men around.
Last meeting: Round 11 2021 - Raiders 10 Storm 34
Who to watch: Two games back from a second stint on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, Harry Grant continues to flourish in his role coming off the bench at around the 20-minute mark.
In nine games this season, the crafty rake has crossed for four tries whilst setting up seven with his vision and sublime ball-playing skills.
Also possessing the nous to catch out lazy markers, Grant is lethal around the ruck with his strong running game.
His one-two punch with starting dummy half Brandon Smith is proving a deadly combination with Smith moving into a terrorising running forward role once Grant hits the park.
In contrast, Canberra work their dummy half duties slightly different.
Before transitioning him into a ball-playing lock forward, the Raiders opt for the craft of Englishman Josh Hodgson at starting hooker before injecting Tom Starling's running game into the contest towards the end of the first half to try and catch out tiring defenders with his electric speed.
In recent weeks Starling has noticeably used his speed to lead the Raiders defensive line and engage his forward pack to play with more physicality - something they will need plenty of if they're to compete with the Storm.
Favourite: Unsurprisingly the Storm are overwhelming favourites at Winx like odds.
My tip: Don't mind the Raiders chances in this one. Ricky Stuart will be desperate for a big scalp to help build momentum towards the finals and they have the side and style to make this one nice and physical against a Storm side who could be forgiven for dropping their guard slightly after a big fortnight against more fancied opposition. Canberra by 2.
