Dale Finucane says the Storm are looking back to the start of 2020 - not the 2019 finals - heading into Saturday's renewal of hostilities with Canberra.
The Raiders will arrive at AAMI Park on Saturday night having beaten the Storm on each of their last two visits to Victoria.
The second of those came in the first week of the 2019 finals.
That loss set the course for the Storm's loss to the Roosters in a preliminary final two weeks later.
Finucane said the changes the Storm made during the off-season made their two-from-two start to 2020 prior to the Covid-19 shutdown a better form guide.
"I don't look to the past too much in terms of a team winning against us, or how many wins [a team has] in a row, as each game is unique in itself," Finucane said via a Zoom teleconference on Tuesday.
Five key match-ups of the Storm's revised 2020 draw
"Watching the first two rounds is the most relevant for us to know what they do, as a new year you work on your own different strategies and that's probably where you get most of your preview from.
"They are a really good side and they pipped us in the finals to get into the prelim, so we know they are a quality side."
One sub-plot to play out in Saturday night's contest will be the return of Curtis Scott to Melbourne, following the centre's off-season move to the nation's capital.
Scott played 49 matches over four seasons for the Storm, but moved north at the end of last campaign despite having another year on his contract remaining.
Storm playmaker Cameron Munster formed a close relationship with Scott during his time in Melbourne and knows the Raiders recruit will be doing everything in his power to get one over his former club.
"He [Scott] is a competitor and he will do whatever it takes to get his side over us and we will do the same," Munster said.
"After the game we will be best mates, but while we are playing the game we love and one we want to win it will be different.
"But we will be good mates afterward no matter what."
