Although they will be fielding vastly different line-ups, Storm coach Craig Bellamy will be hoping for what has become the recurring result against the Broncos when the two sides launch this year’s finals series at Suncorp Stadium.
Going head-to-head to close out the regular season last week, the Storm maintained their remarkable record against Brisbane, posting their 14th win in a row. However, Bellamy said it would be a whole new ball game come Friday night and past results would count for nothing.
“For me it's another game; what happened last week ain't going to matter tomorrow night. What happened 10 years ago, ain't gonna matter,” Bellamy said.
“It’s a new game, two different teams.
“At the end of the day, it's a nice record to have, I suppose … (but) we take confidence through what we can do and confidence in how we're prepared.
“The teams change … going back to whenever it was 2009 or whatever (that the Broncos last beat the Storm at Suncorp), our teams tend to change a fair bit since then, but I don't think there's anyone playing (from that game) and the same with the Broncos … they were different teams.”
Match: Broncos v Storm
Finals Week 1 -
home Team
Broncos
2nd Position
away Team
Storm
3rd Position
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
The teams have also changed a lot since last week, with Harry Grant and Jahrome Hughes set to return from injury. Storm have also opted for Young Tonumaipea and Marion Seve in the centres, despite a successful return to the side from fan favourite Justin Olam last week, while Nick Meaney returns as fullback, shifting Ryan Papenhuyzen - whose mullet remain intact as of their training run on Thursday - to the bench.
“It wasn't easy (to leave out Olam), but Young and Maz … they've been playing good footy for the last five or six weeks, so we decided to stick with them,” Bellamy said.
“They've been adding plenty of energy to the team, they've done a good job for us, so we'll leave them there.
“Nick has been playing that position basically all year and he's proven before that he can play centre, wing, he can play in the halves, he's done that for us, he can probably play dummy half if we want him to, but at the end of the day, he's had such a good year and the guys around him have had such a good year with our combinations that we didn't want to break those up.
“I think the other thing with Paps and how long he’s had out, I think it's ideal for him to come off the bench.
“We'll be sticking to what works for us and we'll be sticking to our strengths.
“Ryan understands what those are, that he understands what those strengths are for him in his game.
“Obviously, there's a couple of positions he might end up in, but he understands the game really well, he'll know what needs doing and hopefully, he can make a little difference for us.”
Papenhuyzen was made for Finals
While Papenhuyzen will provide the x-factor for the Storm, Bellamy knows one major key to the continuing success for his side will be to shut down the in-form Reece Walsh, who has be liked to his mentor and former Storm great, Billy Slater.
“I think that question was asked of one of the opposition coaches going back when Billy was playing, and I think the answer was a double barrel shotgun. So, I don’t know if anyone's got one of them, we might be able to take it out of the field,” Bellamy joked of limiting Walsh’s impact.
“(But) I don't know whether I've seen actually a quicker player than Reece. Billy was unbelievable at changing direction and still being really quick to do that, but just that straight-line pace, I haven't seen too many guys quicker than this bloke.
“We've got a little plan there that we're hoping to put action. It will be when he gets the ball and how he gets the ball and all those sort of situations will come up.
“But he's a very dangerous player and he's a huge benefit for the Broncos.”
