After a loss to Cronulla earlier this season, the Melbourne Storm are better prepared to handle the Sharks this time around according to Jesse Bromwich.
The Storm were physically overpowered by the Sharks in their Round 4 meeting, and Bromwich says this time his teammates are ready for anything Cronulla throws at them.
"I guess it was a bit of an ambush last time. I guess we didn't think it was coming. This time we know it's coming," Bromwich said.
"You've just got to prepare for it. You can't get shocked when it hits out there, you've just got to prepare for a tough game and that's what we will be doing this week."
"I know they're going to come down here and play an aggressive style, so we've got to match that."
"It's going to be a very big game and these are the games you want to play."
The magnitude of the game isn’t lost on anyone around the club, with the winner taking home the minor premiership.
Multiple Storm players in recent weeks have publicly stated the minor premiership won't be motivation for them come Saturday night, but that doesn’t mean they won't celebrate the achievement.
"It's important, but for me it's more important to go into the finals series off the back of a good game," Bromwich said.
"We'd definitely celebrate it, coming first after 26 rounds is definitely a massive achievement but there's a bigger goal at the end of that."
Bromwich's teammate Tohu Harris will play his 100th NRL game on Saturday night, having missed just one match since making his debut in Round 1, 2013.
The Kiwi had nothing but praise for his international compatriot and still remembers the day a fresh-faced Harris burst onto the scene.
"It's massive. It's come around really quickly, I still remember when he played his first one over there in England at one of the World Club Challenges," Bromwich said.
"For him to bring up 100 this quickly it definitely shows how resilient he is and he's an important part of our team, I love playing alongside him.
"He's very efficient out on the field… He reads the game well and he's got good footwork and he's very skilled so he's someone we love having in our side, he's a really good player and he's very reliable."
The Bromwich family enjoyed some great news on Tuesday when younger brother Kenny extended his contract in Melbourne for an extra two years.
The brothers have played NRL together in Melbourne since 2013, and Jesse is excited to continue that tradition from next season onwards.
“It’s definitely very exciting and I was very happy for him,” Bromwich said.
“There was a few of them re-signing but having Kenny still here hits a little closer to home for me as I love playing alongside him and it keeps our family together for another couple of years.”
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