'Come and get me': White issues Bronco challenge

Melbourne Storm prop Brett White has challenged the Broncos to target him this Saturday night, insisting he won’t be taking a backwards step against the competition’s most devastating forward pack.<br><br>Brisbane’s giant forwards clearly aimed their aggression at St George Illawarra’s Justin Poore last week, perhaps in part as payback for his role in the controversial knock-out of Queensland veteran Steve Price during State of Origin III.<br><br>That places White, the man that sent Price reeling, squarely in the crosshairs but the 27-year-old told NRL.com that he was ready for whatever the Broncos throw his way.<br><br>“They had the most aggressive start to a game I’ve seen all season last week by any club, by any forward pack,” White said.<br><br>“I think it’s a pack mentality from Brisbane at the moment and they obviously aimed at Justin Poore. <br><br>“I think they’ll be looking to do the same thing again this week and yeah, I’m expecting the same treatment. <br><br>“That’s how I’ll prepare – as if it’s going to come my way. But that’s what finals football demands.”<br><br>“It’s why these are the games you want to be playing in and why you enjoy this time of year. <br><br>“Brisbane played finals footy last week. You could tell they were ready for the finals and the intensity you need. <br><br>“We’re expecting exactly the same again this week.”<br><br>White said he had been particularly impressed by Ashton Sims’ efforts against St George Illawarra last week but singled out hulking front-rower Dave Taylor as Brisbane’s X-factor.<br><br>“He is a fantastic player,” White said. “He’s got to be the biggest bloke in the NRL, he’s got to be close to the quickest forward in the NRL and he has the best ball skills so he is certainly an all-round footballer – especially when you hit him out wide on an edge where he often stands up against smaller blokes and halves. <br><br>“He is very dangerous.”<br><br>While much of the focus this week has centred on Friday night’s classic encounter between the Bulldogs and Parramatta, Melbourne’s clash with Brisbane looms just as large, with both sides having won premierships in the past three seasons.<br><br>This clash, however, is particularly intriguing.<br><br>The most dominant side in the Telstra Premiership in that time, Melbourne has struggled to recapture their aura this season but appear to have found form at the right end of the year.<br><br>And they’ll need it against a Broncos team riding high on the back of seven straight wins.<br><br>“It’s been good for us,” White said of the Storm’s late surge, which included a stunning 40-12 disposal of premiers Manly in Week One of the finals.<br><br>“We haven’t had the greatest of years compared to how we’ve gone previously but I think we realised early on that we aren’t the same side. <br><br>“I think that took a lot of pressure off us and we’ve been able to relax and worry about becoming our own side. <br><br>“It’s not like previous years where we felt we were under pressure to perform. <br><br>“We feel quite relaxed and in good stead heading into the prelims. It’s good to have the focus away from us.”<br><br>A win over Brisbane would see the Storm progress to their fourth consecutive grand final, making them the first side to do so since South Sydney reached five in a row between 1967 and 1971.<br><br>Although they stormed to the title in 2007, their record is tarred by losses to Brisbane in 2006 and last year’s 40-0 thrashing at the hands of Manly.<br><br>But White said they had already put those performances behind them and were confident of adding a third premiership to the club’s trophy cabinet.<br><br>&nbsp;“There are only a couple of us that were in the side against Manly last year,” he said.<br><br>“Cameron Smith (suspension) and Ryan Hoffman (injury) missed [the grand final] and there are a couple of new players too. <br><br>“As a side we let that go real quick. We had to. As a player, you can’t really look back at the past. <br><br>“You just have to learn from them and move forward. <br><br>“As much as it hurts, you don’t really think about those things – you just keep pushing forward.”