The Storm are poised to make a run to the NRL grand final with stats revealing they are on track to play in Melbourne's first decider since they lifted the trophy in 2020.
Craig Bellamy's side currently sits first on the ladder, four points clear of the Panthers and seemingly destined to claim another minor premiership.
Remarkably, despite a dominant season featuring 14 wins and three losses, the Storm had just two players involved in the State of Origin series; Harry Grant and Xavier Coates.
It's an advantage few other teams can boast as clubs navigate a post-Origin hangover in the run to the finals, with second-placed Penrith contributing five players to the Blues' series victory.
Former Storm forward Dale Finucane said Bellamy is the master of managing his stars after the draining representative contest and warned rival clubs to be wary of a fresh Melbourne side.
An all-time epic encounter
"In my time in Melbourne we were always travelling quite well in terms of ladder position," Finucane told NRL.com. "That gave us the luxury of being able to rest players if needed during games or throughout the week at training.
"During the 2020 season when COVID was happening there was a game Melbourne played against the Dragons where we had 11 players playing who hadn't played regular first grade.
"Craig was resting guys for the back end of the year, getting them ready for finals coming up and it paid off [with Melbourne winning the competition]."
Match: Eels v Storm
Round 21 -
home Team
Eels
16th Position
away Team
Storm
1st Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
Should they hoist the J.J. Giltinan Shield at the conclusion of the regular season, it would be the fewest Origin representatives to play for the minor premiers since Melbourne finished on top in 2016. Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith were the sole Queensland players on that occasion.
Only the 2012 Bulldogs and 2003 Panthers have fewer representatives for the minor premiers in the 45-year history of State of Origin, with just one player, according to NRL historian David Middleton.
By contrast, Penrith had six players involved last year and seven the year before.
The 2012 Bulldogs and 2016 Storm progressed to the grand final before losing the decider while the Panthers went all the way in 2003.
Finucane was a member of the Canterbury and Melbourne sides and can see the parallels with the current Melbourne squad.
"In all those [Storm and Bulldogs] sides that I played in, we always had a decent amount of international rep players," he said. "In 2012 we only had one Origin player but if you look at our forward pack we had James Graham, Aiden Tolman, Sam Kasiano, Frank Pritchard. There were so many guys in that side who were star players and played for their country.
"It's the same with this Melbourne side. Representative football affects those guys differently. The international games are played at the end of the year, it doesn't take the physical or emotional toll on those guys and it helps the calibre of the team if you've got those guys in it."
While the Storm's involvement in the State of Origin series was limited to two players, they have a host of representative players in their squad.
Cameron Munster missed the Maroons' campaign with a groin injury and is in the mix to return to the field this weekend after being named in the reserves for Friday's clash with Parramatta.
Christian Welch boasts years of Origin experience while Jahrome Hughes and Nelson Asofa-Solomona were key members of the New Zealand side that dominated Australia in last year's Pacific Championships final.
Kangaroos v Kiwis - Pacific Cup final, 2023
Talking to media before last weekend's win over the Roosters, Bellamy said the lack of Origin representatives will make for a smoother path to the finals.
"With the injuries we've got at the moment it probably has been a bit of a blessing that we haven't had too many in Origin," Bellamy told reporters.
"But we don't want to stop players playing Origin or silently hope they don't get picked in Origin. We want them to play Origin because the players want to play Origin.
"This year we haven't been affected a whole heap, so it sort of helps in that way, but they come back better players for that experience as well. So you do get some benefits at the end of the season as well, besides the mental fatigue that they go through."
While the Storm boast a number of Australian and New Zealand representatives, what makes the team's success this year so remarkable is the way unheralded names have elevated their games.
Five-eighth Tryan Wishart has hardly skipped a beat as Munster's replacement. Prop Josh King has laid a platform up front. Will Warbrick continues to impress on the wing and Sualauvi Faalogo showed why many consider him a future star when he filled in at fullback for the injured Ryan Papenhuyzen.
Faalogo's action packed 4 minutes
Tie it all together and it's a perfect storm for rival clubs to contend with as Melbourne welcome back Munster, Asofa-Solomona, Xavier Coates and a host of others throughout the coming weeks.
With seven games left in the regular season and a relatively smooth path to the 2024 finals, it won't be long before the current side turns their focus to doing what the 2016 Storm weren't able to do. Hoisting the Provan-Summons trophy on the first Sunday of October.
