Consistently two of the NRL's most dominant teams in recent times, the Storm and Panthers find themselves again in the top four as the final quarter of the season approaches.
Tied on competition points having each picked up 10 wins from 15 games to date, the winner of Friday night's clash is a good chance of finishing Round 18 at the top of the ladder.
The Panthers have been nothing but impressive through the Origin period so far, toughing out a handful of wins to go with a golden point loss to the Cowboys a fortnight ago, despite the absence of plenty of talent at different stages.
Melbourne too have been tracking well, with wins in their last three games, where their defensive efforts have been standing out.
The Storm have averaged just 7.3 points against them over the past three weeks, although they still have some way to go to match the Panthers in that department, with Ivan Cleary's men boasting the competition's best defensive record.
Melbourne won 16-0 the last time they met, but across their past 10 head-to-head encounters wins are split perfectly at five-apiece.
Team News
Storm: The Storm have star playmaker Cameron Munster back after he was rested last week while Tui Kamikamica (calf) also returns on the bench. Aaron Pene is listed among the reserves after suffering an ankle injury against Manly. Last week's 18th Man Kane Bradley joins the bench for his third game of the season. No changes in Thursday's 24-hour update.
Panthers: Bench hooker Soni Luke came out of the team on Thursday with his place taken by Matt Eisenhuth. Origin stars Brian To'o, Stephen Crichton, Jarome Luai, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo are all back on deck so Jaeman Salmon goes back to the bench and Tyrone Peachey, Thomas Jenkins and Zac Hosking drop out.