The Storm have received a massive boost heading into Saturday's showdown with Penrith by re-signing star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen.
Melbourne announced on Friday they have locked him into a three-year contract extension.
He was already under contract until the end of next season so he will stay at the Storm at least until the end of 2025 after inking this new deal.
The Clive Churchill Medallist from last year's grand final win over the Panthers has missed a large chunk of the 2020 Telstra Premiership due to a head knock but made his return via the bench in last week's win over the Cowboys in Townsville.
He has again been named on the interchange for Saturday's Suncorp Stadium showdown in what will be his 50th NRL appearance.
The former Wests Tigers lower-grader was a member of the NSW extended Origin squad in 2020 and was a near certainty to make his Blues debut but injuries have delayed his elevation to the representative arena.
"It’s awesome to have these three extra years locked in," he said.
"This club gave me my opportunity to play NRL and I just feel like I owe them to sign on here for a few more years.
"Hopefully it’s going to be a successful four years to come.
“I’m excited and pumped because I love everything about this club, the people involved, the fans, the members and the playing group. This is the group I want to be playing with."
His re-signing with the premiers comes on the back of coach Craig Bellamy announcing on Tuesday that he was continuing his record-breaking tenure at the club beyond this season.
"Having Craig re-sign made this decision a lot easier," he said.
"We were really pleased when that happened earlier in the week."
Article first published on NRL.com