coach Craig Bellamy

‌Coach Craig Bellamy and football director Frank Ponissi decided to bring in two external consultants to work with players and coaches to provide support. It's new to the Storm, but it has paid dividends.

"Every year we're looking to where we can find an edge to be better in previous years," Ponissi said. "We make fun of our study trips, but we do – we go with a focus on a specific area, and last year we looked at sports psychology. It's an area we haven't dabbled in at all. 

The rugged Storm back-rower will head into Sunday's NRL grand final as hungry as anyone to finally lay his hands on the Provan-Summons Trophy.

Having already tasted grand final defeat twice during his three years at Canterbury, the lure of a premiership win drives the 25-year-old Bega product.

He revealed he came close to signing with the Storm five years ago after coming through the Bulldogs junior ranks, which would have put him on the opposite side of the ledger during the 2012 grand final.