Cameron Munster has put all contract negotiations on hold until Melbourne's NRL season is over so he can focus on the finals, starting with Saturday's sudden death clash against Canberra.
Munster is contemplating a multi-million dollar deal to join new NRL club the Dolphins and said on Tuesday he had to consider his partner Bianca, who is from Queensland, and the mother of their baby son, Jaxson.
The Storm have topped up their offer to keep the star playmaker at the club beyond 2023, but Munster said he was pulling down the shutters on his future until the finals were done.
"I've spoken to (chairman) Matt Tripp and the club and I'm going to put a hold on negotiations until the final series is done - I just want to focus on finals and hopefully go deep in September," Munster said.
"We've got a big game this Saturday against the Raiders so looking forward to that.
"If it was only about myself then I'd love to stay but at the same time I've got a young family that I need to worry about and obviously she's from Queensland so we need to make sure we will make the right decision."
Fifth-placed Melbourne are hosting an eighth-placed Raiders outfit who have no fears about playing at AAMI Park, winning on their last four trips.
They beat the Storm in round 18 this year 20-16 while the teams squared off in Melbourne in the 2019 finals with Canberra again triumphant 12-10.
Munster said he felt the Raiders matched up well because they played a similar style of football.
"It's similar to what we're about, trying to grind the other team into the ground and the Raiders have done that to us," the 27-year-old said.
"We need to make sure we play with that mentality of just going through their middle.
"They're big boys and if we start to get into that grind it could end up being bad for us."
Melbourne have received a boost with halfback Jahrome Hughes set to play after missing their final-round loss to Parramatta with a calf injury.
Training lightly on Tuesday, Hughes said the injury had improved with the extra time off.
"It was too much of a risk to play as there was a potential chance to miss the finals," Hughes told AAP.
"It didn't feel too good at the end of the week but I feel much better for it this week and should be ready to go."
Munster felt the finals series was very even, with the bottom teams on level pegging with the frontrunners.
The Storm need to win four straight to claim title, which no NRL team outside the top four has previously managed.
"It's going to be tough for us, I'm not going to sugar-coat it but we've got the calibre and depth of players to go well," he said.
"The effort is there for us but we have to go out and execute our game plan and make sure everyone's in the right spot, and we do that and hold on to the ball we can give any team in this competition a shake."
