A GUIDE TO THE NRL PRELIMINARY FINAL BETWEEN MELBOURNE STORM AND SYDNEY ROOSTERS
* When: Friday, 7.50pm AEST
* Where: AAMI Park, Melbourne
* The form:
Melbourne Storm (home-and-away season: first, 19 wins, five losses): Winners in nine of their past 10 matches. Won qualifying final against Cronulla 37-10.
Sydney Roosters (home-and-away season: third, 16 wins, eight losses): Winners in seven of their past 10 matches. Won semi-final against Manly 40-16.
* Head-to-head:
Overall: Played: 50 games. Storm 31 wins, 19 losses.
In finals: Played: Five games. Roosters 3 wins, 2 losses.
Last time: Round 20, 2024. Storm 24 defeated Roosters 8 at AAMI Park.
Last final: Semi-final, 2023. Storm 18 defeated Roosters 13 at Allianz Stadium.
* Key players:
* Cameron Munster (Storm). Munster has built into form after his long injury lay-off, and the five-eighth was at his best in Melbourne's last outing. Helped break the hearts of the Roosters' fans in last year's semi-final when his last-ditch kick was collected by winger Will Warbrick for the match-winning try. Hasn't won a premiership since the retirement of the last of the big three, Cameron Smith, and wants to create his own legacy.
* Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Storm). Big NAS has kept his head down this week, unwilling to provide any fire-power for the Roosters. Asofa-Solomona has had a running battle with Kiwi teammate Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, who landed in the sin bin in last year's semi-final as tempers spilled over. The Storm giant had a slow start to the year and was even rumoured to be on the trade table, but is a massive key, literally, to their premiership success.
* Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Roosters). Set to play in the UK, the departing prop is in no rush for his NRL career t Park. ver. Returning from suspension in their convincing victory to eliminate Manly, Waerea-Hargreaves set the tone from the get-go with his physical intensity. The Storm know that keeping JWH quiet will go a long way towards keeping the Roosters out of the game.
* Sandon Smith (Roosters). Replacing injured halfback Sam Walker, Smith has only started 10 times in the NRL and looked out of his depth in their qualifying loss to Penrith. But the 21-year-old took the criticism on the chin and bounced back in their rousing win over the Sea Eagles. Certain to be a target for the Storm's big men, who will look to rattle the youngster.
* The stat: Melbourne have won nine of their past 10 clashes with the Roosters, including their past three at AAMI Park.
