Shaun Johnson's career-best form has put Melbourne on high alert as they prepare to face the resurgent Warriors in their annual Anzac Day clash.
The 32-year-old halfback helped steer the Warriors to their fifth win of the season last round, beating North Queensland to sit joint second on the NRL ladder.
The Storm are coming off an ill-disciplined 10-point loss to Manly but are set to welcome fullback Nick Meaney and giant prop Nelson Asofa-Soloma back for the AAMI Park match next Tuesday.
New Zealand Test forward Asofa-Solomona hasn't played since injuring his knee in round two.
Last year Melbourne crushed the Warriors 70-10, with winger Xavier Coates scoring four tries and the Storm crossing seven times in 21 minutes in a second-half blitz.
The Warriors outfit finished the season second-last but Melbourne playmaker Cameron Munster said the 2023 side was a very different proposition and containing Johnson was key.
"Shaun Johnson is probably the most improved player .... he's had a lot of pressure on him and a lot of expectation but it's good to see him playing the footy that he is," Munster told AAP.
"(New Warriors coach) Andrew Webster has probably simplified things and let him play his style of footy and he's playing with a lot of confidence and when there's a confident Shaun Johnson he's a very dangerous player.
"The Warriors are second on the ladder and are playing some simple footy and respecting the ball and doing the little things better than most teams at the moment."
Munster played fullback in the Manly loss and said it would be good to get Meaney back after he was ruled out with concussion symptoms.
Rating himself as "hot and cold", Munster felt the Storm attack had been at its best with Meaney at No.1 and himself in the halves.
"We had a couple of really good weeks together against Souths and the Roosters, and had some good success on that left edge so hopefully we will go back to that," the 28-year-old said.
"The right edge have been playing some good footy so we need to build on that for both sides and we just can't afford to give the ball up like we did against Manly."
Against the Sea Eagles the Storm had two sin-bins, four players put on report and conceded nine penalties and Munster said they needed to clean up their act.
"As a group we're inconsistent - some weeks we're really good in defence and our discipline is on and that week our attack is off," he said.
"We need to get that balance sorted and players need to improve on their discipline and errors in games."
