Melbourne will be sweating on Brandon Smith passing a fitness test on his injured hand with their hooking stocks hitting a new low with Tyran Wishart also ruled out of Saturday's NRL game against Parramatta.
Harry Grant, their best player in their one-point win over South Sydney last round, was ruled out on Tuesday after contracting COVID-19 and his housemate Wishart will now also miss the AAMI Park match.
Wishart, who made his NRL debut at hooker in round one, hasn't tested positive but has been deemed a household contact.
The pair will have to isolate for seven days and are expected to be available for round four.
Smith was named among the extended reserves after undergoing surgery on his hand which he broke early in their round one match.
While the 25-year-old is confident he will be able to take on the Eels, Storm football manager Frank Ponissi was more circumspect.
"He's probably unlikely to play - it might just fall a couple of days short," Ponissi said.
"He's come along really well and the surgeon is really happy but he's just got to get strength back in his hand.
"We named him as an outside chance ... he's in the mix and we will see how he goes."
As well as setting up two tries, Grant was only topped in the tackle count by new recruit Josh King, with the lock making a mammoth 51 tackles from his 67 minutes.
King arrived at Melbourne after six seasons with Newcastle and has proved a like-for-like replacement for lock Dale Finucane, who shifted to Cronulla.
The 27-year-old said he'd never posted such tackle statistics before because he'd never had so much game time.
"I'm happy to be getting through some work and being out on the field for long periods of time," he told AAP.
"At the Knights I was probably only playing 15 minutes off the bench each week for the last year.
"The first two rounds for Melbourne has been the most I've ever played in my career and 50-odd tackles are the most I've ever made.
"It gives me confidence that they believe I can play that long and I've been really enjoying staying out on the field and trying to help the team."
King said he felt in peak fitness after the tough Storm pre-season so was able to manage the big minutes.
"I've pulled up really well," he said.
"The pre-season is quite tough here and that really prepares us for the season and I'm feeling really fresh."
King predicted Parramatta, who were beaten at the death by Cronulla, would arrive in Melbourne with a point to prove.
"Parra are a great side and they've shown that for the last few years," he said.
"They've got a big forward pack and have plenty of talent in the backs but we're focusing on ourselves after last week's game and how we can be better."
The replacements for Grant and Wishart in the squad of 24 to face the Eels will be named later in the week.
