VENUE & TIME: Mt Smart Stadium, Sunday 27 July, 12pm AEST.
COVERAGE: Sky Sport 2
LAST TIME: Storm 32 - Warriors 18, at Telstra Dome, Round 1, 2008.
WALKING WOUNDED: The Warriors are unchanged for the third week in a row, while the Storm lose only Billy Slater. The only injury done in Slater's case was to his knuckles as he aimed a million right hands at Dragons wing Jason Nightingale on Monday night and is on a one-week suspension.
FORM: Both teams are on three-game winning streaks and were convincing winners last weekend. The Warriors put together easily their strongest 40 minutes of the season to race out to a 30-6 half-time lead over the Bulldogs, then released the pressure valve to finish 40-22 winners. In a high-tempered Monday night clash, the Storm were being repelled by the Dragons defence until Jason Ryles was sent off for kicking in a scrum which killed off the match as a contest - the Storm blowing out to a 26-0 victory.
WHO'S HOT: It's easy to forget about Wade McKinnon's injury when Lance Hohaia puts in a performance like he did in the No.1 jersey against the Dogs. Hohaia has his detractors but his sharp pace, ability to feed off the big men up the middle and willingness to return the ball with gusto has fitted the fullback position perfectly after years of being shunted through a number of positions. It's hard to choose who is the more exciting player in the Storm backline - Greg Inglis or Israel Folau. Inglis is devastating with ball in hand and is becoming a rock-solid defender, while Folau is simply a freak, especially in scoring from high kicks.
WE THINK: The easy option would be to say the Warriors are no chance, although that would be a disservice. They are in confident mood on attack, steadily improving on defence and Queensland reps Steve Price and Brent Tate are firing on all cylinders. Unfortunately while they have two 2008 Origin reps, the Storm have ten, plus a coach. Even without Slater, there are more stars in their line-up than on Hollywood Boulevard. The hard-working forwards lay the platform up front to allow the flashy backs to gain the overall plaudits. The Warriors are renowned for their big boppers but even they'll struggle to contain the likes of Jeff Lima, Jeremy Smith, Adam Blair and Sika Manu in their recent form. Storm by 10
TEAMS:
Warriors: 1. Lance Hohaia 2. Malo Solomona 3. Brent Tate 4. Sonny Fai 5. Aiden Kirk 6. Nathan Fien 7. Grant Rovelli 8. Ruben Wiki 9. Ian Henderson 10. Steve Price (c) 11. Simon Mannering 12. Logan Swann 13. Micheal Luck
Interchange: 14. Jerome Ropati 15. Evarn Tuimavave 16. Sam Rapira 17. Ben Matulino
Storm (possible): 1. Steve Turner 2. Brett Anderson 3. Matt Geyer 4. Israel Folau 5. Anthony Quinn 6. Greg Inglis 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Jeff Lima 9. Cam Smith 10. Brett White 11. Michael Crocker 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Dallas Johnson
Interchange: 14. Jeremy Smith 15. Adam Blair 16. Sika Manu 17. Antonio Kaufusi