VENUE & TIME: Olympic Park, Saturday July 4, 7.35pm (AEST).
COVERAGE: Fox Sports 2
LAST TIME: Knights 17 - Storm 16 at EnergyAustralia Stadium, Round 25, 2008.
WALKING WOUNDED: Tough lock Dallas Johnston returns to the Storm line-up, giving coach Craig Bellamy a close to full-strength list to work with. Only youngster Kevin Proctor (ankle) is out of action.
Knights coach Brian Smith has named an unchanged line-up for this clash, while James McManus (ankle), Scott Dureau (groin) and Daniel Tolar (knee) are all hopeful of a return next week.
FORM: The fourth-placed Storm were well below their best in Canberra last Sunday and a switched on Raiders took full advantage, recording a shock 26-16 win. We'd become accustomed to Melbourne downing the Raiders over the years, but the Origin hangover did not sit well with a couple of the Storm stars and they failed to ignite until a brief period in the second half. The loss stopped a three-game winning streak.
The Knights overcame a poor first-half to easily account for the Rabbitohs 25-20 at home on Monday night - a win that puts them back into the frame for a top-four position.
WHO'S HOT: Storm skipper Cameron Smith backed up his quality Origin II performance with a solid showing for his club on Sunday. Topped the tackle count with 51 and ducked over for a sneaky dummy-half try.
If Adam 'Mad Mog' MacDougall wasn't so injury-prone, he'd be the perfect selection for the Blues in Origin. The guy operates at 100 miles an hour as he did for the Knights against his former club on Monday night. His one-on-one strip on opposite Ben Lowe was typical 'Mad Dog'. It's just a shame the old stager misses so much footy with injury.
WE THINK: A win here will enable the Knights to leap-frog the Storm into the top-four. The Knights are almost unstoppable when on song and their off-the-cuff play at times during games could well prove a winner against the heavily-programmed Storm - a team that has struggled up the middle in recent weeks. Melbourne has won its past four games against the Knights at Olympic Park, but as we saw in Canberra last week, hoodoos are meant to be broken. Look for MacDougall to create havoc for the Storm's flimsy left-edge defence. The Knights have made a habit of beating sides above them on the ladder in 2009. Knights by 4.
TEAMS
Melbourne Storm:
1. Billy Slater, 2. Steve Turner, 3. Will Chambers, 4. Greg Inglis, 5. Joseph Tomane, 6. Brett Finch, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Brett White, 9. Cam Smith [c], 10. Adam Blair, 11. Sika Manu, 12. Ryan Hoffman, 13. Dallas Johnson. Interchange: 14. Ryan Hinchcliffe, 15. Scott Anderson, 16. Aiden Tolman, 17. Jeff Lima.
Newcastle Knights:
1. Kurt Gidley [c], 2. Keith Lulia, 3. Junior Sau, 4. Adam MacDougall, 5. Akuila Uate, 6. Ben Rogers, 7. Jarrod Mullen, 8. Mark Taufua, 9. Isaac De Gois, 10. Chris Houston, 11. Steve Simpson, 12. Zeb Taia, 13. Matt Hilder. Interchange: 14. Wes Naiqama, 15. Marvin Karawana, 16. Richie Fa'aoso, 17. Danny Wicks.
Referees: Shayne Hayne & Matt Cecchin