Melbourne Storm captain Harry Grant says preliminary final bound teammates playing as well as ever

They won the minor premiership in a canter and blitzed their opening final and now Melbourne Storm’s captain has declared just how primed his team is go all the way.

Fresh off his first hat-trick of tries, Melbourne Storm captain Harry Grant has declared his preliminary final bound teammates are in career best form with a crucial week off to further refine the formerly “disjointed” playing group that is now one win away from another grand final.

Grant joked on Tuesday there was no way “hat-trick Harry” would stick as a nickname given he was accused by at least one teammate of “cherry picking” his trio of tries in Storm’s rampant 37-10 qualifying win over Cronulla last Saturday.

The locker room banter is evidence of the “very tight” playing unit who have come from all parts to create a symbiotic unit, both on the field and off it, with Grant among those at the Storm who “dive in other people’s backgrounds and cultures”, like Fijian kava, to enhance their relationship.

It’s a factor that Grant said had been key to their success this season.

“The club is so important to so many people and you put a lot of time and effort into the club and it rewards you,” he said on Tuesday.

“It gives back and I think the playing group we have at the moment are very tight. You know, you can see that on the field, but that’s the playing squad as a whole.

“A lot of us are from interstate, from different nationalities, different countries and we all come here together with a greater purpose to pull on the Melbourne Storm jersey and do the Melbourne Storm people and fans proud and that brings us all together initially and it’s a good journey along the way.”

Harry Grant celebrates one of his three tries against Cronulla with teammates. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

The journey for Grant in Melbourne has included two losing preliminary finals, both to Penrith in 2023 and 2021, denying him the chance of doing what the last captain to wear the No.9 jersey did and lift the premiership trophy.

While Grant is never going to put himself on a par with NRL and Storm legend Cam Smith, he knows he has the potential to form the same lethal combination the former skipper did with his playmaking partners and fullback.

That’s the Storm “spine” of red-hot halfback Jahrome Hughes, superstar five-eighth Cameron Munster and fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen.

Injury kept the quartet apart for much of the 2024 season, but they are back together at the right time, finding their rhythm, and have another 10 days to get even more in sync, which could spell danger for their yet-to-be-decided preliminary final opponent.

“I think we’ve sort of developed our team over the last few years together and understood each other, so it’s good to have I guess the spine fit and playing together,” Grant said.

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— Melbourne Storm (@storm) September 15, 2024

“But it’s good to have the whole team. We’re fit and healthy this time of the year, which is important, and the spine’s probably been a little bit disjointed throughout the year, but one thing it says is the rest of the team has been pretty settled.

“Our ruck forwards have been settled, our back rowers being settled, so I think it goes to show how important they are for the team and the job that they’ve done all year and just need them to keep doing that.

“The group’s been together for a number of years and you look at a lot of the team, everyone’s in career best form and just really enjoying themselves, really enjoying coming into training every day and ripping in, so I think that’s important.”

Originally published as Melbourne Storm captain Harry Grant says preliminary final bound teammates playing as well as ever