Melbourne hooker Harry Grant will consider sending Storm immortal Cameron Smith an SOS ahead of the club’s sudden-death final against the Sydney Roosters.
The Storm were humbled 26-0 by Brisbane in Friday night’s qualifying final, losing to the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium for the first time since 2009.
Like most Melbourne players, Grant was disappointed in his performance as the Storm slumped to a third-straight loss in a final.
Melbourne are 1-3 in finals since Smith ended his legendary playing career following the Storm’s 2020 premiership triumph over Penrith.
After smashing Manly in a qualifying final in 2021, the Storm, who claimed the minor premiership that year, lost to the Panthers in a preliminary final.
In a shock week-one exit last year, Melbourne were upset at home by Canberra.
Grant admitted he hadn’t called on Smith to tap into his big game experience as much as he could have.
“I haven’t probably done as much as I should,” Grant said of chatting to Smith about finals football.
“We’ve got some good coaches and senior players that have been in this position as well, so that’s probably where I have been.
“But I might have to pick the phone up and go SOS to Smithy.”
Melbourne skipper Christian Welch didn’t believe the Storm’s recent finals record was a concern ahead of hosting the Roosters at AAMI Park.
“I think if you start looking at historical things, even the whole talk about us against the Broncos up there, it doesn’t really matter too much, to be honest,” Welch said.
“I think we’re just really trying to fix a pretty disappointing performance.”
Melbourne proved too good for the Roosters in both games during the regular season, including winning 30-16 at the SCG in round 20.
