Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy need look no further than the fourth round of 2015 as a reason to be wary of North Queensland.
Just like they will on Friday night in Townsville, Bellamy's men faced a Cowboys team coming off three straight losses early in the season.
In comparison, the Storm were flying high and coming into round four with a winning record.
But after leading the hosts 16-4 at half-time, Melbourne went down 18-17 in golden point and changed the course of North Queensland's season and kick-started an 11-match winning streak on their way to winning a first premiership.
"They beat us in extra time and went on to win the comp. I'm sure they have happy memories of that, we haven't," Bellamy told reporters on Thursday.
"It's probably very similar circumstances to be honest.
"They've got too much class and too many good players for them not to kick at some stage."
The Cowboys desperately need a repeat resurgence of even half as substantial this year.
They have missed Jason Taumalolo with the star lock out through injury, while their lack of a regular fullback has also been costly.
"It's more disappointment, and internal disappointment," coach Paul Green of the team's predicament.
"We expect a fair bit of each other and we certainly haven't lived up to that yet. There are pressures from the outside but you can't completely ignore that,
"But there is probably more pressure on each other and themselves. They know we haven't played anywhere near our potential for long enough and that's what we need to do."
