Melbourne five-eighth Ben Roberts believes he's playing the most consistent football of a chequered NRL career thanks to teammate Cooper Cronk.
Roberts arrived at Melbourne for the 2014 season with a reputation as being talented but erratic.
But the former Bulldogs and Eels playmaker, who has signed with UK Super League club Castleford, feels he's now much a more consistent player and he credits meticulous Test and Storm halfback Cronk with bringing out the best in his game.
"I'm trying to take in his (Cronk's) professionalism and the way he approaches game and even training and I watch him very closely," Roberts said.
"This year I've learnt more than I could learn in two years somewhere else."
Currently seventh on the ladder, the Storm host the Sharks at AAMI Park on Saturday afternoon desperate to erase a painful last-ditch loss to Newcastle last round and keep their play-off hopes on track.
The halves is an area the Storm will look to dominate with 19-year-old rookie Fa'amanu Brown and veteran Jeff Robson named for the last-placed Sharks.
Ten players in Cronulla's 17-man squad are 25 years or younger but despite their lowly ladder status they have proven in recent weeks they aren't easily star-struck.
Last round they had a four-point loss to the Warriors, who are in sixth place, and they upset the third-placed Panthers in round 20.
This week they have skipper Paul Gallen back after battling a biceps injury and virus.
"We aren't taking them lightly, with youth comes a lot of enthusiasm," Roberts said.
A win over Newcastle would have pushed Melbourne up into outright fifth and now only points differential is keeping them in the top eight.
"We can't afford to lose many more games so for us it is just a matter of going back to the drawing board and adjusting that attitude and hopefully we turn up on the weekend," Roberts said.
"After the way we've played in the last month we let ourselves down with the (Newcastle) result and the way we played."
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