Penrith five-eighth Jamie Soward is expected to overcome a shoulder injury to face a fired up Melbourne in the NRL clash at Pepper Stadium on Saturday.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary will finalise his side on gameday, but hinted on Friday, his pivot was good to go after being hit late in a controversial tackle by Parramatta's Pauli Pauli in the loss against the last week.
Pauli escaped punishment for the tackle after taking the early guilty plea on a grade one dangerous contact charge.
"We'll find out tomorrow night ... we've picked him in the side," Cleary said.
"He's hurt his AC joint, there's players playing with those all the time.
"He's been OK (this week), the biggest concern has been around the actual incident more than anything else and I think there's been enough said about that.
"The fact we are still talking about Jamie's injury suggests that there's something not quite right about how all that went down, whether that be punishment or whatever."
Penrith forward Elijah Taylor expects to be running out with Soward on Saturday night.
"I'm sure he'll be good to go ... Maybe (he'll) get a local (anaesthetic) in the AC joint and yeah I'm sure he'll be ready to play tomorrow night," Taylor told Sky Sports radio on Friday.
The Storm have it over Penrith, with the Panthers winning just seven of 28 matches with Melbourne, their worst record against any opponent.
Melbourne will be looking to bounce back after they were dismantled 24-2 by the Sydney Roosters last Monday night, turning in a performance that prompted coach Craig Bellamy to label his side "soft as butter".
"Every time you play the Storm, you know you are in for a huge game," Cleary said.
"They've been so good for so long. It's an exciting time because you really get tested and it's one of those occasions you definitely look forward to and know you've got to be up for."
The Storm will benefit from the return of star fullback Billy Slater from his shoulder issues, but have lost speedy winger Marika Koroibete for six weeks with a thumb injury.
Penrith have lost outstanding fullback Matt Moylan to an ankle injury but Cleary has backed replacement Dallin Watene-Zelezniak to again step up after shifting to No.1 early against the Eels.
"Dal's played most of his junior career at fullback. It's one good thing about Matty Moylan is that we get to see Dal in that position and he's certainly looking forward to it.
"I expect him to grow in the next few weeks."
"But I thought being thrown straight in the furnace during the game last week, I thought he did a really good job."
STATS THAT MATTER
* Seventeen of the 28 matches between these sides have been decided by double figure margins.
* In their past six matches against Melbourne at Penrith, the Panthers have been held to 12 points or less and have been outscored 159-58 in these matches.
* In their 28 matches against the Panthers, Melbourne have averaged 28.8 points per game, their best average against any opponent which they have faced more than five occasions.
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