Billy Slater's judiciary triumph and availability for Sunday's NRL grand final has galvanised the Melbourne Storm as they gun for back-to-back premierships.
The Storm were all smiles on Wednesday as they headed to the airport to prepare for Sunday's grand final against the Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium.
Football manager Frank Ponissi said that Slater was "emotionally exhausted" after being exonerated of a shoulder-charge at Tuesday night's judiciary hearing, allowing him to play in his career swan song.
The Melbourne No.1 was on light training duties on Wednesday with the club giving him time to recover from the toll of fighting his case before building up his workload leading into the showdown
"There's no doubt he's emotionally fatigued," Ponissi said on Wednesday.
"He's put a lot of work in. He's sent me countless texts and emails over the last few days and some of that footage that was shown (at the hearing) was put together by he and (wife) Nicole.
"Coming home he was happy but just exhausted."
Ponissi said Slater's judiciary success had boosted the players at the end of a testing season which had built resilience within the team.
"There's a real buzz in the place, relief but general excitement to have Billy playing on Sunday and it's certainly lifted everyone," Ponissi said.
"We've had our challenges this season with injuries, three different halfbacks, we've had a few suspensions and this challenge. It's been one hurdle after another but it seems to galvanise the team."
He said the value that the Test custodian brought to the side in such a high-stakes game couldn't be underestimated.
"We all saw in the preliminary final exactly how important he is," Ponissi said.
"He's a vital part of our team for lots of reasons.
"We would have had a wonderful replacement in Jahrome Hughes but there's only one Billy Slater and the way he's playing at the moment, especially in big games, you can't buy that sort of experience."
While the Storm will be at full strength the Roosters are likely to lose ex-Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk to a shoulder injury.
They named Mitch Aubusson at No.7 but Ponissi didn't believe the utility would play there, with Sean O'Sullivan more likely.
Ponissi said the Storm still held great affection for Cronk, who spent 13 seasons in Melbourne, and while his absence improved their chances of victory, they also didn't want to see him sidelined.
"We're very torn about it because when you have someone like Cooper who was at the club for so long, as a mate you want him to play.
"Even though he may not wear the purple jumper he's still a close friend to many here but him not playing is certainly going to make our job a little bit easier."
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