Melbourne winger Josh Addo-Carr says Storm skipper Cameron Smith is a certain starter for Thursday night's NRL grand final rematch against Cronulla.
Smith was rested from the Storm's big win over Newcastle, with the game played less than 48 hours after State of Origin.
But Addo-Carr said there was no way the Queensland and Australian hooker would miss the Sharks encounter, with the competition's two top teams going head to head.
"Smithy played State of Origin and he has 50 tackles a game so he just sat out for a rest," Addo-Carr said.
"He's fit and well to go this week."
Melbourne hold a two-point lead over the second-placed Sharks but the NRL champions won their round six encounter 11-2 in a rain-soaked arm-wrestle at AAMI Park.
Addo-Carr said the Sharks successfully shut down Storm playmaker Cooper Cronk but his team would be prepared this time if they tried the same tactics.
"They made it hard for our halves to ball play; they made it hard for Coops,"" Addo-Carr said.
"We need to run harder than them, tackle harder than them and just frustrate them."
After a 40-12 romp over the last-placed Knights, Addo-Carr said his team would need to step up their defence to stop the Sharks, particularly in-form prop Andrew Fifita.
"I think it is going to be a big test for our defence this week and our completions," Addo-Carr said.
"It's going to be a big challenge; they got us last time so we need to step up to the plate."
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