Matty Johns and Cooper Cronk have broken down where the NRL Grand Final between the Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos will be won and lost and given their final verdict.

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STORM SPINE

The Storm have the best spine on paper in the NRL bar none, but the problem is they haven’t played a lot of footy together this season.

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A spine of Ryan Papenhuyzen at fullback, Cameron Munster at five-eighth, Jahrome Hughes at halfback and Harry Grant at hooker is the envy of every team in the NRL, including the Broncos.

However, injuries to Hughes and Papenhuyzen as well as a suspension and injuries to Grant has seen the Storm spine struggle for consistent game time as a combination this season.

But now that the band is back together, the Storm look a scary proposition for the Broncos to match in terms of attacking firepower.

Cronk noted the Storm spine have a run first mentality in big games to get the team running straight through the middle, rather than edging across field looking for ball runners.

“I think the Storm spine have been waiting a long time for this moment,” Cronk said on Fox League’s Matty and Cronk after their win over the Sharks in the preliminary final.

“Yes they had a game plan, but it was almost like that was second in their mindset. Mindset one was get the ball and be the dominant player on the field.

“When Harry Grant ran, Cameron Munster ran and then the bravery and the strength of Jahrome Hughes to do what he did.”

Hughes returned to the field just over three weeks after fracturing his arm in a loss to the Broncos in the final round of the regular season, to inspire the Storm to a prelim win over the Sharks.

However, Cronk believes the Sharks let Hughes off the hook by not testing him early and more frequently in defence.

“I thought there was a moment early in the game when Addin Fonua-Blake was being lined up on him and he just ran it inside at Eliesa Katoa,” Cronk said.

“He needed to isolate Hughes to see if he was capable of defending.

“But then Hughes got that right foot, that left fend and he doesn’t lair up Hughes, but when he celebrated that (try) he knew he was back. I thought it was a strong performance from the spine.”

The Broncos need to stop Cameron Munster’s running game.Source: Getty Images

Johns compared Hughes’ return from a broken arm to a legendary Broncos enforcer, but the Storm star beat his comeback by two weeks.

“Not enough has been made of it,” Johns said of Hughes’ heroics.

“In 2000 Shane Webcke went down and he played with a broken arm in the Grand Final off five weeks.

“Jahrome Hughes 22 days from a broken arm and back playing and was a star of the game.”

However, Johns had Munster as the pick of the players in the preliminary final and warned the Broncos of his big game mentality ahead of the decider.

“Munster in my opinion was the best player on the field, his running game was so strong,” Johns said.

“He is one of the greatest ever big-game players.”

Cronk identified Munster’s tendency to favour his running game in big matches and warned the Broncos will need to be ready for that.

“We talk about the game plan and we say this about Munster all the time, he did it in game two for Queensland, in big games he runs the ball,” Cronk said.

“Halves have this ratio of possessions to runs and generally a halfback might touch the ball 50 times and they might run the ball five or six times.

“In big games Munster goes the other way. He touches the ball 35 times and he runs it 15 or 20 times.”

Cronk warned if the Broncos don’t stop Munster’s running game it will be a long day at the office for them in the decider.

“I think the Broncos need to stop that,” Cronk said. “If Munster is running the ball they are no chance.”

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BRONCOS SPINE

The biggest question facing thee Broncos is whether or not to start Ezra Mam at five-eighth and shift Ben Hunt to hooker from the outset.

The Broncos have been brave to come back from two 14-point deficits against the Raiders and the Panthers to advance to the Grand Final, but if they let the Storm get out to a big lead they will be much harder to run down.

Mam is only one game back from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for the best part of two months, so there is a risk of overloading him if he was to start.

However, the Broncos’ attack looked much more dangerous when Mam came on at five-eighth and Hunt shifted to hooker, with Cory Paix coming off the field.

So do the Broncos need to go with their best combination from the outset to avoid playing catch-up with a Storm side, who rarely give up leads?

Johns put the question to Cronk, does Mam start for the Broncos?

While Cronk admitted Mam looked dangerous when he came on, he would resist the urge to start him at five-eighth in the Grand Final, if he was Michael Maguire.

“No, he was good but I don’t think he should,” Cronk said of Mam.

“He went after Nathan Cleary and that probably should have been a penalty, but that was a bit of a lightning rod moment for the Broncos.

“He took on the best player, smashed him up a little bit and the Broncos went on to win. But at the end of the day I think Mam starts off the bench.”

Ezra Mam is listed to come off the bench.Source: Getty Images

Cronk backed the Broncos tactics of having Paix absorb early pressure in defence, before shifting Hunt to hooker once he gets his confidence in his preferred halves spot.

“I like what Ben Hunt and Adam Reynolds do early on,” Cronk explained.

“Cory Paix does the job at No.9 then Hunt goes to hooker and he has got confidence.

“He went for the 40/20 and he threw the big dummy that got Willison that try.

“I think you want to keep Ezra Mam fresh and bring his running game on and I like Hunt’s confidence in the No.9 spot when he moves there.”

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BATTLE OF THE FORWARD PACKS

They say Grand Finals are won and lost in the engine room and that could be even more true in this match-up between the powerhouse packs of the Storm and Broncos.

Brisbane and Melbourne were the two pre-season favourites to topple the Panthers dynasty because they had the forward packs to fight fire with fire.

The Broncos are led by Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan returning from suspension, Jordan Riki, Brendan Piakura and Xavier Willison, who was immense off the bench in the prelim win over the Panthers.

Even without the suspended Nelson Asofa-Solomona, the Storm have Stefano Utoikamanu, Josh King, Shawn Blore, Eliesa Katoa and Tui Kamikamica off the bench setting the stage for a mammoth battle of the forward packs.

Cronk noted the Storm stars stood up in the preliminary final and kept the Sharks well contained.

“The Storm’s best players played well and the Sharks’ best players were quiet,” Cronk said.

“They weren’t bad, but in a prelim final, you need to be better than quiet.

“I thought Fonua-Blake was quiet. Their back three, who had been good all finals series were quiet and Hynes, Trindall and Brailey were quiet.”

Payne Haas will be a huge battle for Stefano Utoikamanu.Source: The Courier-Mail

Johns was impressed by the performance of Storm enforcers Kamikamica and Utoikamanu.

“I thought Kamikamica off the bench was mighty, I thought it was his best game of the season and Stefano was a powerhouse,” Johns said.

However, Cronk noted they will have to be even better to match the Broncos pack.

“He smashed Billy Burns over in a carry and I thought wow, that’s the type of impact you want from your front-rower,” Cronk said of Utoikamanu.

“Then he provided the offload for Hughes to score. But if that was his best game Stefano, he is going to have to double down on that this weekend.”

Johns also warned the Broncos that discipline will be key, after the Storm exposed the Sharks in that area in the prelim.

“The Storm won the prelim in a nut shell on the back of their discipline,” Johns said.

“They gave away so many soft off-side penalties. There was one early in the game that was such a soft off-side penalty and the Storm went down the other end and scored.”

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PREPARATION ADVANTAGE

Michael Maguire labelled the Storm getting an advantage from their two extra days of preparation as media spun garbage, but the fact Craig Bellamy admitted it was an advantage was telling.

The Storm’s win over the Sharks came on Friday night in Melbourne, while the Broncos didn’t finish their prelim until Sunday afternoon in sunny Brisbane.

Johns denied Maguire’s assertion that the Broncos will not be disadvantaged by the shortened preparation for the decider.

“Both games there is no comparison, the speed and the intensity and the heat of the Broncos vs Panthers and the stop-start nature of the Storm vs the Sharks,” Johns said.

“Madge came out and said, it’s rubbish don’t worry about the extra two days, but the bottom line is it is a monumental advantage.

“Two days extra to recover, on top of the nature of the two contests, it is advantage Melbourne.”

Craig Bellamy’s Storm have had more time to prepare.Source: Getty Images

Cronk commended Maguire for giving his side belief and no excuses, but the facts are the Storm will get an advantage over the longer period to recover from the prelim and prepare for the decider.

“Firstly, that is exactly the right thing for Michael Maguire to say that,” Cronk said.

“You cannot get into a press conference after the game and say that is a disadvantage or and advantage. You can’t say that. He is saying everything he needs to, to put belief into his team.

“On the flip side it is an advantage to have two days prior. The Storm game is stop-start on a Friday night in Melbourne coming up against ball in play for a long time Suncorp Stadium Sunday afternoon fast paced game. That is an advantage at the back end of the year absolutely.”

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DEFENSIVE WEAKNESSES

The Storm and the Broncos have both been solid defensive teams all season, but there is no doubt there are chinks in each other’s armours they can exploit and one of them is their edge defence.

Johns noted the Sharks had joy attacking the Storm’s left edge, with Sione Katoa scoring a double down that side in the prelim.

“One thing about the Storm their left side defence is a bit of a concern,” Johns said.

“The first try the Sharks scored uniformly they all just rushed blindly up and a little tunnel ball through to Katoa.

“Then the second try was the reverse. It was a lack of communication and you could see Munster backing off a little bit and a short ball and Billy Burns went through and Ramien set up Katoa.”

Cronk also noted a play in last year’s grand final that the Broncos would be looking at in a bid to exploit the Storm’s edge defence.

“Last year’s grand final I think it was Liam Martin who scored a try just on the stroke of half-time,” Cronk said.

“They caught Jack Howarth out of position and he got spotted up again against the Sharks.

“I think that’s exactly where the Broncos will look to get at that Munster and Howarth combination on the left edge.”

The Sharks exploited Munster and Howarth on the edge.Source: Getty Images

However, Cronk warned the Broncos have issues of their own on their left edge, after the Panthers scored two tries to Paul Alamoti with ease in the first half of their preliminary final.

“On the flip side, the Broncos left edge for the first 40 minutes didn’t even look like stopping a try,” Cronk said.

“Cleary and Edwards were going that way and Alamoti scored a couple of tries.

“So I think the key to the Storm is two things. I think Eliesa Katoa potentially could have a Clive Churchill Medal. I think he can be the best player on the ground.

“He has had a great season because he is an aerial threat on the kicks. His combination with Jahrome Hughes is centimetre perfect.

“If Hughes can get that combination going on the left edge, I think that is a good spot to attack.”

Cronk also warned the Broncos wingers they face a torrid night under the high ball with the Storm flyers’ aerial ability.

“I think the advantage for the Storm is through the kicking game,” Cronk said.

“Mariner and Karapani look vulnerable under the high ball and William Warbrick and Xavier Coates have a point of difference there.”

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MATT AND CRONK’S VERDICT:

Cronk is tipping his old side to get the chocolates with an edge forward to win player of the match honours.

“Melbourne Storm win for me, I think it’s a dominant victory, let’s call it 28-10 and Eliesa Katoa for Clive Churchill Medal,” Cronk said.

Meanwhile, Johns is also backing the Storm in a tight one, with their fullback to pick up his second GF best and fairest nod.

“I’ve gone Storm by four and Ryan Papenhuyzen for Clive Churchill Medal,” Johns said.