Storm prop Josh King can see some similarities between his side’s horror losing streak earlier this season and Canterbury’s current five-game slide as the teams prepare for a rare clash in Sydney on Friday night.
The teams have played five-straight games at AAMI Park but will return to Accor Stadium for the first time since 2021 with both sides missing key players to State of Origin.
The Bulldogs are in freefall with five losses on the trot since their epic performance against the Panthers back in round 6, while the Storm has won their past two after dropping a staggering seven games in a row.
The teams met in the first week of the finals last year, but the loser of this one will find themselves in the bottom four nearing the halfway point of the season.
The pressure is on Canterbury given the Storm will be missing spine stars Cameron Munster and Harry Grant, with the Bulldogs failing to reach 20 points in each of their past four matches.
“They’re a really quality side,” King said.
“I haven’t watched too much of them this year, but it looks a lot like us. I’m still really confident – and I have been really confident – in our team, but we’ve struggled in a few areas in the game.
“I assume they’ve been working on different things and trying to figure it out, so I’m expecting nothing less than a really competitive game and for them to come out firing because they’re quite a physical team.”
The Storm is fresh off wins over the Tigers and the Eels following an unprecedented run of outs, with Craig Bellamy’s men showing signs of the team that made the past two grand finals.
They remain in 13th spot but are yet to have a bye as they continue to adjust to new rule interpretations that have resulted in rugby league looking very different this season.
“It’s nice getting back in the winners’ circle,” King said.
“In the overall season, we’re still not going too great with the start of the year that we had, but two wins on the trot gives some belief to the younger guys who probably haven’t experienced much winning in the past with the team.
“We’ve changed a few things in the last couple of weeks and shifted our focus to a few different areas, and I think that’s really worked for us and been really helpful.
“There has been a growing period and understanding that the rules aren’t too different, but the game has certainly changed.
“In the last 12 months you can definitely feel it on the field and the influence that the referees have on the game. Adjusting to a few of those things and getting back to (our old ways has helped).
“We probably didn’t realise that getting a few new players and a few different combinations meant we needed to get back to our foundations and strengthen those up a little bit. I think we’ve had a bit of success with that in the past few weeks.”
Originally published as ‘Game has certainly changed’: Storm make key adjustments for battling Bulldogs