Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith says Andrew Fifita's unpredictability makes him near impossible to plan against, but the Storm are more focused on nullifying his impact than shutting him down altogether.
On his day, Fifita is one of the most destructive forwards in the game and showed against the Cowboys in the preliminary final just how hard he is to contain with late offloads and devastating strength.
Having played against him several times this year at NRL and Origin level, Smith is well aware of the damage the Cronulla prop is capable of causing.
"It's really hard to prepare against Andrew because he is quite unpredictable in what he is going to do," Smith said.
"He's a big guy and has great skill for a big man. He's got great feet, that's what makes him so good. He's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve.
"For us we'll do some video this week on a couple of individuals but more so their team and what to expect.
"For players like that, it's not about trying to take them out of the game, it's trying to minimise the impact they have. You're never going to be able to take a good footballer out of the game, the quality of Andrew Fifita, so we'll just try and minimise the amount of impact he has on the game."
Smith, who will play in his fifth grand final when the Storm square off against the Sharks at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, was quite reserved in his celebration after the preliminary final triumph against Canberra.
It was in contrast to the scenes of jubilation after the Sharks qualified for the decider, but Smith knows Cronulla won't be satisfied with just making it to a grand final given the club's inability to win the premiership in their previous 49 attempts.
"They're yet to win a premiership, so they have every reason to be excited," Smith said.
"They're a different team to us and they'll treat this week differently to the way we treat it. There is no doubt there is going to be a lot of talk about their team this week, particularly in the Shire and what's happening there with this opportunity.
"I don't think they'll be satisfied just making the grand final. They have plenty of experienced players in the squad with great leaders and obviously Shane Flanagan is a great coach. He'll have them well prepared for this one. I don't think they would put in the performances they have all year and to get to this one and just be satisfied with being there. They want to win that trophy."
