The bitter rivalry between Melbourne and Cronulla may be over, but Storm veteran Christian Welch is still preparing for the Sharks to be in their face in their NRL final on Saturday.
When Cameron Smith, famously sin-binned for the first time in his career in 2018 at Shark Park, and hard-man Paul Gallen led their sides there was no love lost, and their retirements have taken some heat out of the battle.
Along with coach Craig Bellamy, Welch and five-eighth Cameron Munster are the only players remaining from the Storm's 2016 grand final loss to Cronulla, while there are no Sharks surviving from that fiery era.
Ahead of the AAMI Park match, 30-year-old Welch said the current Cronulla players still brought plenty of aggression and rated their back five - fullback, wingers and centres - as the best in the competition.
While pundits give the Sharks little chance, Welch said the minor premiers were wary of their fourth-placed rivals, who downed the home side on their last visit to Melbourne.
"They're a really strong side," Welch told AAP.
"They're really high-percentage, and they're always playing really hard.
"Their back five set the tone with their carries early on in the sets - they're probably the best back five in the competition at creating ruck speed, and that's what this game is all about now, how you break teams down.
"They get momentum in those early plays, and then let Nicho Hynes and (Braydon) Trindall come up on the ad-line, where defences are reeling or not able to set, they're really good at making the right decisions and making it pay."
Welch said centre Kayal Iro, son of Kiwi great Kevin, typified the Sharks' attitude.
"Iro plays the ball really quick - he's not a huge guy, but he's really aggressive after the contact in shaking defenders off and making it a little bit messy for the guys trying to get up a marker," he said.
"It really gives Blayke Brailey a good opportunity to get out and run and put the defence under pressure."
Welch missed the Storm's last-round win over Brisbane after suffering a mystery leg infection, but is primed for his sixth finals campaign, albeit with a slightly different role as a bench forward.
The former Queensland representative prop is believed to be in the sights of Brisbane, but said he would be at the Storm beyond this season unless told otherwise.
Before then he's intent on winning another premiership.
"I'm just trying to contribute how I can and how the coach wants," Welch said.
"I've been in this club for 12 years, and I love it here, love the people, so whatever the team needs I'm more than happy to do.
"We've had such a good regular season and to finish minor premiers, it's a great achievement, but we've been in this position before and I look back to 2021, where we had a pretty flawless regular season but then got rolled in the prelims.
"So we've given ourselves a really good chance, but it's almost like another season starts tomorrow."
The Storm are set to start at full-strength, with fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen, who had been carrying a leg injury, looking unhindered in their final training session.
