Storm’s Finucane fired up for Warriors

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy doesn’t have to worry about getting Dale Finucane fired up to face the Warriors at AAMI Park on Easter Monday.

He’s more worried about slowing him down.

The 22-year-old switched from the Bulldogs to the Storm in search of more playing time.

Named at lock to face the Warriors, Finucane’s already accomplished that and has set a new goal of getting his hands on the ball more.

Bellamy says Finucane has added a physical presence to the line-up, but he needs to show patience.

“He’s certainly added something to us, with his work-rate and he’s got a physical edge to him,” Bellamy said.

“He’s playing his role wonderfully and we want him to do more things too but he just needs to show a bit more patience until he gets more used to the place.”

Finucane himself felt his best form was still ahead of him.

“I probably haven’t had my best game yet,” he said.

“I feel like I’ve got a lot of improvement to do in a few areas.”

Finucane hasn’t worn a purple jersey against the Warriors but knows first-hand how teams rise up to play the Storm.

The Bulldogs are the only team to boast a winning all-time record over Melbourne however the Warriors come close with 15 wins and two draws from their 34 clashes.

The Auckland-based team have won three of their last five games, including their 2014 Anzac Day match at AAMI Park where they usually have as many fans as the home side.

They will have former Storm favourite Ryan Hoffman in their ranks, playing his 250th NRL match.

“I’ve seen that as a Bulldogs player watching on, it’s always a tense game between the two,” Finucane said.

“Players rise to the occasion when playing really good sides which Melbourne have been for a long time.”

Finucane said the Warriors, who have exciting centre Ngani Laumape returning for a knee injury in his first match of the season, were a team which liked to take risks.

“If we can get on top of those offloads and some of those trick plays they have it will go a long way towards winning the game.”

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