Former Canterbury captain Steve Price has rubbished claims Melbourne will not be motivated by the salary-cap scandal that stripped the club of two NRL premierships.
The Storm, who will face the Bulldogs in the grand final on Sunday, insist they are not drawing any inspiration from the scandal which brought the club to its knees and led to the 2007 and 2009 premierships being erased from the record books.
But Price says that is rubbish – and he should know.
Price and his Bulldogs teammates said all the same things leading into the 2004 decider following a salary-cap scandal of their own in 2002 which resulted in them losing 37 competition points that year.
“I’m sure with what happened a couple of years ago with the salary cap, they’re going to be desperate to prove to everybody that they can do it without being over the cap,” Price told AAP.
“We were there a couple of years ago after we had a salary-cap scenario at the Bulldogs and it wasn’t the only reason why we wanted to win but it certainly was a big piece of the puzzle.
“It was really good to be able to get that victory that we felt we deserved and really earned it.”
Price is close to several Melbourne players, having represented Queensland alongside their big three of Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater, and says he knows winning a competition will lift a great burden from the players and coach Craig Bellamy’s shoulders.
“Knowing Craig as well, he wouldn’t have liked to have been known as a coach who had that success but only had it because they were over the salary cap,” Price said.
“He’s a very competitive guy and he’ll want to prove to everybody, whether people accept it or they don’t, it’s another step towards a great legacy he’s been able to create at Melbourne.
“I know Cammo and Billy and Coops, they’re really good guys and they don’t want to have that hanging over their head.”
Former Manly and South Sydney hardman Mark Carroll agreed that the Storm would draw from the pain of 2010.
“They’ve been through a lot and they’re going to say they’re not using it as motivation,” he said.
“But deep down it will be one of the reasons that will pump them up.
“You need to win. The really good players in the game don’t like coming second.”