Trying to pick how good the Storm will be after jumping the ditch and with their best players backing up from State Of Origin isn't an easy task, nor is it an easy task trying to decipher how the Warriors ought to go about their business against the Storm.

We've always matched up well against the Storm with our free-flowing style along with a game based on power and size, but is that the best way to tackle the Storm this time around? It sure is and we've got the best team we've probably ever had to do so, but these winning performances against the Storm have always come with some hard work done first up to allow the attacking footy to flourish.

This is where I get excited, because we're going to have to see the Warriors do both - rumble forward, kick long, defend stoutly and offload, throw the footy around and offer some panache with the ball.

Over the past few weeks we have seen a willingness to be patient with Shaun Johnson and Chad Townsend getting plenty of repeat sets as well as showing great accuracy with kicks that don't go into the in-goal area. With each week of the latter part of the season, we need to see that this wasn't a purple patch and that this is a foundation of the Warriors game because we've all witnessed how the Warriors can play how we want them to for periods of a season only to fall away and plunge back into the depths of the NRL wilderness.

The loss of Konrad Hurrell, or the likely loss of Hurrell will hinder the Warriors a wee bit as the one-two power punch on the edges with Solomone Kata would have been perfect against the Storm. The class of Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith's kicking game will pin the Warriors down their own end a lot and this is where our outside backs will need to shine and the presence of Hurrell would have been a nice bonus.

David Fusitua though is a highly gifted young outside back and his ceiling is about as promising as Hurrell's or Kata. It's just that we haven't been able to fit Fusitua into the top 17, now he gets another chance and hopefully he grabs it like Charlie Gubb and Raymond Faitala-Mariner have.

RFM might find himself playing plenty of minutes, if not starting, after Ryan Hoffman looked to be a bit beat up in Origin. Again, it's an opportunity for RFM to build on his young NRL career and he's going to come up against Kevin Proctor who does a reasonable job in the NRL on a weekly basis.

It's a big game for our forwards. Ben Matulino gets to go one on one with the best prop in the game in Jesse Bromwich and Matulino isn't too far behind Bromwich, the fact that they are both Kiwis however is glorious. The Storm forwards got absolutely wrecked by the Bulldogs at Belmore the other week so you'd imagine that Craig Bellamy has wound them up to rip and tear, so how will our forwards respond?

Not only do the Storm's pack have power/size/aggression, a combination that I expect them to bring but also their skill. Bromwich is an offloader4Life and a lot of their second phase play starts with him while Proctor and Tohu Harris can pretty much do anything with the ball and Felise Kaufusi has proven to be one of the better low key young forwards of 2015.

That sets up a nice battle off the bench with Kaufusi likely to confront Albert Vete and/or Charlie Gubb which will be fun.

Jacob Lillyman was purely exceptional for Queensland on Wednesday night, if he can replicate that effort or just come close to it, that'll be nice.

The Warriors do rely on power to bust tackles through the middle along with the running game of Johnson, but a lot of their points come thanks to the work of Sam Tomkins who offers a slick ball-playing/last pass option out wide. The Storm are above average at defending second man plays because well, they kinda started all that so I don't really see how the Warriors can go around the Storm. It will be funky to see them try and with the power runners straighten the attack, it could work.

Do keep an eye on Ben Hampton's spot on the bench. Why Bellamy would play Hampton and Hinchcliffe off the bench is a beyond me, but Hampton is likely there just as cover. Don't be surprised to see someone like Nelson Asofa-Solomona come onto the bench - he's a huge lad who also loves an offload.

How do the Warriors win? Bring their new-found patience and composure on attack along with brutal power and fearless skill. That's usually the recipe for beating the Storm.

It has been weird to see that Nathan Friend hasn't accepted a new deal from the Warriors, which obviously means the deal wasn't quite what Friend was after. For mine, the Warriors would have benefited greatly from having Friend around the squad as cover at dummy half because there isn't much point in have a youngster as cover because Issac Luke and Thomas Leuluai are ahead of that youngster, where's the game time?

Unless Friend wanted an unrealistic amount of money for playing maybe 10 games off the bench, then it's all a bit weird. Especially because said 'youngster' Saliva Havili is still very much unproven at the NRL level.

Also, the Warriors worst kept secret was quietly let loose with Chad Townsend leaving to return to the Sharks next year. No biggie, the only issue here is whether Townsend clocks out at some stage this season.