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| Greg Inglis has been a formidable force for the Storm [GALLO/GETTY] |
Australia's National Rugby League grand final features a team that have not missed a final in four seasons against an opponent that few had given even a remote chance of being there.
The Melbourne Storm, who won the 2007 NRL title and have been in the grand final each year since 2006, take on the Parramatta Eels in Sunday's late afternoon match at the former Olympic stadium in Sydney.
The Eels have been impressive.
After finishing in eighth place in the regular season and just scraping into the playoffs, the western Sydney club beat the first-place St. George Illawarra Dragons 25-12, third-place Gold Coast 27-2 and topped it off by beating the second-place Bulldogs 22-12.
The Storm, meanwhile, completely outclassed the highly fancied Brisbane Broncos in last week's semi-final 40-10 after beating defending champions Manly 40-12 in the opening round of the playoffs, eliminating the Sea Eagles.
Underdogs
The Eels are the first club to advance to the grand final from eighth place since the existing playoff format was devised 10 years ago. They were in 15th place after 18 rounds of the season, but won 10 of their last 11 matches.
Parramatta star Nathan Hindmarsh said that despite his team's recent form, he's wary of the Storm.
"We're coming up against a top-class Melbourne team who, to be honest, are very scary,'' Hindmarsh said.
"I watched the two semi-finals they've played and that first one against Manly I thought I don't really want to have to play Melbourne. And then again on Saturday night against Brisbane they were on fire.
"The nerves are there because we know just how good a team they are. It's going to come down to who wants it more on the weekend.''
Melbourne features the high-scoring pair of Greg Inglis and Billy Slater - Inglis scored three tries in the win over Brisbane and Slater two, while Parramatta's star player is fullback Jarryd Hayne.
The Storm have the edge in playoff matches, having beaten the Eels all three times - in 1999 en route to their first grand final championship, in 2006 in the first round and a year later in the second round.
Hindmarsh says that will not count for much on Sunday.
"We've been in this (must-win) position for a while now so I can't see anyone going into their shells,'' said Hindmarsh.
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