It may be one of the toughest road trips in the NRL but young Cronulla star Valentine Holmes is adamant - the Sharks are ready for 'the graveyard'.
Cronulla travel south to face the Storm on Saturday night in one of the biggest games in their recent history.
The second-placed Sharks trail Melbourne by one point heading into the final round, with the victor to win the minor premiership.
There is also the added stress for Cronulla that, if they lose, they could end up finishing third and face another daunting trip to Canberra in week one of the semi-finals.
If the Sharks are to seal the minor premiership for the first time since 1999, they will have to overcome a dreadful record in Melbourne – and against the Storm.
Cronulla have won two of their last 12 games against the Storm, and haven’t won in Melbourne since 2008.
But Holmes, who has starred for the Sharks this season scoring 18 tries, told the Leader that the Storm weren’t unbeatable south of the border.
“It’s just shown by last week. The Broncos gave [Melbourne] a bit of a touch up,” he said.
“They’re always going to be a tough team to beat. They don’t call it the graveyard [for nothing]. We’ve got a massive challenge there.
“[But] if we go in confidently and just stick to what we do I’m sure we can sneak away with the win.”
While others have played down the significance of the minor premiership, the 21-year-old is keen to add the silverware to Cronulla’s trophy cabinet – and not just for himself.
“To me, it’d mean everything,” Holmes said.
“It’d be a massive achievement. Especially for Cronulla and the local people and the fans, it’d be awesome.
“I’m sure they’d love it and the club would love it.
“But as a team it’d be a massive achievement for us.”
Holmes was ruled ineligible to represent Queensland this season after breaking a curfew on an Emerging Maroons camp early in the year.
But that hasn’t stopped him from dreaming of wearing the Maroon jersey in the future, and possibly wearing a green and gold one at the end of this season.
A good start would be helping his side get one over two of Queensland’s greatest State of Origin players on Saturday night – Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith.
“I always look forward to playing against them,” he said.
“To play against those guys of that calibre, I always get star struck by them. I still do, when I play those guys and guys like [Johnathan] Thurston.”
Cronulla’s younger brigade – including Holmes, Jack Bird and Sosaia Feki – have also heeded the words of their more senior teammates this week about not taking finals football for granted so early in their careers.
“That’s what the older boys have been saying. They thought when they first started that finals would come around every year because they were in the finals the first couple of years,” he said.
“But obviously they don’t come around that often. I’ve noticed that, but I’m just going to try and take [the opportunity] with two hands and try to play the best I can. Hopefully we can get the win and carry it on through the finals.”