Harry Grant will become a Melbourne player again in two NRL rounds but Kenny Bromwich won’t have any trouble “splitting him in half” when the Storm host the Wests Tigers on Saturday night on the Sunshine Coast.
Hooker Grant has spent the season with the Tigers in a unique club player swap, with the Storm taking Paul Momirovski in return, with the centre a chance to play this week for the first time since undergoing finger surgery in July.
Momirovski has been named on an extended Melbourne bench alongside Brandon Smith, who is on the comeback from a broken jaw, however exciting fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen is still out with an achilles issue.
Representative prop Christian Welch is back after serving a one-match ban.
Bromwich had a chuckle when asked how he planned to deal with Grant, who has been a revelation with his new NRL club this season as a regular starter, and if he would go easy given he’s a Storm player.
“No, you split him in half,” the second-rower said on Tuesday.
The clash between Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith and Grant, who will look to take his place upon retirement, will be a feature, with the pair regularly sparring before the youngster’s move north.
Grant played one game in 2018 and one in 2019 and was keen to take up the loan proposition to earn more game time, with his performances putting him in the Queensland State of Origin mix.
“We’ve had some pretty good battles at training when we’ve got Smithy on our side and Harry Grant was controlling the other team,” Bromwich said
“It will be a good one this weekend and one I’m sure Harry will be looking forward to – playing against us and seeing how he goes.”
Asked if Grant won any of those training battles, Bromwich said he couldn’t recall the 22-year-old getting the better of his captain too often.
“Smithy does some freakish things at training – he’s got the ball on a string.”
Melbourne are looking to finish the season with a bang with final round matches against the Tigers and St George Illawarra.