A 21 man Melbourne Storm squad left for England on Monday, and have begun preparations in London ahead of their match-up with Leeds in the 2013 World Club Challenge.
Melbourne forward Ryan Hoffman has played in three World Club Challenge matches, twice with Melbourne in 2008 and 2010 as well as making an appearance for Wigan in the 2011 World Club Challenge.
The 29 year-old believes that there is plenty of work to be done in camp before the World Club Challenge, following the side’s trial match loss to Canberra in Geelong last week.
“We definitely didn’t play as well as we wanted on Friday night. But I suppose if you are going to have a performance like that you want to have it now so you don’t have that false sense of security,” Hoffman said.
“We have got a lot of areas to improve in and that’s what we are going to do.”
Hoffman confirmed the squad is looking forward to the upcoming clash with Leeds and is confident that despite the travel, Storm will be prepared for the 2013 home and away season upon returning to Australia.
“It’s a really exciting time. We are going over there to win a trophy, there is a trophy up for grabs and this is a great way to put us in good stead for the 2013 NRL season,” Hoffman said.
“We are definitely proud to be a part of this competition and we want to keep being there.
“We will give ourselves the best opportunity to get ourselves right for Round 1 and hopefully go on to a successful season.”
Storm play Leeds for the World Club Challenge on Saturday 23 February from 7:00am with the match being shown live on GEM.
It will be Melbourne’s final hit out before facing the Dragons at AAMI Park in Round 1 of the 2013 season. It promises to be an intriguing clash with St. George Illawarra the only side Melbourne failed to defeat throughout the 2012 season.
Melbourne fans can secure tickets for Storm’s 2013 home games including the Round 1 clash against St. George Illawarra today when tickets go on sale through Ticketek.
