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Storm's Tohu Harris in action against Manly in Round 24 of the Telstra Premiership.

You could be excused for thinking the Melbourne Storm celebrated their 38-18 win over the Sea Eagles on Saturday night with a couple of beers in the Brookvale Oval sheds after the game. 

Instead, the team went through their post-game analysis, warmed down, got through their media commitments and flew back to the Victorian capital that night stone cold sober. 

And as Storm backrower Tohu Harris told NRL.com, it's something that will continue for the rest of the season after the club agreed to go on a booze ban leading into the finals series. 

The Storm have developed one of the most professional cultures in the NRL over the years, and it's not surprising given their readiness to buy in to whatever is deemed best for the club.  

"It's something we generally do at the end of every year. It's part of our preparation," Harris said.  

"We do something like this every year. It's something small that the team is willing to sacrifice to try to improve our performances. Hopefully it does the job.  

"I can't remember exactly when we started doing it this year, but it's something we've been doing for the last couple of weeks.

"Every single player is on board and it goes right through the club. We all know the benefits of doing it so it's something everyone is more than willing to do for the benefit of the team."

Melbourne's decision to avoid alcohol for the rest of the 2016 season doesn't mean they won't be able to celebrate the big moments; they'll just have to be done differently. 

 


The Storm currently sit atop the Telstra Premiership ladder with two rounds to go and are on track to win their first minor premiership since 2011, while champion halfback Cooper Cronk is four games shy of 300 career caps in the NRL.

"The best way to celebrate it is to perform on the field," Harris said when asked how they'd honour Cronk's milestone game.  

"He's the ultimate professional and he puts in every week he runs out for us. 

"A milestone like that is something very few people get so it's going to be a special moment for him and the club. We're going to want to put in our best effort for Cooper."

Harris confirmed he would be fine to take on the Broncos on Friday night despite being forced off for his second head injury assessment test in the space of six days. 

"It was a little bit of a knock but I pulled up alright," he said. 

"It was around halfway while I was tackling Jamie Buhrer. The doc saw me stumbling a little bit and because it was the second one in a week he decided to be cautious with it and have me checked out."  

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