Two sides that lost in heart-breaking last-gasp circumstances last week will be out to make amends when they meet at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon.
While a Daly Cherry-Evans field goal sunk Canterbury at a sodden 4 Pines Park on Sunday night, the Storm dodged a similar fate when Mitch Moses's attempted one-pointer hit the post - only for forward Ray Stone to scoop up the loose ball and win the game with a try (sadly tearing an ACL in the process).
Melbourne's third home game in as many weeks - after none since las April presents a great opportunity to return to the winners' circle.
Trent Barrett's Bulldogs could easily be 3-0 had a few little things gone differently in rounds one and three but they can at least take heart from a far improved defensive performance in the early parts of 2022 compared to their past two seasons.
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The Rundown
Team news
Storm: A change 24 hours before kick-off with Dean Ieremia dropping out with a hamstring injury and Nick Meaney coming in on the wing.
On the other wing Xavier Coates is back from a hamstring injury while hooker Harry Grant (COVID-19) also returns, with Brandon Smith reverting to the bench.
Bulldogs: Aaron Schoupp came out of the side on Saturday and has been replaced in the centres by Jake Averillo.
The Dogs have lost Jack Hetherington to a shoulder injury, with Corey Waddell officially in the run-on side this week in the back row and Luke Thompson at prop. Ava Seumanufagai returns on the interchange and Max King has been named despite going off early last week to manage a niggle.
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Key match-up
Nelson Asofa-Solomona v Tevita Pangai jnr: two aggressive props who sometimes find themselves on the wrong side of the 'controlled aggression' equation will meet in the middle on Sunday and frankly, who knows what's going to happen. The Storm big man is arguably lucky to be playing this while Pangai has also tested the referees' patience as early as the trial matches. Both are powerful runners and offloaders when channeling that aggression so we could just as easily get fireworks of the good or bad kind.
Stat attack
The current ladder may say the Bulldogs sit in 11th place but they have conceded the second-fewest points of any team, trailing only the Cowboys defensively.