Respect to the power of nine as Harry and Brandon meet again

They were locked in battle for years to replace champion hooker Cameron Smith, but in between all that the respect Harry Grant and Brandon Smith have for each other has never wavered.

Smith will return to AAMI Park to take on his old teammates on Thursday night for the first time since departing Melbourne to take up a three-year contract with the Roosters.

His Storm exit, like the recent one of Nicho Hynes to Cronulla, was all for opportunity with great mate Grant coming out on top as the long-term No.9 meaning Smith needed to move on if he wanted to start at hooker again.

Smith, however, has remained extremely close to Grant and the Storm. The pair showed each other great respect during the 2021 World Cup when they embraced each other after Smith performed the haka. 

Smith was also a spectator cheering the Storm home in their golden point thriller against the Eels in Round 1, congratulating Grant for going over for the match-winner. 

"You always want to see your mates go well and Brandon is one of the best," Grant told NRL.com.

"He’s got a great opportunity at the Roosters and I'm really happy for him. At the end of the day it’s rugby league and you’ve got to do what’s best for you and your family.

"He's copped it the first couple of weeks but if you look at it he wasn’t really playing big minutes at nine and he picked up a couple of knocks. He was forced to play a little bit at 13 because they were low on troops.

"But he’s really found his feet the last couple of weeks and is starting to build those connections and play his brand of footy. You can see the combinations forming around their middle. 

"In saying that we can’t put too much energy in Brandon coming back down to Melbourne. He’ll be up for it but it’s always a big game for both us and the Roosters. It's already an easy match to get up for."

The Storm have bounced back in the past fortnight with a defensive resolve that was missing against the Bulldogs and Titans last month. 

Grant pulled off one of three try-savers against the Rabbitohs last start to deny the opposition in the final stages of their upset win at Accor Stadium. 

After an off-season of key player turnover at the Storm, the effort areas Craig Bellamy's side is renowned for has returned.

"The pleasing thing after the two recent performances we’ve had is that we’re playing the long game and staying in the arm wrestle," Grant said.

"We’re defending our way to a win which is most pleasing for the coach and as players you get a lot of confidence out of that.

"It all comes down to effort at the end of the day. We had a couple of weeks where we lost and never had that defensive attitude there but we’ve definitely responded well to that.

"We’ve got to stay on top of that now in what is a long season. Sometimes six-day turnarounds are good because you can get straight back into it.

"It’s an important week for us to continue to stay on track. The Roosters are a classy side and it will be a good test for us."