St George Illawarra second-rower Ben Creagh admits their Melbourne hoodoo is a mental hurdle they need to overcome to win an NRL title this season.
The Storm have had a vice-like hold on the Dragons since the 1999 grand final, when Jamie Ainscough caught Craig Smith high in the in-goal and Melbourne were awarded a penalty try and, as a result, the premiership.
The Victorian side has won 16 of 22 games since coming into the competition and the Red V's only triumph in their past 10 starts came last year when Melbourne were missing a cast of State of Origin talent.
Dragon plays down code switch plans Full coverage of The St George Illawarra DragonsBut with St George Illawarra hurtling towards their first minor premiership as a joint venture club under master coach Wayne Bennett, Creagh (right) said beating their bogey team would provide a huge boost in the lead-up to the finals.
"One hundred per cent it would be," he said. "But any win is a mental step heading into the next week and definitely, beating the Storm would be great.
"I think we only beat them last year when they had seven or eight guys out with Origin; it's the only time we've beaten them in a lot of seasons now.
"They're the benchmark team in the comp for the last few seasons and we've always struggled against them."
Melbourne have inflicted several other wounds in the past decade, including a 70-10 hiding in the grand final rematch in 2000, after then-Dragons five-eighth Anthony Mundine claimed the Storm didn't deserve to be premiers in the lead-up to the game.
St George Illawarra were bundled out in the preliminary final by Melbourne in 2006 and then there was the Dragons fiery 26-0 loss last year at Olympic Park, where prop Jason Ryles was sent off.
In Bennett's first game in charge this season, the Dragons were gutsy in a thrilling 17-16 extra-time defeat, but four months on, they have emerged as premiership favourites.
And so one of the great rivalries of the post-Super League war era is reignited at Kogarah's WIN Jubilee Oval tonight.
The Storm have lost three of their past four away from home and are clinging to a top-four position, but Creagh is adamant Melbourne haven't lost their aura.
"(Melbourne are) still playing good footy," he said.
"It's hard for any club with players out and guys from Origin coming back.
"They've got players coming back like Ryan Hoffman and Greg Inglis, two very great players. They're full strength and it's going to be a good test."
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