When it is put to Storm coach Craig Bellamy that Sunday's match is a grand final re-match, he sounds like Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth: "What's done is done."
Ahead of the round 6 AAMI Stadium match against the Sharks, who won last year's grand final by two points, Bellamy says:Â "It won't win us the 2016 premiership."
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It's typical of the pragmatic coach not to waste time on what can't be controlled, or, as Lady Macbeth said:Â "Things without all remedy, Should be without regard."
It's almost as if the Storm took a decision to move on, as everyone now seems to say, from half-time in last year's grand final.
Following their success in the final round against the Sharks last year, the Storm's basic plan in the grand final was to run harder than the Sharks could tackle.
I recall former Cronulla captain-coach, Tommy Bishop, saying at half-time:Â "Melbourne aren't doing much with the ball."
Bellamy changed tactics at the interval and, with rapid ball movement, particularly as the final siren neared, they probably needed only one more ruck to win.
If Bellamy has moved on, so have many of the NRL clubs in terms of the style of football now played.
![Sky's the limit: Fullbacks such as Wests Tigers' James Tedesco are becoming ball-players as well as runners.](/web/20170409195444im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/f/n/4/t/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvfmnl.png/1491560579393.jpg)
Non-Sydney clubs such as the Broncos, Cowboys, Raiders and Storm are playing a more expansive style, moving the ball wider, early in the tackle count.
So, too, are the Sea Eagles and Roosters.
In many ways, it is a return to a traditional style.
When Manly's Brian Kelly passed to Dylan Walker for the winning try against the Roosters last round, it was centre passing to centre.
Given the strict left/right division of responsibilities on the field, this is as rare as Arthur Beetson or Dallas Donnelly knocking back an extra serve of mashed potato.
An aberration, you think? No, the Sea Eagles won a trial against the Roosters on the Central Coast with the same play, demonstrating that Manly coach Trent Barrett and his sage, Bob Fulton, have been working on centres combining for a while.
The Storm's first try of 2017, against the Bulldogs, involved their two centres pairing.
The Roosters began the season with multiple linkings of their halves, Mitchell Pearce and Luke Keary, in another departure from the three decades of left and right side attack and defence.
In the round 5 Storm versus Panthers match, there was a passage of play where winger Suliasi Vunivalu passed to fullback Billy Slater who passed to the other winger Josh Addo-Carr.
The exchange took place inside the Melbourne half and in the centre of the field, reflecting the move to more adventurous play.
The soaring importance of the fullback in today's game is a major factor; he is the one player who can make the extra man against the division of left and right defence.
Given the quality of the No.1's in the NRL, why wouldn't you move the ball wide towards them?
In 2017, the position seems to have evolved even more, with fullbacks such as Penrith's Matt Moylan, the Raiders' Jack Wighton and the Cowboys' Lachlan Coote slotting in as first and second receivers.
Wests Tigers James Tedesco is everywhere and Slater's increasing match fitness will continue to energise the Storm's attack.
So, the fullbacks, apart from being runners are becoming extensions of the halves – ball-players as well.
Despite the perception the football is better, the statistics don't support this.
At the ends of round 5 this year and last, the number of tries is precisely the same – 268.
According to Champion Data, there have been less "possessions" (the number of times a player touches the ball), more tackles and only two more offloads in 40 games.
But there have been 96 less penalties, suggesting more playing time, although Champion Data does not keep this vital statistic.
Interestingly, the errors are the same and more than half the games have been played in Sydney which has faced wet weather of biblical proportions.
So, while we are admiring the ball movement in dry cities like Melbourne, the players in rain-soaked Sydney haven't been doing too badly with their handling and footwork, considering the slippery ball and the unsteady surface.
The Dragons, second on the ladder, have also turned back the clock, establishing momentum via the forwards with risk-free passes before providing space for the backs and precise kicking opportunities.
With dry weather, the football will be even more entertaining, enthusing the players with even greater confidence, resisting any return to negative, defensive play.
Hopefully, as Lady Macbeth later said:Â "What's done cannot be undone."
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