2012 NRL Grand Final Jackpot for Canterbury Bulldogs' lucky Charm Sam Perrett

BY rights, Bulldogs winger Sam Perrett could have been joining his ex-Roosters teammates on an end of season trip to the US about now. 

Instead, the reborn Kiwi flyer bagged a double in the grand final qualifier last night to help his new club Canterbury-Bankstown into the final weekend of September.

Perrett's second try was sheer brilliance, picking up a looping ball from team mate Greg Eastwood before dancing along the sideline and crossing in the corner.

As the replays showed, there was a matter of millimetres between Perrett's boot and the white stripe of the touchline.

But like everything Perrett has touched since his mid-season switch from Bondi Junction to Belmore, it turned out to be pure rolled gold.

"It was a huge atmosphere. You couldn't hear a thing out there between each other but somehow we managed to all be on the same page and execute what we wanted to," Perrett said.

"The move has been chalk and cheese. I felt like I absolutely needed that and it's been an absolute blessing from the moment I first spoke to Des and the club up until now."

On his dance down the sideline for his second try after some brilliant lead-up from Greg Eastwood, Perrett said: "I remember a young, nippier Greg Eastwood back in his school days was able to do that.

"I wasn't sure if he still had it in him so it was good to see that he's still got it."

On the prospect of beating the Storm, Perrett said: "I've got all the belief in this team but we're going to have to work really hard. It's going to be our biggest challenge absolutely."

Aside from the performances of Perrett and Eastwood, another unlikely star for the Bulldogs was fellow mid-season convert Krisnan Inu.

Having previously tasted grand final defeats with Parramatta and the Warriors, Inu, who landed four goals and picked up a try, said the Bulldogs could go one better.

"No disrespect to the last two teams I've played with but we've shown we've got the team to be in the grand final," Inu said.

Manly Set to Storm Melbourne's Fortress

Manly are plotting to storm Melbourne's fortress and seize the mantle as the NRL's new super powers in Friday night's heavyweight preliminary final at AAMI Park.

The decade's most dominant forces will collide in a high-stakes encounter, the reward a shot at premiership glory and bragging rights as the NRL's most successful club.

Renewing their bitter finals rivalry, Melbourne and Manly are clashing in the playoffs for the first time since the Storm belted the Sea Eagles 40-12 in the 2009 qualifying final.

A year earlier, Manly buried the Storm 40-0 in the 2008 title mismatch at ANZ Stadium to avenge a 34-8 loss to Melbourne in the 2007 decider.

Now the Eagles are bidding to become the NRL's first triple premiers while the Storm could have been seeking their fourth title if they had not had two stripped for salary cap cheating.
Fittingly, the sides have split their past 10 matches.

But while the Eagles hold an 8-5 edge in clashes in Sydney since the Storm entered the league in 1998, conquering Melbourne on home soil has proven an altogether different proposition.
Manly have won only twice in nine matches in Melbourne and lost their only previous clash at AAMI Park - in round one last year.

"It is tougher playing them down there," admitted star five-eighth Kieran Foran.
"They always turn up. We're going to need to be at the top of our game."

Foran, 22, hasn't forgotten his finals debut in `09 - when the Storm ripped his side apart to end Manly's season before going on to win the premiership, which was later stripped for salary cap breaches.

But Sea Eagles skipper Jamie Lyon is confident of qualifying for the club's fourth grand final in six seasons - a tally to match the Storm's dream run from 2006-09 - and says they are relishing the challenge.

"We know it's going to be a tough ask going down there. It's always hard," Lyon said.
"But if you want to be the No.1 team, you've got to beat everyone and we can't wait."

While Lyon completed the entire game after being in doubt for last Friday night's 22-12 semi-final win over North Queensland, his co-captain Jason King is a new fitness concern after lasting only 27 minutes before succumbing to a shoulder injury.

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