None of that, however, tends to count for much when these two teams meet. The Storm edge the head-to-head ledger 15-13, with one match drawn. In recent times, the Warriors have had the upper hand, winning five matches to the Storm's four since 2008. Two of those games were memorable finals triumphs in Melbourne.
Bogey team might be stretching it, but the Warriors have at least held their own when in the eye of the Storm.
"Since I've been here I don't remember Melbourne doing us twice in the one year," says former Storm-makeweight-turned-Warriors-star James Maloney. "I know the boys really look forward to playing them and they are a side we do pretty well against."
Talk to any Warrior about the Storm and a twinkle will appear in the eye. They relish the challenge, thrive on the contest and genuinely enjoy measuring themselves against opponents they rate as the best of the best. That, however, doesn't fully explain why the Warriors so consistently prove the Storm's kryptonite. Presumably the likes of the Dragons, Cowboys and Panthers all try to raise their game for the Storm too. If they do, they haven't been overly successful at it, with all three of those clubs boasting an identical six wins from 25 contests record against the Storm. The Rabbitohs probably bust an extra gut too, but their reward has been just three wins from 19 clashes.
Simply trying hard doesn't cut it in the NRL. The Warriors foot it with the outrageously clinical Storm because they are one of the few teams capable of bullying them. When the Warriors muscle up, the Storm very quickly find themselves in a place they'd rather not be.
Interestingly, the only club to have parity with the Storm are the Bulldogs, with the ledger between the two standing at 14-14. Typically built on a massive forward pack with a good dose of mongrel, the Bulldogs have long been the NRL's bully boys.
In Melbourne last year the Warriors beat the Storm twice by controlling territory with a dominant forward display.
They nearly repeated the trick in round eight this year, only to be undone by a lack of execution on attack and a bumbling effort by stand-in fullback Krisnan Inu.
The now departed Inu's gaffes handed the Storm prime field position in key moments of that contest, fatally undermining a colossal display by the forward pack. Such fragility is always ruthlessly exploited by the Storm.
In terms of an apparent mismatch, little has changed heading into Sunday's encounter. One hiccup against Cronulla aside, the Storm have been unbeatable this season. The Warriors may have improved after a shaky start, but they remain entirely beatable.
The Storm have scored the most points in the competition (330) and conceded the fewest (131).
The Warriors' attack has been fine, with 260 points notched, however their defence is the second worst in the competition, having leaked 266 points - 155 more than the Storm.
Of the 12 major statistical categories tallied by the folks at NRL Stats (offloads, linebreaks, missed tackles etc), the Storm have superior numbers to the Warriors in all 12. In many cases the Storm rank first or second, while the Warriors are in the bottom two.
And yet, as usual, none of that will count for anything on Sunday. The only stat that matters is which team ends up with the W next to its name come 5.30pm.
Having never really cracked it at Melbourne, Maloney should have an extra incentive to prove a point against his former club. The only points he is interested in, though, are the two on offer for a win.
"It has gone beyond that," he said. "It is just about making sure we get our season back on track."
In that regard, Melbourne are the perfect opponent.
