Canberra Raiders stars have Brenko Lee ready for NRL grand final

His former Canberra Raiders teammate Brenko Lee has revealed keeping his old club's potent left edge quiet in the preliminary final has the Storm centre confident they can do the same to Penrith's most-dangerous side.

Lee will find himself up against Panthers centre Stephen Crichton and returning second-rower Viliame Kikau when he runs onto ANZ Stadium on Sunday night.

Crichton is Penrith's leading try scorer with 16, while Kikau and left-winger Josh Mansour have scored 18 between them.

But Lee's ready. Thanks in part to his old teammates Wighton and Jarrod Croker.

The 25-year-old played 15 NRL games in three seasons with the Green Machine before stints with Canterbury and Gold Coast led him to Melbourne.

He felt keeping the likes of Wighton and Croker tryless in the Storm's 30-10 prelim victory over the Raiders would stand him in good stead against Penrith's stars.

Lee did have a few nervous minutes at the end of that win after he was put on report for a high shot on Canberra winger Semi Valemei.

While he didn't think he had a case to answer, he spent the final 15 minutes worrying he might slip up again.

"There's no secret there. They're going to be coming at our edge," Lee said.

"Canberra's left edge with Croker and Wighton was their best attacking edge and we know Penrith's ... most dangerous edge is Crichton and Kikau.

"We know it's coming, but we did a good job on Croker and Wighton Friday night with no tries on our edge and to keep them to a limit of 10 points.

"We know we need one more big effort again against these boys when it all counts.

"We played them second game back after the new season started and I thought we did a tremendous job on their edge, but then again they've won 17 in a row so they've got better form.

"I don't think we have to worry too much because I think we'll be on our game come Sunday night."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

Lee was close to never making it to the biggest NRL stage of all.

Just 12 months ago he was thinking of chucking it all in at the ripe old age of 24.

If it wasn't for the persistence of Easts Tigers coach Craig Hodges, who will join the New Zealand Warriors as an assistant next season, then that's exactly what he would've done.

To make Lee's Phoenix-like rise from the ashes even more remarkable, Hodges did all his convincing knowing Lee might never train with the Queensland Cup side.

Easts send three players to do the Storm pre-season each year - and the now grand finalists were looking for a centre.

Lee messaged Hodges following the prelim to thank him for getting his career back on track.

It didn't come easy, with Storm coach Craig Bellamy telling him all he had to do was work hard.

"If you would've asked me this 12 months ago I probably would've asked you what are you smoking," he said.

"Honestly, I wouldn't believe this in my wildest dreams.

"I almost pulled the pin and if it wasn't for Craig Hodges to give me a call to go sign an Easts reserve grade deal, which is affiliated with the Melbourne Storm, I probably wouldn't have been here.

"After I signed the deal I got told I was flying to Melbourne to go train with them.

"The second day I got there they gave me all these requirements I needed to meet and it didn't come easy.

"It's crazy to think I debuted at 18 at Canberra and at 24 I was ready to chuck it in.

"It just goes to show this game is a funny sport and it can change with the flip of a coin.

"I've come to the right club and they've gotten something out of me I didn't know that I had deep down. It's a credit to them and it's a credit to me for working hard."

Lee's even been linked with a State of Origin call-up for Queensland.

That's the furthest thing from his mind as he prepares for the biggest game of his career.

He'll need to once again put his sadness aside following the death of his aunt Connie - Newcastle winger Edrick Lee's mother - who was buried last Friday.

While the coronavirus pandemic has moved Lee closer to his parent's in Logan, they can only keep in touch with the phone.

They're not allowed into the Sunshine Coast resort where the Storm have been based for most of the 2020 season.

He'll have to wait until after he's done his two week's isolation following the grand final before he can see them again.

But all that time in camp has made the Storm like a family for Lee.

"It's been an enjoyable year because everyone's enjoyed each other's company," he said.

"I was hearing Daly Cherry-Evans has to go home and isolate himself. We're in a good situation where we're around each other all the time.

"We can see each other, we can play ball games with each other, we can have good yarns, we play ping pong comps.

"We're all happy mate and I think that's the way we're playing. We're just playing out of our skin.

"We know most of our teammates' families - their wives' names, their kids' first names, how old their kids are.

"If you know someone on a personal level you don't want to let them down on the field because you know what they stand for.

"That's a good thing for us because we don't want to let each other down because it's more than just playing for each other - it's playing for our families and playing for our state."

NRL GRAND FINAL

Sunday: Penrith Panthers v Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium, 7.30pm.