Josh Addo-Carr is confident his skipper will make the trip to Shark Park for Thursday night’s showdown with Cronulla.

Cameron Smith was a late withdrawal from the Storm side that defeated the Knights last Friday at AAMI Park with some reports suggesting he had suffered a significant injury.

However Addo-Carr dismissed the post-Origin hysteria and pointed to Smith’s trademark work rate and high tackle count (41) in Origin as a reason for the captain’s absence.

“Smithy played State of Origin and he has 50 tackles a game so he just sat out for a rest,” the winger said.

“He is fit and ready to go this week.”

Storm is preparing for arguably their biggest away game of the season.

They travel to the Shire to take on the Sharks, who currently sit a game behind them in second place on the NRL ladder.

Cronulla took the win earlier in the year at AAMI Park and Melbourne are clear in what they need to improve on in order to hit back in the return bout.

“I think it is going to be a big test for our defence this week and our completions,” Addo-Carr said.

“They’re not far behind us, it is going to be a big challenge but we are going to step up to the plate and hopefully get the two points.

“We need to run harder than them, tackle harder than them and just frustrate them. We need to do what we need to do for the team, that is the main thing.”