Storm supercoach Craig Bellamy blasted footballs with a hose at training this week in a throwback attempt to prepare his side for predicted rain in Canberra on Friday.
Melbourne were one of the only sides unaffected by abysmal weather in round one, completing at an outstanding 85 per cent in a 22-12 win over Brisbane as the drizzle held off last Thursday night.
The heavens opened for the majority of the round and ball-handling suffered greatly, with errors piling up as teams failed to taper expansive gameplans in the greasy conditions.
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But Bellamy won't cop rain as an excuse for mistakes from the Storm against the Raiders, bringing out the hose to ensure Melbourne can adjust to a slippery Steeden.
"We did a little bit of that [wetting the balls] earlier in the week and we might do a little bit again today," Bellamy said ahead of Melbourne's captain's run on Thursday.
"Sometimes with the weather predictions, we know how unpredictable that can be, we don't want to be putting all our eggs in one basket there in case it doesn't rain.
"Hopefully we'll handle whatever weather conditions come along."
New fullback Jahrome Hughes looms as the Storm's strike weapon after a superb performance in round one in which he nabbed a try.
Bellamy praised the 24-year-old as the best on ground following the match but wants consistency from the man who replaced retired legend Billy Slater.
"It was a great game. He just needs to be consistent with that sort of effort every week," Bellamy said.
"Things ain't gonna work out 100 per cent for him every week like they did the other day.
"But I can only give him a rap on how he handled the game last week, how well he played.
"He's a guy who just needs a bit of luck with injuries and he can do some good things for us."
Key Raiders winger Jordan Rapana is named to take on Melbourne, some 10 weeks before his predicted return date from a shoulder injury.
While the brilliant Kiwi finisher could be underdone, Bellamy says he won't instruct his troops to direct traffic at Rapana.
"We are not going to go away from our whole game plan just to run at Jordan or just to kick at Jordan," Bellamy said.
"He is a class player, an international player and he has been one of the best wingers in the comp for a lot of years now.
"I am sure he wouldn’t be playing if he wasn’t ready."