Canterbury Bulldogs star Ben Barba won't play against Storm after he didn't join his teammates on flight to Melbourne Bulldogs superstar Ben Barba did not join his teammates on the flight to Melbourne today for tomorrow night's match against the Storm. TROUBLED Canterbury fullback Ben Barba wasn't among the travelling party when his team flew to Melbourne today as money continued to pour in for Storm to win tomorrow night's Grand Final re-match. Bulldogs coach Des Hasler was also emphatic this morning Barba wouldn't play although Storm officials won't rest comfortably until team sheets are filled in an hour before play. The visitors are also without power-forwards Sam Kasiano, Frank Pritchard and James Graham, who is serving a 12-week suspension for biting Storm star Billy Slater's ear in last year's decider. With so many out for Canterbury, bookies installed Storm $1.25 to win and the short odds haven't deterred punters who have unloaded on the home team, with money going 30-1 Melbourne's favour. That's in spite of a heavy travel load for Storm across the opening two rounds which have also been played in challenging conditions. This week, Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy and captain Cameron Smith said if anyone was going to feel the effects of such difficult start it would be the "old guys." But Jason Ryles, the oldest of the lot, is feeling fresh and ready to fire tonight. Ryles cut a miserable sight last October when a hamstring injury ended his shot at premiership glory. The 34-year-old conceded he was "absolutely devastated" last year but said talk of the Grand Final re-match had not stirred up any bad memories and he was fully focused on the task at hand. "I think the World Club Challenge win was the best thing for me, that erased a lot of the memories," Ryles said. It's something that never goes away but gets better with time. I won't lie, I was pretty shattered about it over the pre-season. But it's done now and I feel pretty fresh and good to go. Ryles said there could be a "lag effect" for the Storm players in the coming weeks but backed the club's recovery program to have all 17 at their optimum for the clash. Bulldogs skipper Michael Ennis was claiming underdog status with so many big names missing from their side and said Storm's unbeaten start to the season had made Melbourne the benchmark, again. "We're a totally different team (to the Grand Final) - we're a side that's building," said Ennis. They're the premiers and they've really come out of the blocks. We're a young group still learning and growing and we'll go down and do our best.