Andrew Fifita will line up for the Shire side and Griffith family, friends and former teammates of the Waratah Tiger junior will be donning the black, white and blue to show their support.

Waratah trio Viliami Ngu, Tim Rice and Kose Lelei will be three of many barracking for the Sharks.

“None of us actually go for Cronulla but we’re getting behind him this week,” Rice said.

And all three agreed he’d be on song on the big stage.

“He’s always been a big game player,” Rice said.

“He won best on ground in 2008 [Group 20 grand final] as an 18-year-old. He scored a double and made a thousand tackles.”

The local support for Fifita will be one of the driving forces for the prop come Sunday.

He said his phone had been going off non-stop with words of encouragement since the Sharks qualified for the grand final.

“We’ve been given so much from that town. Having played in a few grand finals for the Tahs – I know they'll all be behind me,” Fifita said.

“I’m getting text messages, calls and everyone’s hitting me up on social media showing me support.

“I’m proud of where I’m from and, to be honest, proud of my achievements but now I have a job to do.”

That job gets no harder than shutting down the well-oiled machine that is the Melbourne Storm pack.

Led by Cameron Smith and Dally M prop of the year Jesse Bromwich, the Storm pack will be hard to handle but Fifita said it all came down to all the Sharks playing their part.

“I’m feeling quite good, the body’s feeling good and the team’s going good,” he said.

“I’ll play my role and do what I have to do within the team and hopefully that can help out with what the team can do as a whole.”

Sunday will be one of the biggest games of Fifita’s career but not the first time he’s played on the first weekend of October.

In past years, Fifita would lineup alongside his family and friends in the Griffith Three Ways United side at the NSW Koori Knockout.

“I love playing for Griffith – it’s something I look forward to all year long,” he said.

“I was just talking to uncle Robbie John and all the brothers the other day about how the team’s looking.

“I sent a text out to say ‘sorry I can’t be playing but one of your brothers is playing in the biggest game of all’.

“They’re all happy for me and instead of just cheering it on, they know someone personally on the big stage, it’s a surreal moment.”

Fifita said he was feeling relaxed heading into the big dance but that would all change come game day

“Once we go into the sheds, it’s time to switch on,” Fifita said.

The NRL grand final will kick-off at 7.15pm.