THE legends of the game scoffed at him, but NSW and Newcastle hooker Danny Buderus does not regret handing his Australian jumper to Storm counterpart Cam Smith.

Buderus will clash with Smith at Olympic Park tonight in Monday night footy but it will merely be the entree to the State of Origin series in which both players will be crucial for their respective states in the next two months.

The Knights rake was roundly criticised when he stood himself down from the Kangaroos team for the Tri-Nations series in 2006 so he could be with his wife, Kris, for the birth of their first child, Ella Grace.

Since then, Smith has established himself as the game's best hooker - an honour Buderus held for many years.

"I know people, at the time, criticised me for it," Buderus said. "Heaps of the ex-players said I was kidding myself. But that's the decision I made.

"That's the decision I have to live with. I still feel it was the right thing to do. He went to another level after that series. But I don't regret the decision I made. Not at all."

Buderus, who comes into tonight's match fully rested after Knights coach Brian Smith left him out against the Gold Coast in the last round, is confident of arresting a recent horror run in Melbourne.

Since a 36-26 victory on March 21, 2004, the Knights have been humiliated by the Storm in their past three trips to Olympic Park by a combined total of 144-16 - 48-10 in 2005, 52-6 in 2006 and 44-0 last year. Melbourne have won four in a row at all venues since Newcastle's 37-18 thumping at EnergyAustralia Stadium on July 30, 2005. "We're going to take a lot of confidence down there," he said.

"We've been hammered in the last couple of games we've played down there. It's been a tough trip. But we'll take some real good things down there. We're confident about the way we're going."

Asked if he considered the match a good chance to get one over Smith ahead of the Origin series, Buderus said: "I'm past all that. If I start thinking like that, I'll go nuts. It's just about performance for me."

Storm coach Craig Bellamy reckons the reigning NRL premiers and 2008 favourites are bracing for their toughest home game against Newcastle in four years.

Bellamy described Brian Smith's rebuilt Knights as one of the form teams of this year's competition after impressive back-to-back wins against the strong Titans (13-12) and the Roosters (34-20).

"I just think they're a real good team and that's been shown so far this year," he said. "Last Saturday night against Gold Coast, they probably didn't have too much ball or too much go their way in the second half but, gee, their defence was tremendous.

"Obviously any team that Brian Smith has been involved with for a little while is certainly always competitive and I think they're playing great at the moment. They're one of the form teams in the competition, so we certainly know what we're up against on Monday night."

All eight Storm players in Australia's 28-12 Centenary Test victory over New Zealand, including Smith and game-breaking outside backs Greg Inglis, Billy Slater and Israel Folau, are expected to play.

Newcastle's Kurt Gidley is expected to back up from the Centenary Test to play at fullback tonight.