MELBOURNE Storm prop Brett White yesterday insisted he would take the field for tonight's game against Wests Tigers despite battling lower back tightness during the past week.

Tonight's round-18 clash will mark a significant milestone in Storm history, with its last remaining foundation player Matt Geyer set to become the first to play 250 games for the club.

And White, like his teammates, wants to be there to help the popular Geyer mark the moment with a win, which would take the Storm to second on the ladder behind Manly after Sydney Roosters and the Sharks had upset losses at the weekend.

White, who like the Storm's other state-of-origin representatives was given a couple of days' rest last week, failed to complete Friday's training session but was satisfied with a light session with the team yesterday.

Reserve forward Aiden Tolman travelled with the team yesterday as 18th man, but White said he would take the field against the Tigers, who have their own motivation in trying to reverse a poor recent run to give captain Brett Hodgson a successful farewell from Campbelltown Stadium, where he made his debut for Western Suburbs in 1997.

Storm high performance unit manager Mary Toomey said she expected all the Storm's origin representatives, including White and Michael Crocker, who missed last week's game against Canberra after being knocked out in the state-of-origin decider, to take part tonight.

"(White) has just got a bit of a stiff back," Toomey said. "He did the training this morning and he's fine," she said. "We've lightened a few people's loading through the week but … as far as I'm aware they're not resting anybody."

Meanwhile, for the Tigers, a private leadership meeting during the bye to address a worrying three-game losing streak could prove a turning point ahead of tonight's crucial game at Campbelltown.

The Tigers slipped outside of the top eight with a string of defeats but have used the week off to confront their poor attitudes to ensure another NRL season does not slip away.

Tigers skipper Hodgson, playing his final game at his local ground before heading to England, insists the 2005 premiers are not focused on their ladder position but are well aware they have failed to perform to their potential in 2008.

"I don't think we've put together a full game of good football since round two against the Cowboys," Hodgson said. "When you look at it like that, the potential is definitely there that if we do play good early in the game, we've got the players to score the points and make something happen.

■ St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown yesterday put his players on notice ahead of next week's match against the Storm and warned that any credit accumulated from their seven-match winning streak had been used up with their 19-12 loss to Canberra.

Aside from star lock Ben Creagh, who is due back from a quadriceps injury, Brown indicated he would take an unchanged side to Melbourne for Monday night's clash — consigning Wendell Sailor to at least one more week in the Queensland Cup.

■ The Bulldogs snapped a five-game losing streak and ruined Brisbane star Darren Lockyer's comeback with a 26-18 upset win at Suncorp Stadium yesterday.

With BRAD WALTER and AAP

YESTERDAY

BULLDOGS 26(Holdsworth, Nanai, Taumata, Williams tries. El Masri 5 goals)

d BRISBANE 18(Ennis, Thaiday, Wallace tries. Ennis 3 goals) at Suncorp Stadium.

CANBERRA 19(Purtell 2, Best, Tilse tries. Carney goal, field goal)

d ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 12(B Morris, J Morris tries. Soward 2 goals) at WIN Stadium.

TONIGHT

MELBOURNE STORM vs WESTS TIGERS

TV: Fox Sports 2, 7pm (live)

Melbourne Storm: Billy Slater, Steve Turner, Matt Geyer, Israel Folau, Anthony Quinn, Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk, Jeff Lima, Cameron Smith, Brett White, Michael Crocker, Ryan Hoffman, Dallas Johnson. Interchange: Jeremy Smith, Adam Blair, Sika Manu, Antonio Kaufusi. Coach: Craig Bellamy.

Wests Tigers: Brett Hodgson (c), Taniela Tuiaki, Dean Collis, Chris Lawrence, Beau Ryan, Benji Marshall, John Morris, Keith Galloway, Robbie Farah, Bryce Gibbs, Bronson Harrison, Chris Heighington, Dene Halatau. Interchange: Liam Fulton, Ben Teo, Corey Payne, Daine Laurie.