With a swollen nose and dried blood on his boots, Josh King showed why he is straight out of Melbourne Storm central casting.

A former mining electrician, the Storm prop appeared at the team’s grand final session at AAMI Park on Monday still sporting the evidence of the blow that busted his nose in Melbourne’s preliminary final win over the Sydney Roosters.

King is Storm’s starting prop, and his role in the side was cited by commentators and critics at the start of the year as the reason that Melbourne could not win this year’s premiership. Instead, he has been a key driver of the team’s return to the season decider, meeting the mental and physical demands of coach Craig Bellamy. Wearing blood-spattered boots just illustrated it.

“There’s some cartilage damage … but she’s sore,” King said.