They debuted on the same day, both scored too, but the two men who would become star Melbourne Storm wingers barely noticed each other.

It was April 17 last year and a Sunday clash between Melbourne Storm and Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.

The game was shaping as a fun 80 minutes which would quickly be forgotten, instead it proved a compelling contest which an under-strength Storm claimed in golden point with a 19-18 win. Cooper Cronk's drop goal won the day.

But what anyone who watched took away was the two rookie wingers had star potential.

And they would both be on the Storm's roster in 2017.

Suliasi Vunivalu will never forget that day but he didn't even notice the skinny blur named Josh Addo-Carr in a Tigers jumper on the opposite wing. Both players wore number 22.

"Who would have thought? Who would have thought we would be playing together?" Vunivalu recalled then the Fijian smiled sheepishly.

"I didn't notice him until I watched the highlights and when he scored they said "he is on his debut too" so that's when I noticed he was playing on the other side.

"I was just focusing on my position and trying not to do a lot of mistakes as I wanted to keep playing in the NRL side."

Addo-Carr was in a similar head space with a big contingent of family at the game and the prospect of trying to stop Fijian star Marika Koroibete on the Storm's other wing.

This was the last season where teams could call in players from outside their squad so there was little public talk about either until they appeared on the team sheet.

Addo-Carr was scoring regularly in the New South Wales Cup although it wasn't widely known he had agreed to cross to the Storm for 2017.

Vunivalu was making a surprise debut, the Storm had flown his parents from Fiji for the game and he was desperate to make an impression.

Injuries had robbed the athletic flyer of precious training and game time since the Storm recruited him from rugby union.

That week, injuries played into Vunivalu's favour as the Storm were down to three outside backs and utility Ben Hampton who filled in a centre.

Vunivalu had to get his chance even though the Storm weren't completely sure he was ready.

But Vunivalu has an innate talent for scoring tries and 58 seconds in he scored.

It was a messy play with a Cronk high kick knocked backwards and the ball being thrown between Storm players before finding the rookie with enough room to run in.

Vunivalu was hugging teammates and wondering what exactly had happened. It turned out we had just seen the birth of a superstar.

But they hadn't quite mastered his name, with Channel Nine calling him "Vunivali" in parts of the call, especially on his second try which came soon after he levelled Tigers star James Tedesco with a booming tackle on 53 minutes.

Addo-Carr was on the opposite wing to Vunivalu and locked in a battle with powerful Koroibete who had languished in the Tigers' reserves until the Storm swiftly signed him midway through the 2015 season.

Within weeks, he was in their side and soon after their leading scorer.

But Koroibete was soon to announce a move to the Australian Rugby Union and he found he was in for a challenge as on seven minutes Koroibete made a hasty read and was caught out of position with Addo-Carr flying over to score a try.

It's a sight seen 21 times in 2017 but Addo-Carr's exciting score and boisterous celebration had some Storm people worried.

Storm football director Frank Ponissi admits this but he also was swayed by the warm impression Addo-Carr made in-person.

"Even some of our people were saying what is the go with this new bloke?" Ponissi said.

"But since the day he has walked in he has been fantastic. We got a good feeling from our first meeting with him, he has bought in 100 per cent in everything he does on and off-field."

Few would have predicted those two rookies would dominate 2017, combining for 44 tries and earning lucrative contract extensions.

Both will be key players in this Sunday's NRL grand final, in a little over a year they could go from unknowns to premiership winners.

"It has come up well for both of us," Vunivalu said.