KEY POINTS:
Twelve months ago, Melbourne and Brisbane served up one of the best grand finals in recent times.
Today, only a repeat of those Brisbane heroics will save them from an early exit from the finals.
But the glamour club will have to do it without some of the most lethal weapons of mass destruction running around in the NRL. Darren Lockyer is out, so, too, is Karmichael Hunt, Shaun Berrigan and Brent Tate, while Shane Webcke has retired.
Few are tipping what is left of the Broncos to upset the Storm today, especially after their 68-22 hiding at the hands of Parramatta last weekend, and the bookies have them at $7.50 outsiders.
Although the Storm aren't likely to feel any pity for the Broncos, there's very little talk of revenge for last year's grand final defeat reverberating around Olympic Park.
"Every time we play, the media try to drum up some kind of revenge plot but this weekend for us it's about maintaining the momentum we've built up over the last couple of weeks," Storm centre Matt King told reporters.
"It just so happens that we're playing the Broncos but it could have been the Rabbits or the Tigers.
"Hopefully, we can lay a foundation for the finals and send a warning out to the clubs that they're going to have to play some good football to beat us."
They will. Melbourne have amassed a 21-win-and-three-loss record in 2007, even better than the 20-4 record they pieced together in 2006.
It meant little, though, when there was no shiny trophy at the end of it.
King is one of three Melbourne players who will depart at the end of the season, choosing to take up a mega-money, four-year deal with UK Super League side Warrington.
Should the Storm win today, they will have a week off before playing a preliminary NRL final at the much larger capacity Telstra Dome in Melbourne.
The 27-year-old Kangaroo doesn't want sentimentality to play a part today, saying it's a "selfish" attitude to take.
He said he was "humbled" by the emotional sendoff he received from the club and the Storm faithful after their final home-and-away match last Sunday.
But he hadn't thought about this being his final Olympic Park match since and said he hoped he wouldn't come into the consideration of his teammates as they prepared for their biggest match of the year.
"I think if you ask any of the boys who are leaving, not one of them will want the team to win for them," King said.
"There's a pretty big prize in four weeks' time that the whole team and the club and families would love to see us achieve as a group and that's where our focus is."
While the Broncos' backline has been severely depleted through injury, their forward pack still holds considerable class with the likes of Petero Civoniceva, Sam Thaiday and Brad Thorn. They also have a wily coach in Wayne Bennett who has put together more plots than a Stephen King novel.
Civoniceva felt his side held a significant card psychologically in their grand final victory and he made no secret of where they wouldattack.
"As good as they are, they're not the biggest forward pack going around," he said.
But Melbourne are a different outfit to the one in 2006. Twelve months ago, they admitted they were happy simply to have won the minor premiership. This year, they have other things on their mind.
- Additional reporting agencies
