The Brisbane Broncos have swept into their first Preliminary Final since 2017 after thrashing the Storm 26-0 in front of a sold-out Suncorp Stadium tonight.
Kevin Walters' men were simply clinical, as they raced in four unanswered tries and importantly keeping the Storm to nil to send out a message to the competition that not only is their attack slick but their defence is also resolute enough to lift the Provan-Summons trophy on the first Sunday in October.
Brisbane's big guns all came to the fore this evening, with the up-front fire power of Patrick Carrigan, Tom Flegler and Payne Haas laying the platform to allow Adam Reynolds and Reece Walsh to wreak havoc in the second half and get their side one step closer to the big dance.
Melbourne had one of the worst nights in their history, failing to fire a shot in a clunky display from the renowned high performing and disciplined club. The loss was made so much worse with a catastrophic compound fracture to Ryan Papenhuyzen and a potential serious ankle injury to Xavier Coates who will be in doubt for next week's elimination final.
Despite their vast finals experience, it was the Storm who started nervously producing two handling errors to give the home side an excellent opportunity to open their account. Brisbane cashed in through blockbusting centre Kotoni Staggs, who charged through four Storm defenders to power over the try line and bring the home fans to their feet. Adam Reynolds converted and it was 6-0.
The game was being played at a frenetic semi-final pace, with quick play the balls and ferocious defence from both sides. Melbourne then looked to have hit back when the Broncos defence played a dangerous game by rushing Cameron Munster close to the line. Munster then stepped off his left foot and flung a long pass to Xavier Coates who looked as though he had muscled his way over the line. However replays showed the Storm winger lost possession in the grounding of the ball and it was ruled no try.
Brisbane continued to build pressure nearing halftime through a neat Billy Walters kick that saw the home side earn a repeat set. However, the Storm got things wrong when Ryan Papenhuyzen put the dropout over the sideline on the full and Brisbane took the gift two points on offer through Reynolds to extend their lead to 8-0.
Following the break, hometown hero Reece Walsh made his presence known when received the ball in some space. The dynamic fullback then sliced through three Storm defenders to blow the roof off Suncorp Stadium and give his side a 14-0 lead following the conversion.
Brisbane then made it back-to-back tries, with this time Walsh holding up the ball for his backrower Jordan Riki who steamed onto the ball to slide over the try line and give the Broncos a commanding lead.
The nightmare evening got even worse for Melbourne with an ankle injury to Xavier Coates which then was further compounded when Ryan Papenhuyzen then went down with a compound fracture to his lower leg in just his third NRL game after returning from a serious knee injury after 14 months on the sideline.
Brisbane then went into party mode moments later, as Selwyn Cobbo raced over to score a late try following a superb pass from Adam Reynolds. Reynolds converted to send the Broncos into the preliminary final with a dominant 26-0 win ending the Storm's 14-year hoodoo over the home side at Suncorp Stadium.
Brisbane now enjoy the week off and are just one win away from a Grand Final. Melbourne will now return south of the border where they will host the winner of the Sharks vs Roosters game in an Elimination Final next week.