Storm GM Ponissi confirms Bellamy will pick full strength side for season finale against Brisbane

After wrapping up the 2024 NRL Minor Premiership with two weeks to spare, the Melbourne Storm now have the luxury of resting some of its stars ahead of the finals series.

Coming off the heels of a regular season where injuries decimated the Storm, coach Craig Bellamy is set to reward his ten of his regular starters with a rest this Thursday night against the North Queensland Cowboys.

News of these restings won’t sit well with fans of the Brisbane Broncos, as their side prepares for a potentially season-defying clash against Melbourne in the final round of the regular season.

Brisbane will need a win to remain a chance at finishing in the top eight but the Storm’s GM of Football Frank Ponissi confirmed his side would be at full strength for the marquee fixture.

“At this stage, we’ll be playing our best team against the Broncos,” Ponissi said on SENQ Breakfast.

“Certainly the players who are not playing this weekend will definitely play, we wouldn’t go into finals on the back of two weeks' rest.

“The main reason we’re resting this week is purely because of the five-day turnaround and going to Townsville, had it been a seven day we probably would’ve played our best team this week and rested against the Broncos.

“But it’s just the way it is, with a five-day turnaround we thought it was best to give the players a rest now and have the final hitout against the Broncos before the finals.”

Ponissi is acutely aware of the criticism directed at his club for the planned resting this Thursday night, stating he believes not only has the Storm earned the right but it is a part of the strategic planning ahead of the finals series.

“It’s a fair debate but at the same time it’s not just about earning the right, which we definitely have it’s about peaking and being ready for September,” Ponissi added.

“The last two (minor) premierships we’ve won in 2019 and 2021 we actually didn’t make the Grand Final, you remember that and it burns, you’ve got to learn from why we didn’t make those Grand Finals in those two particular years when we had dominant seasons similar to this year.

“One thing we believe in is the ability to rest players and go into (finals) fresh… there are some players like Munster for example, he’ll play, he needs to play he’s missed a lot of football.

“We’re not going up there to make numbers up either… we go out to compete and try to win, that’s exactly what that 17 will do on Thursday night, we’re certainly not going to roll over for the Cowboys.”

Melbourne will head to Townsville on Thursday night before a short five-day turnaround where they remain in Queensland to battle the Broncos next Friday night.