Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy insists his side isn't fixated on finishing in the NRL top four despite the weight of history suggesting they can't win a grand final from fifth or worse.

The Storm meet Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night with the Broncos assured of second spot on the ladder, while Melbourne can finish anywhere between fourth (should they win and the Sharks lose to Manly) and seventh if they fail and other results conspire against them.

Adding to the gravity of the occasion for the Storm is the fact no team outside the top four has won a grand final under the current system, while no team in the AFL has won the decider from third since it introduced the same finals set-up 15 years ago.

It may well leave Bellamy fuming at the upset loss at the hand of the Knights but he is now resigned to fate dictating their finals position outside of their efforts against the in-form Broncos. "Slim, whatever you call it, we depend on other results. It's in our hands to give ourselves a chance but there are other results," Bellamy said from the team's training base on the Sunshine Coast. It's not so much who we're playing but how we play, how we perform."

The Storm have enjoyed a quite week in the Queensland sun and Bellamy sees little reason why they can't beat Brisbane on their home turf, particularly now Broncos halfback Ben Hunt has been ruled out with a cork. He said their win over the Cowboys had given them clues to unlocking Brisbane, with Bellamy believing both sides have similar styles of game. "The situation on the table makes it a fairly big game for both teams, really. Our focus is on building on what we did against the Cowboys. We see some similarities between the Broncos and the Cowboys, not just because they're from Queensland but in the way they play," Bellamy said.

Key rivals have lost key players heading into the finals but Bellamy didn't have huge amounts of sympathy, saying it was unusual but his outfit had been dealt significant blows of its own throughout the season.

"That hasn't helped those teams but we've had our share as well. We lost Billy Slater halfway through the year. But this time of  year, I can't remember so many teams being without their key players. Some of the teams are getting some of those players back but it seems to be survival of the fittest at the moment so hopefully we can stay fit."

Bellamy, a former protege of Wayne Bennett at the Broncos, said this year's Brisbane side was their best in almost a decade. "They've been top for most of the year. The Roosters have only been on top for about two weeks ago. They've been ultra-consistent all year. They're in a prime spot to go all the way.

"Their results say they're the best Broncos side since 2006. They've led the competition for a huge part of the journey and that's not easy to do. You'd have to say they are the best Broncos side for a fair while."