BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 01: Cheyse Blair of the Storm is congratulated by team mates after scoring a try during the round 17 NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium on July 1, 2016 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Despite sitting second on the NRL ladder heading into the round, the Melbourne Storm sent a strong message to the Sharks, Cowboys and co. by absolutely destroying the Brisbane Broncos on their own patch.

The Cooper Cronk-led Storm were clinical in everything they did as they reduced a brilliant Broncos side to spectators in front of a monster Friday Night football crowd.

On a personal level, I want to know what is in the water at Melbourne, as fringe first-graders from other clubs continue to play like seasoned superstars under Craig Bellamy.

Eel’s reserve grader Ryan Morgan is the last in a long line of players to find their grove in the Victorian capital, slotting in seamlessly at centre and constantly proving a threat out wide.

Cheyse Blair, who has long been an NRL fringe player, hardly lacks talent, however his time at the Storm has turned him into a player of genuine note.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 01: Cheyse Blair of the Storm is congratulated by team mates after scoring a try during the round 17 NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium on July 1, 2016 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 01: Cheyse Blair of the Storm is congratulated by team mates after scoring a try during the round 17 NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium on July 1, 2016 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

As for try-scoring freak Suliasi Vunivalu, the 20 year old now a ridiculous 16 tries in just 10 NRL appearances. He has two NRL hatricks to his name as well as a mountain of doubles.

To think that Vunivalu, Morgan and Blair would probably not even be in the Storm first grade squad is everyone was fully fit is downright frightening.

Will Chambers, Billy Slater and Cameron Munster are missing from this side right now, a side that put 48 points on the former premiership favourites.

Slater has been missing since very early in the competition and will miss the rest of the season. Chambers may play some football at the end of 2016 but has been missing for an extended period already.

Any side that is missing two QLD representatives would be expected to struggle to replace them. Not this Storm side.

That’s without mentioning that Richie Kennar, who was having a brilliant 2016, also went down with injury.

Although he returned last night, first choice partner to Cooper Cronk in the halves in Blake Green has also been absent for much of the past month.

There is no side in the NRL capable of finding replacement players to come in quite like the Melbourne Storm.

Although they did drop a game recently to the Dragons, the Storm were heavily Origin affected. No one outside of a few Dragons fans will see that result as anything more than a blip due to the absence of the Origin stars.

Prior to that, the Storm’s only losses came to the Sharks and the Bulldogs, two games they were in until the very end, and two sides currently flying high on the NRL ladder.

No one is writing the Broncos off just yet but the way the Storm ran through them was akin to a hot knife through butter.

This was not an Origin affected Broncos side either. This was a side containing some of the NRL’s best players, without them having to back up from Origin a few days earlier.

I don’t like to look at one-off performances as defining, but the Storm’s efforts last night were scary for fans of other NRL sides.

The result follows an incredible game last weekend that saw the Storm play the Tigers off the park in the first half, only to let them back into the game in the second. The Storm would eventually wake from their clumber to hold off the fast finishing Tigers, but if anything the experience has made the Storm even more dangerous.

Even in victory, post-match comments resembled those expected after a loss. Storm players, although victorious, knew they’d let themselves down in the second half.

Last night, after again racing to a huge halftime lead, the Storm refused to lift their foot off the throats of the down trodden Broncos.

A few possible injuries may slow the Storm down over the upcoming weeks, with Tohu Harris leaving the game early, but even so, you wouldn’t back them bringing in an unknown player who quickly becomes a household name.

There is a lot of football yet to be played, and premierships are not won in July, but right now, on their day, it’s hard to see anyone topping the Storm.

The Sharks and Cowboys still have games to play this weekend and could send some serious rebuttals, but outside of the competition leaders and 2015 premiers, even despite the Bulldogs win over the Roosters and earlier season win over an out of sorts Storm, not many look ready to take the purple juggernaut down.

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