Melbourne will steam into their NRL qualifying final at full pace after rolling over the top of North Queensland 24-16 in their final round clash at AAMI Park.
The Storm were presented with the JJ Giltinan Shield after the match in clinching their third minor premiership in four years.
The win was their 20th for the season, the fourth time they have achieved such a feat with the last in 2017 when they won the grand final.
With the Cowboys out of finals contention there was little on the line for both teams and they showed a willingness to throw the ball around.
After a big win against Manly last round, the Storm were determined to build their momentum with a final looming next weekend against either Souths or Canberra.
Their performance wasn’t up to the same standard as the Sea Eagles showing but they still did enough to dominate their opponents.
Melbourne trailed early with Cowboys catching the Storm short out wide with winger Murray Taulagi dotting down in the 18th minute.
But the home side hit soon back through their own winger Sandor Earl and from there it was all Storm with three further tries
Giant prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona was rewarded with a try after clocking up impressive figures of 174 run metres from just 44 minutes on the field.
Fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen didn’t get across the line but proved a handful for North Queensland with a game-high 284-run metres.
His opposite Scott Drinkwater, who headed north from Melbourne mid-season, was among the Cowboys’ best.
North Queensland were far from disgraced and after a disappointing season at least finished on a good note, with second rower Gavin Cooper crossing in the 80th minute.