Storm were unable to find enough answers against a steadfast Broncos outfit, going down 26-16 at AAMI Park on Friday night.
Brisbane burst out of the blocks with two tries inside the opening eight minutes, giving them a lead which the home side was simply unable to reign in.
Tohu Harris was tireless all night with a team-high 133 metres while Ben Hampton provided a much needed spark off the bench.
The Broncos came out and scored off their second set of the game when 250 gamer Sam Thaiday produced a clever offload to find Tom Opacic.
By the time the eighth minute arrived the Broncos had their second through another string of offloads that ended with Jordan Kahu producing an aerobatic finish in the corner.
Be at AAMI Park when we take on the Sharks, Saturday 3 September, 7:30pm.
After surrending 75% of possession, a James Roberts lost ball on 13 minutes released the pressure valve for Melbourne somewhat.
Storm then began to work their way into the contest, finally getting their hands on the football.
They forced their first goaline drop out on 24 minutes and soon had their first try of the night when Cameron Smith found Tohu Harris who reached out to score.
However the margin was pushed back to six in the blink of an eye when Kahu converted a penalty in front of the posts.
Then a Storm error deep inside their own territory with less than three minutes to play in the first half gave the Broncos a golden chance which they would gladly accept.
It came in similar fashion to their opening try as Opacic found an opening down the right to put the margin out to ten at the break.
Storm re-emerged from the sheds with heightened sense of aggression but could not come up with that much needed first try of the half.
That honour instead fell to the Broncos as Anthony Milford found Darius Boyd with an inside ball that sent his fullback through the Storm line to extend the score out to 20-4.
As the minutes began to tick down it became paramount for Storm to hit back and they did so with 15 minutes to play.
The opportunity again came from a goal line drop out as they perfectly executed a set play that saw Cooper Cronk play a brilliant pass into the path of Ben Hampton.
Cameron Smith then stepped up and kicked his 900th career goal, becoming just the third player in NRL history to do so.
The celebration was short lived though as the Broncos went up-field and replied instantly with a slice of good fortune as the ball bounced fortuitously in the end-goal and into the hands of Jai Arrow who scored the first try of his NRL career with 11 minutes to play.
Cameron Smith gave Storm a glimmer of hope with a 77th minute try but it was a case of too little too late for the men in purple.
Melbourne Storm 16
Tries: Tohu Harris, Ben Hampton, Cameron Smith
Goals: Cameron Smith 2
Brisbane Broncos 26
Tries: Tom Opacic 2, Jordan Kahu, Darius Boyd, Jai Arrow
Goals: Cory Parker 2
