Storm 30 Roosters 6

After grabbing the competition lead and enhancing their for-and-against with last night's emphatic defeat of Sydney Roosters, Melbourne players last night declared their ambition to become the first team in almost 40 years to win three successive minor premierships.

While most of the focus after the match was on an ankle injury to Test back-rower Ryan Hoffman that Storm coach Craig Bellamy suggested could sideline him until at least the finals, Melbourne skipper Cam Smith admitted his teammates wanted to retain the J.J. Giltinan Shield for finishing top of the table at the end of the regular season.

"We're very proud to have held the shield for the last two years and to be able to put three in a row together would be very special," Smith said. "I don't think a team has done that for a while."

Described by Roosters' coach Brad Fittler as "a class above" after his side's 30-6 loss, the Storm appear on track for back-to-back premierships following consecutive wins over two of the other three teams in the top four. They are now one point ahead of Manly on for-and-against as well as a win ahead of the Sea Eagles and Cronulla before this weekend's remaining matches.

But Smith said the players had all but given up on the minor premiership after their round-20 loss to the Warriors three weeks ago but back-to-back wins over Manly and the Roosters has them back in contention to become the first team to win the title three years in a row since Manly in 1971, 1972 and 1973.

The Sea Eagles were also minor premiers for three consecutive years in 1995, 1996 and 1997, but the final season was when the competition was split because of the Super League war.

"We always wanted to retain the shield and when we lost that game [to the Warriors] we sort of thought it's gone now," Smith said. "The way Manly has been playing this year … they've been very consistent, but the last two weeks we've got ourselves back in contention. But our focus isn't going to change to win games to just get back that shield, we want to win games to build our football before the semi-finals."

Bellamy said he didn't want his players to become distracted by trying to retain the title but he also admitted the minor premiership was something the club would like to win - and not just for the $100,000 prizemoney.

"We've been proud owners of the minor premiership for the last couple of years and I think it's a little bit undervalued in our game to be honest," Bellamy said. "To be top of the table after 26 rounds in this tough competition is a real credit to the team that does that."

Asked what he believed the reward should be for winning the minor premiership, Bellamy said: "I just think that whoever wins it, by halfway through the following week it's forgotten. At the end of the day it's a good achievement and this is a tough competition, there's 16 teams and anyone could beat anyone on a given day, so I just think it's a tribute to the team's consistency that wins it."

After watching his side's demolition, Fittler had no doubt who the best team in the competition was - if not the most consistent.

The loss of James Aubusson with concussion after twice putting his head in the wrong place when attempting tackles on Billy Slater and Israel Folau disrupted the Roosters' momentum, with halfback Mitchell Pearce forced to take over the dummy-half duties for all but the opening 20 minutes and teenage rookie Ben Jones thrust into action in the centres, but the visitors were already trailing 12-0 when Aubusson was assisted from the field.

"They were just a class above. I think they had three chances at our end [in the first half] and executed three times and came up with three tries," Fittler said.

Melbourne 30 (A Quinn 2, C Cronk, B Slater, C Smith tries; C Smith 5 goals) bt Sydney Roosters 6 (M Aubusson try; A Roberts goal) at Olympic Park. Referee: S Hayne. Crowd: 13,335.