Billy Slater made a triumphant return for Melbourne as the Storm rewarded their biggest home crowd in six years with a 10-4 victory over Brisbane in the top of the table NRL clash at Olympic Park.

Had circumstances been different, Slater could well have been a part of Queensland's thrilling State of Origin victory down the road at Telstra Dome two days ago.

But his season to date has been cruelled by two suspensions, forcing him to spend the last two weeks in reserve grade.

Slater made the most of his NRL recall, setting up the opening try for Steve Turner in the 27th minute with a thrilling 30-metre burst, evading a host of would-be tacklers.

He was rock-solid at fullback all night and also chimed in with a vital try-saving tackle on big Brisbane winger Brent Tate midway through the second half.

"There wouldn't have been too many guys who would have saved that try but he did because of his pace," said Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy.

"I thought Billy was really good.

"I had plans to move him to the wing at some stage because I thought he'd run out of puff a bit but it didn't need to happen."

The Storm led 6-0 at halftime through Turner's try and a penalty goal to Cameron Smith.

They extended the lead to 10 points in the 57th minute when Smith threw a fine cut-out pass to Ryan Hoffman who powered over from close range.

Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett was convinced it had been a double movement by Hoffman but referee Sean Hampstead declined to turn the decision over to video ref Graeme West, who had been a controversial figure in Origin III.

Bellamy thought the Hoffman decision was correct and countered by saying that Hampstead could just have easily sought West's opinion rather than immediately disallowing a second-half try to Matt Geyer because of a Jake Webster knock-on.

Despite having six Queensland players backing up from Wednesday night's thrilling victory in the Origin decider, the Broncos had the better of the final 20 minutes.

They were finally rewarded with their first try in the 71st minute.

Shane Webcke and Shaun Berrigan made strong runs before Darren Lockyer found Greg Eastwood with a long floating pass and the lock forward was able to force his way over.

Corey Parker missed the difficult conversion attempt.

Bennett praised the commitment of his team - particularly Origin stars Lockyer, Berrigan, Tate and forwards Petero Civoniceva, Sam Thaiday and Tonie Carroll, who were playing their second big match in the space of 48 hours.

"(Slater's game-breaking move to set up Turner) was against the run of play and that's what he can do," said Bennett.

"He had fresh legs and my stars have got tired legs and that makes a difference.

"I couldn't be more happy with our effort and prouder of how the guys played."

The crowd of 15,479 was the Storm's biggest attendance in Melbourne in six years at the end of a banner week for the code in the southern capital.

And the Storm's 13th straight home win put them six points clear atop the table, although St George Illawarra will cut that to four points assuming it beats South Sydney later this weekend.

The one downer came in the 10th minute when Melbourne five-eighth Scott Hill went off with a rib cartilage injury that is likely to sideline him for a couple of weeks.

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