Melbourne rugby league coach Craig Bellamy has dismissed the notion of premiership windows as "crap" and a copout.

As the Storm attempt to reach a convention-defying fourth successive NRL grand final, Bellamy said hard work and getting the best out of the players available should be the aim rather than accepting an end to a successful period followed by a period of rebuilding.

Salary caps in both the NRL and AFL - though the AFL system works with a player draft rather than rugby league's free agency - have led to the theory clubs have a limited window for success.

But both Bellamy's Storm and their preliminary final opponents on Saturday night - the Brisbane Broncos - are prime examples of sustained success under a salary cap system.

The Storm are in their seventh successive finals series under Bellamy, while Brisbane are involved in a remarkable 18th straight playoff campaign.

"Some people or critics accept that because you've lost a few players, this is not your time. I think that's crap to be quite honest," Bellamy said on Monday.

"You have a squad of 25 players, you go into it with a positive attitude that you're going to do the best you can with those 25 players and see what happens.

"Some teams think that this is not our time, roll through the motions and plan for two or three years down the track. That's crap.

"At the start of this year, we were on the way down, we'd lost another five players, we had to start rebuilding again.

"Here it is, a week from the end of the year and I think we're favourites. That's how fickle this all (football) is.

"You try and do the best with what you've got ... young guys, you've got to work hard with them and sometimes if you work hard you get rewarded."

Should the Storm beat Brisbane, they would be the first club to make a fourth successive rugby league grand final since Parramatta did it in the old NSWRL between 1981 and 1984.

AFL's Brisbane Lions are that competition's most recent defiers of gravity, making four successive grand finals between 2001 and 2004 and winning three.

Bellamy also has no fears about his side's preliminary final being played at Etihad Stadium just hours after the AFL grand final in Melbourne.

"Two great sporting contests on the same day at separate times," Bellamy said.

"It's not going to happen too often, and it's a great chance for the Melbourne people to get out and support a couple of games.

"If we can get some people in at Etihad under that closed roof, it's a great atmosphere for everybody."

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