Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy will be given an insight into the true depth of his new-look squad when he pits an inexperienced line-up against two Queensland Cup teams in Brisbane on Friday.

Bellamy admitted the ability of his side, which will include 13 new faces, will be something of a mystery.

The 24-man squad will be without Queensland and Test superstars Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Billy Slater, who won't play until the final trial game against Brisbane Broncos on February 26.

The former NSW coach expects the two matches against against Ipswich Jets and Storm's feeder team Brisbane Easts, to give him a better idea of who will start in the season opener against Manly on March 12.

"We're not quite sure how good our depth is at the moment but we'll get a bit of an indication on Friday night and a better idea the week after," Bellamy said.

"We're playing most of our young guys and the guys that are new to our club but they've had a long pre-season of 12 or 13 weeks.

"I'm pretty sure most of them (know) what their role is - it's just doing it under that game pressure that's going to be the thing.

"I'm pretty confident I know what they can do at training but what they're going to do in a game, that's what I'm not confident of.

"There are obviously guys there you hope will be able to reproduce that (training) on the playing field."

Among those playing on Friday will be Fijian centre Sisa Waqa, who played six games with Sydney Roosters in 2009, before a rugby stint in France last year, and under-20s squad member Mahe Fonua.

"There'll be a few things that we'll see on Friday night that we can improve on," Bellamy said.

"It will give us a bit of an idea of how many of these guys might be able to force their way into our top 17 for that first game.

"I imagine there will only be three or four new players to the club who will be in our top 17 to start the season," Bellamy said.

He said the Storm would start the season with a blank sheet, putting behind them a year of turmoil in which salary cap rorting saw them stripped of two premierships and made to play for no points in 2010.

"I've got no expectations at all on finishing or how many games we're going to win or lose or whatever," Bellamy said.

"All the expectation is that these guys play to their capabilities pretty consistently week in week out.

"I'm not sure what our capabilities are until we actually get out on the field."

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