The Melbourne Storm finished their first game of 2011 with a comprehensive 34-10 rugby league trial victory over Queensland Cup sides Ipswich and Brisbane Easts.

Melbourne demolished Ipswich 34-0 in the first half in a fearsome display, before they took their foot off the gas and were beaten 10-0 in the second stanza by a resilient Easts side.

In a first half peppered with penalties, the Storm were well served by second-rower Steven Thorpe who crashed over for two tries while recruit Elijah Niko also added his name to the scoresheet.

The victory was the start of a new era for the Storm, who were caught cheating the salary cap last season and were relegated to the wooden spoon while also being stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premierships.

And while they're not playing for points just yet, Friday night's hitout proved that they still have a squad capable of being competitive in 2011.

And it happened without the club's big five of Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Adam Blair and Sika Manu.

Football manager Frank Ponissi praised the squad's efficiency in the first half, but lamented the amount of dropped ball that was coughed up against Brisbane Easts.

"I thought we were very clinical in the first half mainly because our error rate was so low, we hardly turned over a ball in the first half," he said.

"We dominated possession and dictated the speed of the game and that really helped us.

"But the second half was a complete reverse, our ball possession was very poor which is disappointing.

"(Ball handling) always is (a bit poor) at this stage of the year, but even so it was a bit low.

"But I thought we defended really well in the second half given we had to do so much defending."

Ponissi praised front-row duo Mitchell Johnson, who also found the tryline, and ex-Canberra veteran Troy Thompson who are in contention for first grade spots.

"They were the pick of our front-rowers to be honest," he added.

The only injury concern for Melbourne was a hamstring injury suffered by Toyota Cup player Kirisome Auva'a.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP