Anthony Griffin is about as relaxed as they come but he arcs up at the slightest suggestion Brisbane are safely into the NRL finals.

It's a mark of his professionalism that he refuses to indulge in finals talk or entertain the notion the Broncos will be there come September, even though his young team is four wins clear of ninth-placed Penrith with six games left.

"Everyone's talking about finals but I don't know if we're going to even be there or not," cautioned Griffin.

"We've still got to earn the right to be there first."

Griffin however conceded Brisbane looked a quality side during parts of Friday night's clash, before Melbourne were able to get over them to win 26-6.

"In the short term, the scoreline was disappointing but, in the big picture for this year and possibly even down the track, I think we're heading in the right direction," he said.

Brisbane were soundly beaten by premiership favourites Melbourne in the end, but the Broncos were right in the contest for 60 minutes.

They can also draw on their famous 2006 grand final upset over the Storm with a similar young playing group, which improved going into the finals.

Griffin and his players took a lot of positives out of their last-start loss.

"I was enjoying the contest for the first 60 minutes but we lost our discipline, gave away a few penalties, dropped the ball a few times down our end and they were too strong for us in the end," he said.

"That's what they do to you but I thought, at times, we had a good choker hold on them.

"We just didn't execute well enough to finish off some scoring opportunities."

Griffin was not prepared to look beyond Friday night's clash with Cronulla, with inspirational Sharks skipper Paul Gallen expected to return from injury.

"I don't know where we're going to finish to be honest," Griffin told AAP.

"There's a lot of footy to happen yet for the teams above us and below and we're sitting there doing the maths about who we've got to beat and when we've got to beat them. That's when we're going to take our eye off the ball."

In-form back-rower Sam Thaiday said the players had taken plenty of heart from the effort against Melbourne.

"I don't think the scoreline reflected how hard we played as a team," said the Test and State of Origin forward.

"We know what the benchmark is now. I think in the second half, the Storm completed 19 from 19 (sets) and that's the best of the best.

"We know we can still get better and I'm looking forward to putting ourselves in a position where we can play them again in the finals."

The Broncos, meanwhile, announced on Monday they'd picked up young Gold Coast utility Luke Capewell on a one-year deal for 2012.

Capewell, 22, has played 30 NRL games and, with Darren Lockyer retiring at the end of the season, his ability to play in any position from halfback to fullback will be a bonus.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP