Melbourne football manager Frank Ponissi denies a siege mentality has been the reason behind the NRL minor premiers' success this season.

The Storm were stripped of their two premierships last year and made to play the 2010 season for no points due to salary cap breaches, then forced to offload a number of senior players.

But despite that, the club cruised to the minor premiership in 2011 - losing just five games - and will host the Warriors next Saturday for a place in the grand final.

Ponissi admitted there were few expectations around the club at the start of the year and the coaching staff were surprised to win the JJ Giltinan Shield with virtually a brand new side.

"Craig Bellamy said at the start of this year we were not expecting a great deal because we had so many young players like Matt Duffie, Gareth Widdop and Kevin Proctor coming through," Ponissi told AAP.

"We simply didn't know how they would go in the NRL as they were untested.

"We also had new guys coming in like Jaiman Lowe, Adam Woolnough and Maurice Blair, and also lost a number of our coaching staff, so for all of those players to gel so quickly has been a great achievement.

"Our big three of Cam Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and of course Craig are the main reason for this, the culture they have created here is down to them and the new guys have all bought into it."

While Manly use what they perceive as an injustice against Brett Stewart by the NRL after he was stood down for an alleged abuse of alcohol at a season launch in 2009 to drive them towards a grand final, Ponissi insists the Storm have taken a decision to not look back.

Although NRL chief executive David Gallop was subjected to a tirade of abuse from the Storm supporters when he visited AAMI Park two weeks ago, Ponissi said the salary cap issue is no longer worrying the players.

"I read somewhere that us and Manly have a siege mentality, I can't speak for Manly, but there is no siege mentality here," Ponissi said.

"We only worry about the opposition we play each week, it is not about moving on or proving people wrong or getting back at the NRL.

"You walk through our locker room at AAMI Park and you wouldn't hear anything about the stuff in the media, it is just not discussed.

"You can't look back on last year and use it to get players up, because so many of them were not here when it happened - you have to move on and we have done that."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP