The Brisbane Broncos are refusing to buy into the hype around the Melbourne Storm with players like winger Jordan Kahu undertaking a media blackout to avoid any mental fatigue heading into Friday night's semi-final.
The Storm have been described as unbeatable and the best ever by some media outlets, and it would be easy for reports such as these to get into the heads of Broncos players, especially due to Brisbane's poor record against Craig Bellamy's men.
It is not pretty reading for the Broncos who have won just two of their last 12 matches against Melbourne, with their most recent meeting ending in a 42-12 victory to the Storm in Round 17.
Accompany this with the fact Melbourne have only lost four games all year and it paints a scary picture for Brisbane.
However, the Broncos can take some hope from their recent outings in Melbourne, winning two of their past three clashes at AAMI Park, with their only loss a 14-12 nail biter in Round 3.
These are the results Brisbane are focusing on this week as they try and create a blueprint to defeat one of the best coached teams in the NRL.
Belief will be key to that and according to Kahu there is no shortage of that at Red Hill.
"We have a strong belief we can beat them down there," Kahu said.
"There are four teams left in this competition and we are one of them. It hasn't been a fluke to get here.
"We have to be confident and know that we have the team to do something special here.
"A lot of these boys are moving on at the end of the year so we have to make the most of every opportunity we get."
Over a third of the Broncos' 17 that started in their semi-final win over the Penrith Panthers are set to depart the club at season's end.
Ben Hunt, Jai Arrow, Tautau Moga, Herman Ese'ese, Benji Marshall are all confirmed as leaving, while Adam Blair is close to signing a contract with the New Zealand Warriors.
With so much on the line for so many players, there is no shortage of motivation for Brisbane.
Now they must execute, and second-rower Matt Gillett believes they have the talent to cause the Storm some problems across the park.
"We've talked about it. We want to send them out on a positive note. It could be there last game on Friday so we want to put in a good performance," Gillett said.
"It's a big game but at the end of the day we have to do our best and hopefully that's enough.
"We're confident in the group we have. We have a strong squad here and we know the boys that put on that jersey week in week out can do a job."
