Having left behind the furore over their tactics on this side of the Tasman, the Storm are focused on surging towards a hat-trick of minor premierships with a win over the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland this afternoon.

Melbourne have banned coach Craig Bellamy and his players from talking about the stunning outburst by Dragons coach Nathan Brown, due to possible legal action. Brown warned the NRL of a "bloodbath" if it did not crack down on Melbourne's allegedly illegal tactics.

Melbourne forward Ryan Hoffman said the Storm were happy to be out of the firing line in Auckland.

"We're just looking forward to taking on the Warriors because they're always interesting games," he said.

"I think it's because we have a very strong Kiwi contingent in our club, so there always seems to be something special about Melbourne-Warriors games."

The two clubs have had a history of hard-fought battles, with the Storm winning their round-one match in Melbourne 32-18 while the New Zealand side ended the Storm's unbeaten run at home in 2006 with a four-point victory.

The Warriors are just outside the top eight but have won their last three games.

"They're definitely a team that matches up against us and we know we're in for a tough game when we play them," Hoffman said.

The Storm will be without star fullback Billy Slater, suspended for his role in a brawl during the Dragons match, and Bellamy is still to decide on his replacement. Steve Turner is the most likely candidate.

Bellamy has also considered playing five-eighth Greg Inglis in the No.1 jersey and moving centre Matt Geyer to the halves, Anthony Quinn to centre and bringing in 21-year-old Brett Anderson on the wing.

Storm assistant coach Stephen Kearney is the New Zealand coach, which gives many in the home side another reason to lift with the World Cup looming.

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary said he was happy his side had the chance to measure themselves against the benchmark side.

"I think it's a good time to play them," he said. "We're certainly going a lot better than we were a month or so ago."