While his Melbourne team heaped more finals misery on Cronulla, coach Craig Bellamy quickly declared Penrith are still the team to beat for the NRL premiership.

On the back of a Harry Grant hat-trick, minor premiers Melbourne consigned the Sharks to their seventh-straight finals loss with a 37-10 victory on Saturday.

The margin was greater than Penrith’s 30-10 win over the Sydney Roosters on Friday but Bellamy happily handed title favouritism to the three-peat champions.

“With Nathan Cleary coming back, that’s obviously a huge plus for [Penrith],” Bellamy said.

“Everyone knows they’re the team to beat, winning three premierships in a row, that’s not easy to do.”

The qualifying final win earned Melbourne a preliminary final berth and a week off, while Cronulla next weekend will face the victor from the North Queensland versus Newcastle elimination final.

Melbourne’s 27-point win looked shaky at half-time when the Sharks scored with seconds remaining until the break to reduce their deficit to four points.

Bellamy said he felt “deflated” walking into the change-room at half-time but realised his team still felt in control.

“The players didn’t seem too concerned about it and in the second half, they done one hell of a job,” he said.

“We dominated possession, and obviously with that field position, and then the points came.

“We can be really happy with what we did.”

Cronulla seemed to have no answers for the Storm onslaught with coach Craig Fitzgibbon saying the home side was on a different level.

“We were just starved of field position and they had an energy about them where they looked like they were running downhill … they played really well,” Fitzgibbon said.

Sharks skipper Cameron McInnes said they would be ready to go again next weekend.

“There’s a massive opportunity ahead of us and everything’s there,” the lock said.

“You obviously want to win and go the shorter route [to a preliminary final], but teams would kill to be here, so no complacency or no doubt and negative energy.”

AAP