Melbourne have sent Cooper Cronk out a winner after routing North Queensland 34-6 to claim the 2017 NRL premiership on Sunday.
A vintage Storm strong-armed their way to a three-try lead at halftime and were only challenged when Te Maire Martin sliced through soon after resumption.
The Cowboys had a couple of opportunities to reduce the deficit further however were turned away and folded easily as their finals fairytale came to a bitter end.
Dale Finucane restored his team's advantage in the 64th minute and from there the Storm were never threatened as they avenged last year's grand final loss to Cronulla.
Curtis Scott sealed the title - and their 10th straight win - minutes later when Josh Addo-Carr scooped up a Cowboys error deep in their own territory and found his centre.
In front of a crowd of 79,722 at ANZ Stadium, the big three of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cronk then put on their signature three-man play for Addo-Carr to complete a brace.
It was a dominant performance from a team that finished three wins clear of second place in the regular season, ensuring Cronk departed from the club with two titles.
Slater won the Clive Churchill medal as the best player on field, scoring a try and having a hand in two others, while Smith and Tohu Harris were also immense.
For the Cowboys, spearhead Jason Taumalolo went missing after only just managing to crack triple figures in a finals series where he averaged over 250 metres.
Slater and Cronk both said after the match they would delay their decision on their futures until later on in the week.
"To be as consistent as we were all year, it was a great performance, and one that we've been doing all year so we were very confident we could do it," Slater told the Nine Network.
Cowboys star Michael Morgan said he was embarrassed by the defeat.
"It does hurt. It feels like a waste of a season to be honest," he said.
"You come this far and we were a little bit embarrassed tonight. That scoreline doesn't reflect the effort we put in through this year."
The contest was only four minutes old when the Cowboys copped their first major blow of the night - and it was some friendly fire from Ethan Lowe.
The Cowboys second-rower stretched out to tackle a runaway Jesse Bromwich but only managed to swing around, accidentally breaking Shaun Fensom's leg in the process.
Play was stopped for ten minutes as the Cowboys prop was stretchered from the field.
The Bromwich line break was one of two opportunities the Storm had to open the scoring, only for some desperate Cowboys defence to hold firm.
It wasn't until the 19th minute that the favourites turned their dominance into points, with a runaway Addo-Carr latching onto a Will Chambers offload to finish a 90-metre movement.
The breakthrough was all Melbourne needed to turn the screws on their opposition as their right-edge ensured an 18-0 advantage at halftime.
First Slater sent Felise Kaufusi in on a right-side shift in the 28th minute, before the Melbourne fullback went through himself on the same play just before the break.
