Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith says their tight victory over Parramatta proves the NRL premiership is wide open and the Storm will need to improve to win it.
Many have said the premiership is Melbourne's to lose but after edging the Eels 18-16, Smith said all of the remaining teams were still a strong chance.
The Storm will now face either Brisbane or Penrith in a preliminary final, in a fortnight at AAMI Park, with the winner to advance to the decider.
"The teams are very capable of coming down and winning and being in a grand final," Smith said.
"We're not at any stage getting ahead of ourselves and we know we need to perform a lot better than we did today to give ourselves a chance to progress forward."
Smith set a new record for NRL games played with the Eels match his 356th and admitted the commemorations of the achievement had taken a toll on hiss preparation.
"It's been a fantastic week and I'm extremely proud of the record and what the club and NRL put together but there was a lot of things we did this week that we don't normally do," Smith said.
"It's nice to get a victory and get that game out of the way because in a fortnight's time we need to prepare as normal as we can."
He said he would take some time post match to reflect on his record, surpassing Brisbane great Darren Lockyer.
"Once I get home I'll sit back, put my jammies on and my moccasins and have a cup of tea with a couple of biccies, and I will sit back and enjoy what happened this afternoon."
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