Melbourne Storm centre and Queensland Origin representative Dane Nielsen has set himself a simple goal of playing consistent football in 2012.

After a slow start to his career, the 26-year-old is finally realising the potential which Storm coach Craig Bellamy saw in him several years ago.

But despite having played two Origin games in 2011, Nielsen claims he’ll have to be at his absolute best each week just to get a game for the Storm this season.

“I’m off contract at the end of this year. It’s an interesting time for me,” Nielsen told AAP.

“This will be my fifth year at the Storm. It’s sort of my second home.

“At the Cronulla Sharks I only played about half an hour of first-grade there.

“I have a lot of passion and pride when I put that purple Storm jersey on.

“Hopefully I get to stay here and I can sort something out.

“The best thing I can do is play really good footy and see what happens from there.

“I don’t really feel much pressure.

“Hopefully I can get off to a good start like I did last year.”

The Storm open their NRL season at Canberra Stadium against the Raiders on Saturday.

Bellamy issued a stern warning to his side after a late fadeout in the Storm’s 34-30 win in the trial game against Brisbane in Hobart on February 18.

The coach said only Cam Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk were guaranteed a spot in the starting side for the Canberra clash.

“We played really good for 60 minutes. It fell away a bit towards the end,” the 98kg Nielsen said.

“We just weren’t focused enough on doing our jobs and individuals as a team.

“The big thing is being consistent,” added Nielsen, who reached the 50-game milestone last year.

“It’s hard enough just to make first grade every week.

“Last year was my fourth year at the club and I just felt a lot more comfortable.

“The last two years have been a big learning experience for me and you can never stop learning.”

Nielsen is upbeat about 2011 preliminary finalists the Storm having a big year.

But he says Brisbane will be hard to beat despite the loss of superstar Darren Lockyer.

“Manly are going to be up there again,” Nielsen said.

“Wests Tigers have bought really well, including Adam Blair (from Melbourne) and the Bulldogs have got a really good squad on paper.

“They’re very attacking sides and they can score points from anywhere on the field.

“We always set our standards high. Hopefully we can be there come semi-final time.”