Craig Bellamy sees some similarities in his current crop of Melbourne players to the team who won the 2007 grand final, which he rates as the best Storm side ever.

Players from that team flew into Melbourne on Friday for a lunch to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of that emphatic triumph over Manly, who the Storm play on Sunday at AAMI Park.

That premiership was later erased, as was their 2009 title, as part of their salary cap rorting penalties but not in the eyes of Bellamy or the 2007 players.

“You talk to any of those players and they know how hard they worked that year to win the grand final, ” the Melbourne coach said.

“They can say what they like and erase what they like but they’re not going to erase these guys’ memories of what they did in 2007.

“The wrong thing was done (by the Storm) without a doubt but when you look at the penalties that were put on that team and see the other penalties that have been given to other teams I think everyone would agree it was harsh.”

The 2007 team included three of the current Storm line-up in Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater, while Greg Inglis, Ryan Hoffman are still playing in the NRL and Israel Folau with the Wallabies.

Inglis, now the South Sydney captain, was just 20 when he scored two tries in the grand final to earn the Clive Churchill Medal.

“They’re probably the best team we’ve had and history backs that up because they won the minor and major premiership and that’s the first time that’s been done in the Storm history,” Bellamy said.

With Smith, Slater and Cronk a decade more experienced and the likes of 22-year-old Cameron Munster the new Greg Inglis, Bellamy hopes the 2017 model could achieve similar success.

“It’s a young side, with a few old guys too, but you’d like to think there’s a few characteristics that both sides have got,” Bellamy said,

The Manly game is set to mark Smith’s 350th NRL game – joining Terry Lamb as the second most capped player in the game.

Bellamy said Smith, who has a pectoral injury, needed to get through their final training session on Saturday but all signs were that he would play.