Melbourne Storm's gift to Broncos that could come back to haunt Craig Bellamy in finals

The Broncos' mid-season move to sign Ben Talty has proven an absolute masterstroke, with Denan Kemp declaring the forward the "unsung hero" of Brisbane's march to the preliminary final. But he could easily be playing in the other prelim for the Melbourne Storm.

The 26-year-old Talty slipped right through the Storm's fingers after playing in their system since 2023. The forward had to bide his time in NSW Cup with the North Sydney Bears - a feeder club for the Storm - but was never handed his NRL debut for Melbourne.

Talty has played trial games for the Storm in the last two pre-seasons, scoring a try in an impressive display at the start of this year. But Craig Bellamy seemingly never saw enough to hand him his NRL debut, persisting with players like Nelson Asofa-Solomona instead.

The Broncos came calling in June amid an injury crisis, and the Bears and Storm agreed to release Talty to Brisbane for free. It's proven a genius move from Michael Maguire and the Broncos, and one the Storm might regret.

"I never thought this would come true. When I came to the Broncos all I wanted to do was scrape in and maybe play one NRL game," Talty said this week after signing a two-year contract extension and being upgraded to the Broncos' top 30.

"To be here and in contention to play in a prelim, it is so hard to describe the way I am feeling. I was offered the contract a couple of weeks ago and as soon as it came in front of me I signed it straight away. Brisbane is where I want to be. It is security. I can just focus on football now."

Denan Kemp's staggering call on Ben Talty

Talty has three tries in the nine games he's played for Brisbane, and is now just one win away from playing in a grand final. Speaking earlier this week, former Broncos player Kemp declared that Talty has been so good that Brisbane wouldn't be in the preliminary final without him.

"That's how important he's been to our forward rotation," Kemp said in his 'Bloke in a Bar' podcast. "If he wasn't here, I don't even know who'd we be bringing on (off the bench) through the middle.

"When he comes on he just does his job. I'm not pretending for a second that he's going to be playing better footy than some other guys. But what this club needed was a guy who's not too expensive, comes on for 20-40 minutes and just makes metres, tough metres. Talty has been absolutely phenomenal at the Broncos.

"It'a another Michael Maguire stroke of brilliance. To identify him out of the North Sydney Bears in NSW Cup, out of all the people he could have chosen from Queensland Cup. He then plays so well that he gets a two-year extension. You need guys like him to get into a prelim."

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Broncos' 'unsung hero' could easily be playing for Storm

Tellingly, the Broncos have eight wins in the nine games Talty has played. He's averaged 27 minutes per match, as well as 70 metres and 15 tackles in his powerhouse stints.

"Mindset and just having confidence in what I am doing is probably the main thing, but it is the people I am playing around, like Patty Carrigan and Payne Haas. They are making my job easier," he said.

There's every chance the Broncos could be playing the Storm in the grand final if both win their prelims. And Bellamy might be regretting the fact he won't be in a purple Melbourne jersey.

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