Brisbane captain Darren Lockyer looked rusty in his eagerly-awaited return in Saturday night's 20-6 NRL trial loss to Melbourne at Stockland Park on the Sunshine Coast.

While flashy Storm fullback Billy Slater picked up where he left off last year as the game's number one attacking player, Lockyer's lack of trial time was evident.

Lockyer was keen to play against the Storm to blow out the cobwebs before Brisbane's NRL season opener against North Queensland in a fortnight.

It was a wise decision because his 40 minutes on the field was riddled with rust.

He failed to find touch with a penalty kick, kicked out on the full on the last tackle and threw an intercept pass all in the first 20 minutes.

The good news for Brisbane, though, is he is likely to be a lot sharper against the Cowboys after scrapping plans to miss Brisbane's three pre-season trials and go in cold against North Queensland.

Both sides were busy with the football early.

But they paid the price for forcing passes in the steamy conditions in a scrappy opening 40 minutes.

Slater was at his slippery best in the opening half, testing Brisbane's defence to the limit several times.

Broncos comeback centre Mick DeVere - playing his first game since 2006 - revived memories of his former days at the club when he stopped a try-bound Slater in the first half.

Last year's golden boot winner was clearly Melbourne's best, his speed defusing the impressive kicking games of both hooker Aaron Gorrell and halfback Peter Wallace.

The only points in the first half came from a slick backline rush started by Storm five-eighth Greg Inglis and involving halfback Cooper Cronk and Slater, who delivered the final pass for bright young centre prospect Willie Isa to dive over in the right corner.

Melbourne winger Joe Tomane scored the Storm's second try in the 53rd minute and when Slater was rewarded with a try in the 61st minute the Storm led 16-0.

Brisbane lock Corey Park got the big crowd of 8,178 on their feet with a converted try in the 65th minute.

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