- Trial form a concern for Melbourne Storm
- Leaked 72 points in two pre-season games
- Still will be heavy favourites against Parramatta
Craig Bellamy has urged his Melbourne players not to let their unrivalled NRL round one record slip when they host Parramatta on Sunday afternoon at AAMI Park.
And if two underwhelming trial performances are any guide, the three-time premiership winning coach has every reason to be concerned.
History shows the Storm are unbeaten in the opening fixture since Bellamy took the reins from Mark Murray in 2003.
They have since chalked up up 21 successive wins, with 2004 not counting as they had a first-round bye.
The Eels almost snapped the impressive streak in 2023, only for Storm skipper Harry Grant to score a try in golden point to secure a 16-12 victory.
Bellamy said the record belonged to the players and was one that meant a lot to those who previously wore the Storm jersey.
Craig Bellamy has urged his Melbourne players not to let their unrivalled NRL round one record slip when they host Parramatta on Sunday afternoon at AAMI Park
Former Storm assistant Jason Ryles is now in charge of the Eels, who will enter the clash as massive underdogs
Melbourne haven’t lost a round one NRL fixture since Craig Bellamy took over in 2003 (pictured, hooker Harry Grant)
‘It’s not really my record, it is the players’ record,’ the coach said at the team’s captain’s run.
‘I’m sitting up the coaches’ box, I don’t have a whole heap to do with it.
‘I know the players, especially our old boys, they used to hold being ready for round one pretty close to their heart.
‘To perform well in round one, that was really important to them so hopefully it’s important to these (current) guys as well.’
After two heavy pre-season losses to the Warriors and Cowboys – where Melbourne conceded an uncharacteristic 72 points – a disappointed Bellamy said their defence needs to improve to get the better of the Eels.
‘Probably the thing that I’m not quite sure of is our form in the trials – our defence wasn’t great, so we’ve worked a bit on that,’ he said.
‘It’s important to be on with your defence early in the season – the attack sometimes takes a little bit to gel….but we should have defended better than what we did, so we’ve had two weeks to hopefully correct it.’
Appearing in major doubt after his knee blew up, star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen will start against the Eels which should help organise their defence.
The away side have been rocked by the loss of chief playmaker Mitchell Moses for the first six rounds with a foot injury – but Bellamy expects them to be well prepared under their new coach, former Storm assistant Jason Ryles.
‘He did a great job here as a coach; we were sorry to lose him, but we knew he was going to move on to bigger and better things,’ he said.
‘The one thing about him, I think they’ve worked on their play the balls a lot, playing the balls quickly and perhaps on the other side working hard on slowing down the opposition.
‘That’s one of the things that I’ve noticed that will be different from Parramatta last year to this year.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .