Bellamy believes best is yet to come as Storm advance
Melissa Woods |
Coach Craig Bellamy insists his Melbourne team can go to another level after rediscovering some form to clinch their qualifying final win over Canterbury – and they could have Jahrome Hughes back to help them.
The Storm sit 80 minutes away from an incredible 12th grand final in 28 seasons; all but one coming in Bellamy’s reign as coach.
They entered the AAMI Park clash in unfamiliar territory, off the back of conceding 70 points in two heavy losses, but held out an injury-ravaged Bulldogs outfit 26-18.
That win cemented a preliminary final at home in a fortnight giving the players time to recover from the brutal Dogs match, with utility Joe Chan (concussion) and Cameron Munster (leg) both casualties, although Bellamy said the latter wasn’t serious.
“I don’t think it’s great, but I don’t think it’s anything too serious,” Bellamy said of Munster.
“He was talking to me about it and he said it’s really sore, but yeah, he’ll be all right.”
The additional week also gives superstar halfback Hughes a “rough” chance to take part after fracturing his arm a week ago and undergoing surgery.
“I’m not putting any pressure on him, but I think there’s a rough chance that Hughesy might be back,” Bellamy said.
“Hopefully we can make that decision as soon as possible and then just get it organised and then the team can train as a team, especially the week leading into our next game.
“If the medical people are not basically 100 per cent sure or close to that, we’ll probably leave him out but we’ll see what they think and then we’ll see how he’s feeling and then go from there.”
If Hughes doesn’t get up the Storm can take confidence from the performance of his replacement Jonah Pezet, who was one of his team’s best in his first ever final.
In just his eighth game of the season and second starting, Pezet set up a try, saved one with a one on one tackle on Matt Burton, and kicked with precision, helping his team to another try off the back of a 40/20.
Melbourne were first to score against Canterbury and looked in control but the visitors clawed their way to a 18-14 lead before two Storm tries sealed the result.
Bellamy praised his team’s defence but felt there was a lot of improvement left in the side as they look to avenge last year’s grand final defeat.
“I think we can play better than we did,” he said.
“Talking to the leaders after the game, I think we all agree our first 10 or 15 minutes was really good – that’s the way we want to play our footy – but we probably lost our way a little bit then with our attack.
“Our defence was what really got us home.
“It’s going to be nice to have a bit of a recovery, but at the same time we need to get things right and be at our peak in two weeks’ time.”
AAP
