Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy publicly called out his players after Sunday’s 17-14 loss to Cronulla at AAMI Park, questioning their desire after suffering a second-straight defeat.
Despite back-to-back losses to top-eight foes South Sydney and the Sharks, Bellamy’s men remain in third spot and are genuine contenders to defend their NRL title.
But the veteran coach didn’t hold back after the narrow loss to the Sharks, who rose to sixth on the ladder with their second win over Storm this season.
“Probably overall to sum it up I think, this might be a little bit harsh but it looks like we lack a little bit of hunger at the moment, to me,” Bellamy fumed.
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“I thought we started the game, it looked like we were waiting for things to happen instead of making them happen.
“That’s basically how I’d sum it up. Obviously I might have a different opinion when I watch it back but that’s my initial thoughts on it and I’m not quite sure why that would be at the moment.
“But it looks like we’re not willing to work really hard for things to happen and we’re going to need to change that if we’re going to anywhere in this competition.”
Bellamy didn’t name names but put his players on notice that changes will be made if he doesn’t see immediate improvements.
“It’s not 80 minutes of doom and gloom but we need to decide what’s important for us this year and put some actions to that,” he said.
“If it’s not important then so be it, we’ll find a couple of players that it is important to and hopefully finish a little bit better.
“But as I said at the moment we’re just looking like we’re waiting for it to happen instead of making it happen and to me that’s just a sign of us not being as hungry as we should be.”
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan praised his players’ ‘skill’ and ‘courage’ and hopes the impressive performance is a sign of big things to come heading into September.
“It’s massive for the players to get that little bit of self-belief that they can play against quality sides like the Storm,” Flanagan said.
“We just need to find some form at this tail end of the year. I think we’ve been pretty patchy over the whole year.
“And hopefully we’re starting to get it right at the right end of the year, time will tell but it’s a good start.”
