Cameron Smith has admitted his concerns over his former club's recent run of form, with Melbourne on the wrong-end of two disappointing losses in recent weeks.
After being humbled by the Bulldogs in Round 2, the premiership heavyweights were again defeated in a high-scoring affair with the Titans on Saturday afternoon.
For a club that has been built on hard work, defence and discipline, the 38 points leaked by the Storm and the amount of errors they committed were raising some alarm bells for head coach Craig Bellamy.
Speaking on SEN Radio, Smith lamented the crucial slip-ups from his former club and believes there is reason to worry if this trend continues.
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“If the team continues with performances like they did on the weekend, it is concerning – there’s no doubt," he said.
"I actually had the opportunity to go out to Cbus Stadium and watch that game live…it took them a little bit to get going, it was a hot day and they had drinks breaks in the 20-minute mark of both halves.
"They could put their hand up and say ‘it was a really hot day’ – but that’s no excuse. They just didn’t play well, it’s as simple as that…they were in a position where they were up by 12 points with a couple of minutes to go before half-time.
"They come up with a couple of poor plays where they were forcing passes or trying to force an offload, made errors and the Titans capitalised and score.
"They go into half-time up by six and seven minutes after half-time, they are down by six – it was an 18-point turnaround in the space of about nine minutes.
"That’s where a lot of people are going what the hell is going on with the Storm."
Melbourne's poor start to the 2023 campaign, which likely looms as Bellamy's last in the top job, has put the club under the microscope like never before.
But according to Smith, the current roster being compared to the Storm teams of yesteryear is doing them no favours.
"We all get caught up in talking about the Storm like it’s the Storm of that magical period where they had a lot of wonderful players down there when you’re talking about Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Ryan Hoffman," he said.
"All these wonderful players they were lucky to have. If you look at the Storm now, they don’t have that team – we need to start judging this team on its own merits.
"This is a very different Melbourne Storm side now, there’s no excuse for them because there is still high expectation on this football team.
"Catching up with Craig post-game on the weekend, he was extremely disappointed with the way they played.
"There was a lot of effort in this match, but there wasn’t a whole lot of smarts – particularly in the crucial moments where there was an opportunity for the team to close that match out."
