Craig Bellamy has urged the Storm to 'learn their lessons' from a rollercoaster campaign in the wake of their exit from the NRL finals on Friday night.
After scraping home against the Roosters a week prior, Melbourne were blown off the park in a 38-4 loss to the Panthers at Accor Stadium, ending an up and down season for the powerhouse club.
Bellamy's side came up with 14 errors and gave away nine penalties in the disappointing display, while their lack of execution in the first-half crippled any chance of an upset victory.
Penrith on the other hand were as clinical as expected, with star winger Brian To'o crossing for three tries and lock-forward Isaah Yeo dictating terms in the middle of the field.
MORE: Brian To'o hat-trick sends Penrith to fourth-straight NRL decider
Craig Bellamy urges Melbourne Storm to 'learn their lessons'
Speaking to the media post-game, Bellamy admitted the Storm were their own worst enemies and believes the loss was indicative of their 2023 season as a whole.
“We shout ourselves in the foot – we blew our foot off actually," he said.
"We had some opportunities in the first-half, but we didn’t nail them and we didn’t ice them. We didn’t complete well and we know what Penrith do, they just strangle you.
"If you make mistakes and put pressure on yourself, they will hammer you which they did tonight. It’s really disappointing for us to finish that way… in the second-half, it all got a little bit too hard.
"Our game tonight was probably a small example of what we’ve been dishing up all year. If we didn’t know that before tonight, we learned a good lesson… we might be able to take something out of it for next season."
While their top-four finish and prelim final berth continued their run in September, Bellamy will undoubtedly be left searching for answers heading into next year.
The departures of representative forwards Felise Kaufusi, Brandon Smith and the Bromwich brothers left a huge hole in the Storm lineup, and the experienced coach acknowledged the impact upon reflection of their year.
“It took us a little while to know what our best footy was and what worked for us," Bellamy said.
"We had a bit of a change in personnel in the off-season and that took us a little while.
"It just kept creeping in every now and then – I think we’ve done a real good job to get to where we got.
"The finals series has been what our season has been, up and down, and you’re not gonna go a long way in the competition unless you start evening that out."
Penrith will now take on the winner of Saturday night's other prelim between the Broncos and Warriors, while the Storm will be out of the decider for a third-straight season.
