The consistency of Melbourne’s young brigade has been praised by the captain and coach following Saturday night’s 26-10 win over the Roosters.
Storm moved three games clear inside the competition’s top two as they extended their winning streak to four games.
It was an even performance across the board but the side’s younger players again stood up when it counted.
With nine of Storm’s 17 players under the age of 24 it is a great sign of the Club’s future.
“They know if they worked hard and stick to our systems we are going to be reasonably hard to score against,” Craig Bellamy said.
“I think they have got confidence out of the way we have defended the rest of the year, unless you put the effort in you are not going to get the results we’ve been getting.
“Hopefully those younger blokes will keep putting in the effort they have been putting in defensively.”
Rookie Suliasi Vunivalu has continued to impress, as has Cameron Munster who was again faultless at fullback on Saturday night with 160 metres.
While the wider rugby league world may be surprised at the performances of the side’s younger players it comes as little surprise to their captain.
“It is not overly surprising to me, a lot of those younger guys have been in our system for a couple of seasons now,” Cameron Smith said.
“That is something we spoke about last year in our end of season review and we challenged the younger guys to bring that consistency to our squad.
“It is probably what is making the biggest difference to our team this year. Individuals are playing well but those young guys are playing well every week.
“There are no dips in their performances. We have set a standard this year that we want to be at and we have been able to achieve it.”
Storm now take on the Cowboys in a blockbuster clash in Townsville on Saturday night.
