This Storm team may have lost some experience in the off-season but they certainly have not lost any hunger for the contest.
The purple wall flexed its muscle on Friday night against the Warriors, sticking 365 tackles and allowing just one line break.
Those stats would please coach Craig Bellamy just as much as the eventual 26-10 score line.
“It is a good word to describe (the performance), very gritty,” Bellamy said.
“I thought in the first half we could have been or should have been more in front but we weren’t.
“I made that point to the players at half-time. They were putting in a whole heap of effort and they just needed to keep that going.
“Our guys gritted their teeth, kept making their tackles and kept turning up.
“I think we got the result that we probably deserved in the end.”
Melbourne improved their record to 2-0 to start the season and after back-to-back away games will finally return to AAMI Park.
Their home opener will be a Thursday night blockbuster against the Brisbane Broncos.
Be there for our first home game of 2017 at AAMI Park against the Broncos in Round 3!
