Craig Bellamy was not exactly sure what to make of Friday night’s win over the Cowboys.
A spat of first half errors couple with significant injuries to the opponent made for some interesting food for thought when assessing the performance after the game.
Storm kept North Queensland scoreless in the second half whilst running in two late tries of their own to seal the 26-8 victory.
Top of the table clash! Storm v Roosters, Saturday 12 August, 5:30pm at AAMI Park!
Despite the 18-point margin, the encouraging sign was that Storm were left with plenty of room for improvement.
“I thought in the second half our effort was really good, our execution was a little bit off but to keep the Cowboys to one try I thought was a really good effort,” Craig Bellamy said.
“I said to the players that I am not sure what to make of the game itself because the Cowboys played the game under a lot of duress with the players they had out.
“Our effort was really good considering the conditions, the five-day turnaround and it was a really big weekend for our players last weekend (with Smith’s 350th).”
Melbourne controlled field position for extended periods of the game but were at times turned away at the line.
Facing an undermanned Cowboys’ defence, the skipper point to some over eagerness as a reason behind leaving some points out there on the field.
“I reckon we could have done a little bit more damage if we had of been smarter with how we went about it,” Cameron Smith said.
“In the first 40 minutes we just got a little bit excited at times… that is something we will look at.
“The scoreboard looks good but as far as our performance goes there was a lot left out on the field for us.”
Storm take on the Roosters next Saturday afternoon in a top of the table clash at AAMI Park.
