Hughes backs break to end loosing run

Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes is confident a 10-day break will rejuvenate the side after back-to-back losses on the road.

Hughes labelled the past fortnight, where the side conceded 64 points in losses to the Sea Eagles and Sharks as “embarrassing” with the usually defensively sound Storm looking to get back on track.

The Storm return to AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon against a Raiders side looking to stay within reach of the finals.

For Craig Bellamy’s side, they have three clubs closely behind them on the Telstra Premiership ladder and can ill-afford to make it three-straight defeats.

“It’s quite embarrassing for us actually, we’re embarrassed with how we’re playing but we’ve played some quality teams as well,” Hughes told NRL.com.

“We’re nowhere near where we want to be. We’ve got a bit of a long turnaround now so we’ll take that and get back to training and focus.

“To be honest it’s probably been one of the toughest Origin periods we’ve been through, not just losing Origin players but injuries to players who were in our starting team in round one.

“In saying that we don’t want to use it as an excuse, injuries, we still want to play our footy and the guys that come in we back them to do a job.

“We’re not happy with how we’re playing but we don’t want to panic yet. We’re a bit off how we want to play but we’re still confident. Hopefully we get a few back in the next few weeks.”

Hughes said having a few extra days off this week would help not only the side’s cause but his own after he spent the club’s bye week recently playing for New Zealand in the representative round.

He wasn’t alone with several Storm stars lining up for either their state or country.

“I feel like we need [a break], it will be a good break for us. I think some of us do,” Hughes said.

“We’ll take that few days off to mentally refresh and come back energised for the back half of the year.”

The Storm return to Melbourne before their performances away will be judges again with clashes against the Rabbitohs and Warriors.

“We’ve got a lot of away games coming up again so we need to be able to win on the road, we can’t just win at home,” Hughes said.