Craig Bellamy chatted to the media ahead of Melbourne Storm's Thursday night clash with the Roosters.
Here are the bite-size bits you need to know ahead of the Round 6 matchup!
Bellamy pre-game media: Round 6
Maintain defence
Recording an impressive defence that held off the South Sydney Rabbitohs last week, Storm will need to do it again as they face a Roosters side sitting third-place on the ladder.
Remarking on a lack of care during the Club's early losses, Bellamy sees effort he was missing returning to the heart of Storm's footy and hopes it can stay.
"Our performance last week was a whole heap better. Hopefully, we can build on that and improve a couple of areas."
"Our effort defensively was good. We're defending a different team tomorrow night and we'll need to back that effort up again."
"For me was haven't seen those defensive efforts or that defensive game for a little while so it was good to see it back again and hopefully we can hang on to it again."
Return of the Cheese
One aspect of the visitors strategy the players will be focussing on is likely to be the return of former Melbourne hooker, Brandon Smith.
With Smith armed with the knowledge of the Storm way, the head coach admits it will be a weird moment but isn't phased by the challenge.
"It's a bit strange playing against him. We know what a quality player he is and we'll need to keep our eye on him."
"He's playing a different role up there. He's playing dummy-half full time whereas he was a like a part time dummy-half, part-time playing in the ruck and he could do either job really well."
Paps on the run
Earlier this week, fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen was seen back at training for the first time in nine months after he shattered his kneecap late in the 2022 season.
While no return date is set for the 24-year-old, the move is still a massive milestone in his rehabilitation journey.
"It's good to see him out here, but I'm not quite sure exactly what the timeline is."
"The physio will probably tell me a week before he's ready to play I'd imagine."
Two halves make a whole
For the first time since Round 1, international stars Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes will finally reunite in the halves this Thursday night.
While the Club has still seen success without the pairing, the experience and familiarity between the two will not go astray amongst the on-field team.
"We haven't had that yet. Obviously (Cameron) Munster missed a couple of games there with his finger, then (Jahrome) Hughesy getting suspended."
"Hopefully, they come back together and do a good job for us."
"We just missed that combination a little bit. Jonah stepped in and done a great job in the three games he played and we won two of them."
"Just getting back that intimate combination that's real handy to have and hopefully they can combine tomorrow night."
