Melbourne Storm Head Coach Craig Bellamy said he was proud of his sides ability to fightback from an early deficit in the first half to defeat the New Zealand Warriors 30-22 in their annual ANZAC day clash.
After falling behind 12-0 after 10 minutes, Storm scored three second half tries to secure the two competition points in front of a packed AAMI Park crowd.
Bellamy said it was pleasing to see his side stand up in the big moments against a Warriors side that turned up for the occasion.
“The Warriors have been playing some really good footy, they’ve been really consistent, so I was really happy with how we fought back from 12-0 and then 18-6…the guys hung in there and did a tremendous job,” he said.
“It was a different sort of game, it was always going to be tough on ANZAC day,” Bellamy said.
“I thought Munster came up with a few big plays, Nelson provided some fast play the balls to swing momentum in our favour and Meaney was good through the middle also,” he said.
With Nelson Asofa-Solomona inking a new four-year extension with the club following the match, Bellamy said his performance returning from injury, exemplified his value to the club.
Opting to bring Asofa-Solomona off the bench in his return from a knee injury that has kept him sidelined since Round 2, Bellamy said his injection into the game midway through the first half helped turn the game.
“His signing is pretty big for the club, he turned the game a little tonight when he came on, he’s quite unique in what he can do for the club on but also off the footy field,” he said.
“We brought him on at a good time, the Warriors struggled to handle him and he helped change the game for us,” he said.
“It’s a great result for our club but also a great result for rugby league.”
