Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy concedes stopping Penrith running away with a third-straight NRL premiership is a tall order after his Storm side became the latest side to be ravaged at the foot of the mountains.
The Storm were battered in a 26-6 defeat to the Panthers on Friday and their lively spine was contained all night by a relentless Penrith defensive effort.
It was also telling that Melbourne’s only try, courtesy of Young Tonumaipea, came via a breakaway rather than structured attack.
Penrith sit top with four rounds to go and know that a top-two finish will guarantee them a qualifying final at their BlueBet Stadium home.
Remarkably, Penrith have lost just two games at home in 2023 - against Brisbane in round one and St Helens in the World Club Challenge - and both those defeats were by a single point.
Bellamy was critical of his side for playing into Penrith’s hands and said if they meet in September the Storm will have to show a greater patience if they are to topple the Panthers.
“They’ve been the team for three or four years now and they seem to get a little bit more resilient every year,” he said.
“They’re a really tough team to beat and you’ve got to do a whole heap of things right and you’ve got to do them for 80 minutes if you’re going to have a chance.
“You have to play the long game, the patient game with them if you're going to have success.
“I don’t think their game plan is too hard to see but stopping it, that’s another thing.”
Bellamy’s hopes of joining the Panthers in the top four took a hit with the loss and their depth is set to be severely tested with George Jennings suffering an MCL injury that is likely to rule him out for the year.
Xavier Coates and Reimis Smith remain sidelined while five-eighth Jahrome Hughes was a late scratching from the game against Penrith with an ankle injury.
“He (Hughes) didn't train all week and at our captain’s run he got the boots on and really struggled," Bellamy said.
“I don’t know if there’s an underlying thing we haven’t found.
“The scans couldn't find anything that was too wrong with him but, hopefully, he’s on the road to recovery.”
