By Scott Bailey
Craig Bellamy has put Melbourne’s players on notice, warning he isn’t afraid to wield the axe if they don’t work hard to fix defensive issues after the flogging from Penrith.
Melbourne sunk to one of their lowest ever ebbs on Friday night against a rampant Penrith, conceding a half-century for the first since 2003 in the 50-10 shellacking.
It means the Storm will enter next Saturday night’s match against the Warriors with a losing record this late in a season for the first time since 2018, after three straight losses.
There is an argument no side would have come close to Penrith on at CommBank Stadium, with Bellamy labelling them “head and shoulders” above the rest of the NRL.
But the veteran Storm coach still made no secret of his frustrations at Melbourne’s defensive frailties, after Penrith bust their line 10 times.
“Some of our contact tonight was poor at best,” Bellamy noted afterwards.
“That was the disappointing thing for me.”
Melbourne will at least welcome centre Moses Leo back from concussion against the Warriors, while Jack Howarth (hip) will also be some chance.
The Storm are without several key players, with prop Tui Kamikamica’s stroke last week leaving him the latest player on the sidelines.
But the Melbourne coach said he would have one obvious message for players.
“We just go a little bit harder,” Bellamy said.
“If they don’t want to go harder, well, they can go and play in reserve grade and we’ll bring some young blokes up. That’s how we always handle these situations.
“We’ve just got to learn from tonight and just be better, that’s all. The disappointing thing for me was our defence.
“You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to be a good defender. You just need to work hard and be determined.”
The only good news for Melbourne on Friday night was medical stuff clearing Harry Grant of a knee injury, after it was jolted in contact.
But Grant also suggested he had little to smile about, with Melbourne losing the key moments.
Nowhere was that more evident than in the first half with Penrith leading 10-6, when a Melbourne attacking raid was ended with Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown being pushed into touch.
By the next time Melbourne touched the ball they trailed 20-6 a few moments later, with Penrith needing little invitation to take the game away from rivals.
“That’s not good enough,” Grant said.
“We need to look in the mirror and look at us before we’re looking at opposition teams.”
Meanwhile, Canterbury are bracing for life without Stephen Crichton after the Bulldogs imploded in a 32-24 NRL loss to South Sydney and their skipper succumbed to a shoulder injury.
Crichton landed awkwardly in a tackle involving Rabbitohs duo Campbell Graham and Jack Wighton in the 43rd minute and failed to return to the field on Friday.
Dogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said Crichton had suffered a grade two AC joint injury, which would rule the Samoa international out of facing former club Penrith next Thursday.
Canterbury (2-2) meet the Panthers, Parramatta, premiers Brisbane and North Queensland over the next month.
“It’s not looking great in there,” Ciraldo said.
“They (the medical team) are saying a high grade two, grade three possibly AC – that’s the initial thoughts on it so he’ll be out for a while.
“It’s an opportunity for someone else.”
At the time their star centre went down the tunnel at Accor Stadium Canterbury were leading 18-12.
But they finished the second half by completing just 40 per cent of their sets, conceding six penalties and making 12 errors.
Only a late try to fullback Connor Tracey prevented Souths from keeping the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half.
Ciraldo resisted the chance to throw disgruntled centre Bronson Xerri in as a straight-swap replacement for Crichton, instead shifting five-eighth Matt Burton to centre and bringing Sean O’Sullivan into the halves.
“Bronson was there covering the wing and centre but when you lose your best communicator,” Ciraldo said.
“I needed to get another communicator out there, and Sean’s one of the best at that.”
But after the reshuffle, the Dogs lost all fluency in attack as Souths laid on 20 second-half points to claim a third win from their opening four games.
Latrell Mitchell grabbed two tries and kicked six goals, finishing the match at fullback after Jye Gray went off for a head injury assessment.
Souths coach Wayne Bennett said Gray passed his test and will be fit to face Canberra next week, but admitted to concern over Keaon Koloamatangi who picked up a suspected medial ligament injury.
Souths raced into an early lead in front of a crowd of 49,813 when Alex Johnston picked off a Tracey pass and ran 90m to score in the fifth minute.
Marcelo Montoya and Mitchell traded tries before Canterbury hit the front foot just before the break.
Lachlan Galvin dived on his own kick to the in-goal as a rampaging Sitili Tupouniua crashed over to make it 18-12 at the break.
Lachlan Galvin and his Bulldogs teammates were all smiles after the first 40 minutes. (Mark Evans/AAP PHOTOS)
But after Crichton’s injury, Canterbury fell apart with Cameron Murray, Tallis Duncan and Mitchell pulling Souths out of sight.
“We played somewhere near our potential and what we’ve got in the team,” Bennett said.
“The last time we played we were far off that – we weren’t perfect today, but we look closer to where we want to go.”
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