Craig Bellamy may sense one thing wasn’t fairly proper on the Storm final 12 months, however the veteran coach says his champion aspect has rediscovered its trademark metal after they overcame a stack of adversity to beat the Eels within the season opener.
The 16-12 golden level win in Sydney continues his unbelievable Round 1 streak and ends their depressing run in opposition to Parramatta which included golden level heartbreak in opposition to them final season.
But with Cameron Munster battling a sickening finger harm and Xavier Coates taken off with a shoulder criticism, the undermanned Storm in some way dug deep to steal the win because of a Harry Grant solo effort in extra-time.
Watch each recreation of each spherical of the 2023 NRL Telstra Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
This is a staff that misplaced four-straight video games halfway by way of 2022 which noticed them miss out on the highest 4 earlier than they have been bundled out within the opening week of the season.
They struggled defensively final 12 months, misplaced a variety of veteran forwards within the low season and gained’t have Ryan Papenhuyzen again for a few months, however they seem to have rediscovered their defensive grit after holding the grand finalists to simply 12 factors.
“Just being so gutsy through the whole 80 minutes, I don’t think we’ve been like that for the past 12 months. I thought we made some steps forward in that area, and hopefully we can keep that up,” Bellamy stated.
“It probably took me a while to realise it. You sort of bobble around sticking to your systems and sticking to your routine.
Watch ‘In Due Time’, a Ryan Papenhuyzen documentary on Kayo Sports. Premieres 2:30PM, March 5. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
‘Going to unlock this f*****’: New doco goes inside Storm superstar’s rehab with US guru
“All of a sudden, you think ‘we haven’t played with absolute steel for a bit’ and when we get under pressure we’re folding more than we’re fighting. That’s one thing we wanted to be better at this year.
“We’ve got a lot of new guys in our squad – especially with the injuries that we’ve got – but if they keep showing the fight they did tonight, I’m sure we’ll be okay.”
Skipper Christian Welch performed only one recreation final 12 months earlier than a severe Achilles harm on the identical venue ended his 12 months in devastating vogue.
He wasn’t there to see the Storm’s requirements drop off through the 12 months, however he’s enthusiastic about what he noticed on Thursday night time.
“I thought we kept turning out,” he stated.
“We had a few out, but the guys who came in did a fantastic job. We’ve worked on that and we want to be a really hungry, aggressive side in our forward pack.
“I thought tonight was good. We were probably against one of the premier packs, and I thought the boys really turned up.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au