Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy has defended halfback Cooper Cronk, whose form has been criticised in the Storm’s inconsistent start to the NRL season.

Bellamy says the Test No.7 has been playing well in trying circumstances with the Storm hit by a series of injuries to their backline.

“Cooper is playing his role really well for us but there’s some other things happening around him that seems to be changing each week which makes it hard with combinations,” Bellamy said.