Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy says his team has spent more time at the airport this week than preparing for their NRL clash with fierce rivals Manly.
The Storm are backing up at Brookvale Oval on Saturday night after a Monday night opening round win over St George Illawarra at Jubilee Oval.
The five-day turnaround means the Storm have only managed two 20-minute training sessions this week.
“When you’ve got five-day turnarounds and they’re two away games for a team like us outside of Sydney who has to travel, it’s really tough,” Bellamy said.
“If this had been a home game it would be a whole heap easier but because they’re two away games it seems we’re spending the whole week at the airport.
“I don’t know why these days that happens to teams but it has and we have to put up with it and suck it up and see what happens on Saturday night.”
Bellamy said if the NRL was really concerned about player welfare they would have scheduled a second-round home game or given his team another day between the matches.
While the Storm has had limited preparation, Manly’s has also been affected by continuing speculation about star five-eighth Kieran Foran signing with Parramatta.
They have already lost fellow Test representative Daly Cherry-Evans, who will join the Gold Coast Titans in 2015.
The Sea Eagles opened the season with a disappointing 42-12 loss to the Eels but Bellamy said Manly seemed to thrive under pressure and expected a strong showing on Saturday night.
The teams have a history of tight battles with the Storm coming from behind in both meetings last season to clinch victories.
“I think for most teams it would be a distraction, but I think Manly seem to handle distractions better than anyone else in the competition,” he said.
“They’ve been a very successful team for a decade now and a very resilient team, so I don’t think it is going to affect them a whole heap.”
Melbourne ground out a 12-4 win over the Dragons on the back of a huge defensive effort while their attack was stuttering at best.
Bellamy predicted the Sea Eagles would make them pay if they delivered the same again.
“We were rusty with the footy and made a whole heap of soft errors, which was the disturbing thing and hopefully we can improve in that area,” he said.
“I think Manly will test us out wide a little bit more, without a doubt.”
Meanwhile, Kenny Bromwich is the front-runner to take the place of suspended Storm forward Felise Kaufusi.
