Bellamy hopes Storm have turned NRL corner

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy has challenged his troops to kick on after the Storm emerged from a worrying month-long NRL slump.

Bellamy is hoping Melbourne’s 46-6 dispatch of Penrith proves the catalyst for a late-season charge to the finals starting in four weeks.

The third-placed Storm host Gold Coast on Friday night and Bellamy says it’s vital his side builds on last Saturday’s eight-try rout.

“There’s no guarantee just because we’ve won one game that things are going to fall back into place again like at the start of the season,” he said on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to to make it happen. After five losses, any win was a good win.

“We’ve had our down period and hopefully we can build from here.”

Storm skipper Cameron Smith said Bellamy’s pre-game blast was partially responsible for the Storm’s boost, rating it “a seven out of 10”.

Bellamy joked it was only worth a five, but admitted sometimes it was his job to give his players a spray.

“I don’t do it just for the sake of it,” he said.

“I didn’t think it was too bad – you don’t want to be going off like a maniac every training session or every week.”

The win keeps the Storm two points behind second-placed South Sydney and contenders for an all-important top-four finals berth.

But as they prepare for the Titans, Bellamy said the focus was on improving their attack.

He said the Storm played well for long periods against Penrith, but there was still room for improvement.

Of the Titans, Bellamy said: “They’re a good side and they’ve got some real pace and they’ve got a lot of flair about their game so we’ll have to defend well.”

The coach was cautiously optimistic about the Storm’s prospects, with the sting of their losing streak still fresh.

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